What are social structures and institutions?
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Question
Social structure?
Answer
A lasting pattern of relationships and expectations that shapes how people act — a pattern, not a building.
Question
Social institution?
Answer
A large, organised structure with its own roles and rules — marriage, law, school, money.
Question
Formal vs informal structure?
Answer
Formal holds by written rule and enforcement (law); informal holds by shared habit and expectation (friendship).
Question
Why does friendship count as a structure?
Answer
It's patterned enough that everyone knows when it's been broken — that shared knowing is the structure.
Question
Community vs society (Tönnies)?
Answer
Community (Gemeinschaft) = bound by belonging and feeling; society (Gesellschaft) = bound by rules and self-interest.
Question
In what sense is an institution an 'agent'?
Answer
It does things no single member decided alone ('the court ruled') — a shared action, not a private one.
Question
Why can't you point at a social structure?
Answer
It's a pattern, not a physical thing — invisible, yet it shapes almost everything you do.
Question
Objection to institutions as agents?
Answer
Institutions have no mind or feelings — only the people inside them can truly choose and act.
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Social structures and institutions
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