What are Institutions?
By “institutions”, we mean a society’s or community’s beliefs, values and rules that structure the relationships and practices within it. Important institutions in relation to social innovation would include a community’s definitions of “health” and “equity”, its values in relation to how social problems/challenges should be addressed, and the formal and informal rules that govern how decisions are made and resources distributed. Although this might make institutions seem like pretty much everything, what distinguishes institutions from other social phenomena is that they are relatively enduring because of cognitive, social or cultural mechanisms that enforce them and secure compliance. So, a belief, value or rule is “institutionalized” to the extent that there are systemic mechanisms in place to maintain it and ensure people comply with it (use language in prescribed, legitimate ways; conform to community norms; obey social rules).
Institutions might seem like a bad thing from a social innovation perspective, because they block change. But they also provide anchors for people – ways of relating to each other so that we do not always have to work from first principles as we try to solve social problems or develop novel approaches to social change. Moreover, for any social innovation to be successful, it needs to become embedded in and supported by a host of social institutions that will give it strength and allow it to endure.
>>Read more “Notes on institutions“.
