Suchergebnisse

Within the Smithsonian Institution, the Office of Museum Programs sponsors an internship program "to provide training and experience in museum methods, for persons preparing for careers in the museum field or for those already in the field who wish to improve their knowledge of current museum practice" (Jane Glaser, completed questionnaire). In FY, 1976 and FY 1977, one intern from Botswana and one intern from Nigeria participated in this program.

In the article institutions at a minimal level of economic activity are classified. Building upon empirical results the author examines factors of evolution of related institutions and reveals connection between parameters of institutional regime, firms' life cycle and the field of their economic activity.

According to S. N. Elsenstadt, Institutions are Those Processes and structures, together with the associated set of regulative principles, that arrange human activities in a community "into definite organizational patterns from the point of view of some of the perennial, basic problems of any society or ordered social life." From this perspective, the social dimension of the concept of social institutions is seen in terms of its "institutional spheres," which include family and kinship, education, economics, politics, culture, and stratification. To this list may be added those approaches in psychology in which the unit of analysis is the group, community, or society.Because the subject of "Social Institutions" covers such a vast domain, it will be necessary to focus upon only certain entries of the EIr in this domain. However, before proceeding, it is worth noting that some 150 articles in the first seven volumes may be classified under "social institutions," including the subsections of articles.

Lately, cultural sociologists have been engaged in theorizing the complexity and ambiguities of border-crossing translations from a variety of research strings. This article contributes to this theorizing by developing the concept of interstitial institutions as ongoing sites of translations. Building on the history of gift-giving practices of Danish philanthropic organizations from the enactment of the Danish constitution in 1849 till today, the article broadens and expands on civil sphere theory (CST) in three ways. First, it shows how interstitial institutions are an important site of translation because they work as a lock on the border between the non-civil and civil spheres, and this dual membership inevitably leads to ongoing boundary tensions. Second, the study of interstitial institutions provides insights into how civil repair is molded by cultural-historical contexts and narratives and consequently fertilizes particular ways of mobilizing cultural codes. Third, studying interstitial institutions and their translation practices emphasizes and strengthens CST's processual ground.

"In most countries of the world, a sustainable agriculture is both an important and difficult issue. The agricultural sector in Central and Eastern European is confronted by two large problems at the same time: transition processes and sustainability. The purpose of this paper is, in the first place, to make clear that the institutional setting is very important. Second, it gives an overview of the literature on sustainability, institutions and institutional innovation. The phenomenon sustainability encompassing three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Institutions are not always exogenous and right so that economic agents will behave in the 'correct' (that is efficient) manner. The non-marketable attributes of agricultural land use such as wildlife and landscape and the quality of soil, water and air create market failure. How-ever, they are important for sustainability. With a lack of markets to realise sustainability, there is a strong incentive to develop institutions capable of changing the farmerżs behaviour in ways that will achieve the unachievable via market signals alone. Direct government production is likely to be superior, if the government may not know what it wants and if the contract party has a strong tendency to reduce costs, but this is accompanied by a reduction in (non-contractable) quality. However, in general, both situations do not apply to sustainable agriculture. Type of government intervention has consequence for property rights. Under influence of changes in the institutional environment, the opinion about the protection of the property rights is shifting. The economic valuation of changes in the quality of soil, water, wildlife and landscape depends on if the change taking place either below or above the reference level. From the actual behaviour of the government, it can be concluded that the reference level is being used more and more as a watershed to the question of the allocation of property rights and the use of charges or compensation." (author's abstract)

Abstract:Ha-Joon Chang, in his article 'Institutions and Economic Development: Theory, Policy and History', raises doubts about the effects of institutions on economic development and questions the positive effects of entirely free markets based on secure private property rights. We respond by stressing that institutions structure the incentives underlying individual action, secure private property rights are indispensable for prosperity, institutions have a first-order effect whereas policies only have a second-order effect, successful institutional change comes from within a society, and, given the status quo of developing countries, first-world institutions are likely not to be available to them.

Originally published in 1958, this book assesses the continuity and variety of international societies as they have existed in recent history. Although the study of international institutions is firmly based on a foundation of law, this book also encompasses sociology, history and politics. The introduction defines the elements of international society in terms of the accepted principles of group psychology. Part 1 considers the origins of 20th Century international institutions. This historical analysis runs from the ancient civilizations through to the greatly changed relations which followed World War II. The general notions and sources of international law are then examined. Part 2 deals with the structure of day-to-day relations between States and the means of recognizing changes within a State. The United Nations and principal regional organizations are also examined.

American Institutions by Alexis De Tocqueville has attracted great attention throughout Europe, where it is universally regarded as a sound, philosophical, impartial, and remarkably clear and distinct view of our political institutions, and of our manners, opinions, and habits, as influencing or influenced by those institutions. Writers, reviewers, and statesmen of all parties, have united in the highest commendations of its ability and integrity. The people, described by a work of such a character, should not be the only one in Christendom unacquainted with its contents. At least, so thought many of our most distinguished men, who have urged the publishers of this edition to reprint the work, and present it to the American public. They have done so in the hope of promoting among their countrymen a more thorough knowledge of their frames of government, and a more just appreciation of the great principles on which they are founded

Der Autor beschreibt in einem Grundsatz-Beitrag zur politischen Institutionentheorie den erreichten konzeptionellen Stand im DFG-Schwerpunktprogramm und setzt den eigenen Akzent auf eine politikwissenschaftlich orientierte Institutionentheorie im Rahmen der sozialwissenschaftlichen Diskussion. Für den Autor stellt sich damit zunächst das Problem, wie sich politische zu sozialen Institutionen verhalten und wie sie analytisch voneinander zu unterscheiden sind. Politische Institutionen, so wird gezeigt, sind aus sozialen Institutionen nicht einfach abzuleiten, vielmehr bilden soziale Institutionen den Kontext, innerhalb dessen sie in ihrer Eigenart als politische Institutionen zu begreifen sind. Ein wichtiger Schritt zum angemessenen Verständnis politischer Institutionen besteht darin, sie um die symbolische Dimension zu erweitern. In politischen Repräsentationstheorien gibt es eine Tradition, welche auf die symbolische Leistung der Repräsentation abstellt; diese symbolische Dimension, so das Argument, ist auch für die politische Institutionentheorie konstitutiv. Das wird insbesondere an der gedoppelt, nämlich instrumentell und symbolisch ansetzenden Institutionenbegründung von Arnold Gehlen illustriert. Die Theorie politischer Institutionen ist sowohl Theorie der maßgeblichen Ordnungsleistungen als auch Theorie der maßgeblichen Orientierungsleistungen einer Gesellschaft; sie enthält den Aspekt der Steuerung ebenso wie den Aspekt der sozialen Integration. Auf dieser Grundlage wird das Verhältnis von Institution und Organisation näher bestimmt. Politische Institutionen, so das Fazit, erbringen einerseits, als Organisationen, eine Ordnungsleistung, andererseits in ihrem spezifisch institutionellen Charakter, eine Orientierungsleistung, welche durch Symbole vermittelt ist. (ICD)