Introducing Societal Institutions

A societal institution is the name given to an Arena based on the association of all living within a territorially-bounded governed society who are naturally concerned that their needs should be met. It also includes a wide variety of social bodies that seek to ensure a personal and communal need is met.

Such associations only develop following significant political maturation. Their presence is characteristic of a progressive liberal-democratic society.

As shown in the THEE-Path, societal institutions are the 4th Arena of Associating in the Q-expansion of the approaches to using language-PH'5. Their existence and operation depends on a combination of universal-L'4 and gestalt-L'5 approaches.

ClosedReminder:

This investigation is developing the Q-expansion of the Methods for Using Language (PH'5). An overview of this expansion was provided here. At that time the focus was on work and responsibility. Subsequently in the Architecture Room, we hypothesized that the various Q-Arenas exist to meet the primal need of each Domain in relation to the primal needs of all the Primary Domains (including itself).

The Domain of Communication meets a primal need for association. The associating defined by the Q-Arenas can be sustained and be useful only if the work involved gets done. In other words, there is a burden of responsibility inherent in membership of a group within an Arena.

Unless the responsibility intrinsic to associating is understood, the work will likely not get done well or perhaps not at all, and the association may become dysfunctional or even disintegrate. That is particularly serious in the case of societal institutions, because it places society in danger of reverting to an authoritarian form in which personal-communal needs are neglected.

A longer summary of the 7 Associating Arenas is available here.
To see this Arena in its context, click on the thumbnail at right.

Social Progress

Institutions are complicated entities that are continuously evolving and depend on a belief in progress and betterment for all living within a society. The nature of societal institutions is connected with the notion of modernizing if we regard this as about social progress.

It seems reasonable to suggest that the "progress and betterment" characteristic of modernization should refer primarily to comprehensively addressing personal-communal needs. Such progress is the only humane rationale for industrialization and technological development. This way of thinking means that the conventional sociological view of "modernizing" as emerging from and opposed to "traditional" is unsatisfactory—see more in the dropdown-box below: How Conventional Labels Misleads .

There are more informative labels than "traditional" for the condition of a society that is the alternative to "modernizing": like "elitist", "hierarchical", or "authoritarian". Key features of such societies include autocratic leadership with hierarchic top-down control and wealth flowing to elites. These societies also show a focus on social unity with limits on individualism, control by coercion and propaganda, emphasis on preserving customs with an avoidance of social change. Usually there is a single morality/religion or enforced atheism.

ClosedExamples:

A better label than "modernizing" might be "progressive".

All those living in a liberal-democratic progressive society find themselves involved to a greater or lesser degree in most of its Q4-societal institutions. No single person or government creates an institution: they emerge given political maturation, as explained in the next topic.

Those living in a modern authoritarian society may get services from or work within organisations similar to those in a modernizing society: like a school, hospital or the police. But such a society limits freedom of association, restricts freedom of speech, controls the media, and represses the very notion of society-wide institutions. It punishes active criticism or efforts to change arrangements to better meet personal-communal needs.

The conventional view holds that modernizing is about the transformation from a traditional, religious, agricultural society to a secular urban society, a process driven by industrialization.

However, societies may seem "modern" in being industrialized, largely secular and urbanized, and yet lack properly functioning societal institutions. If so, they would still be operating in a «traditional» fashion and many inhabitants will seek to migrate to improve their condition. A reverse migratory flow from liberal-democratic societies is noticeable by its absence.

Modernization has been associated with the application of technology. But technology has nothing to say about human needs. It can easily be used to suppress and control the citizenry, as well as embedding elite privileges. Even in a modernizing society, technology may interfere with the human element and degrade institutions if its primary goal is to strip out costs and boost profits.

Modernizing may also be seen as equivalent to functional specialization and structural differentiation—but again that is secondary. While an economy must have moved beyond subsistence and incorporated individualist-capitalist values, the idea that modernizing is equivalent to being capitalist or economy-dominated is also misleading. So is the idea that it means becoming like the USA (or any other country).

Preservation of a national or ethnic culture as a defence against liberalization typically reflects the fact that the culture in question often embodies elite privileges with social harms and disadvantages for the bulk of the population.

Work for Social Values

Responsible work-in-role is essential for any Q-Arena association to thrive. This demands clarity about what is entailed by work. Having examined work in formal organisations-PH'5Q2 in detail, and considered work in philosophy schools-PH'5Q5 here, this section will explore work and roles in societal institutions-PH'5Q4.

The efforts of politicians, journalists, activists, civil servants, academics and lawyers routinely address the nature and handling of social values and cultural beliefs. Perhaps less obviously, every single enterprise gets its informal "license to operate" by explicitly serving social values cf. PH'6G515.  

Indeed, every member of a liberal democratic society can be expected to uphold, pursue and defend their society's values. This responsibility is captured in the notions of «civic duties» and «civil liberties».

Authoritarian societies emphasize civic duties but are resistant to the notion of civic rights and civil liberties. That resistance precludes the operation of effective institutions. Just as authoritarian societies can progress to become liberal-democratic (cf. South Korea), so progressive societies can regress and remove freedoms (cf. USA and UK in recent times).

Social values only exist by virtue of being widely held throughout a society: not by any law or centralized diktat. The essential work on societal institutions involves clarifying which values are most relevant (using L'4-universal language) and bringing those values into heightened awareness as beliefs (using L'5-gestalt language).

While it seems reasonable to assume all readers have some familiarity with the work to sustain a family-Q1 and have some feel for organisations-Q2 and their management, the same may not apply to institutions-Q4. So more introduction is required than usual.

Either start with

Or move directly to:

Originally posted: 14-Nov-2022. Last amended: 30-Apr-2023.