Institution

Institution

An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given community — may it be human or a specific animal one. Institutions are identified with a social purpose, transcending individuals and intentions by mediating the rules that govern cooperative living behavior.

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Famous quotes containing the word institution:

    What has ever threatened our liberty and prosperity save and except this institution of Slavery?
    Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)

    Every institution not only carries within it the seeds of its own dissolution, but prepares the way for its most hated rival.
    —W.R. (William Ralph)

    A great deal of unnecessary worry is indulged in by theatregoers trying to understand what Bernard Shaw means. They are not satisfied to listen to a pleasantly written scene in which three or four clever people say clever things, but they need to purse their lips and scowl a little and debate as to whether Shaw meant the lines to be an attack on monogamy as an institution or a plea for manual training in the public school system.
    Robert Benchley (1889–1945)