Social System

Social system is a central term in sociological systems theory. The term draws a line to ecosystem, biological organisms, psychical systems and technical systems. They all form the environment of social systems. Minimum requirements for a social system is interaction of at least two personal systems or two persons acting in their roles. The first who formulated a systematic theory of social systems was Talcott Parsons where it was a part of his AGIL paradigm yet the social system is only a segment (or a "subsystem") of what Parsons calls action theory; however, Vilfredo Pareto had used the term, "social system," earlier but only as a sketch and not as an overall analytical scheme in the sense of Parsons.

Jay Wright Forrester describes three counterintuitive behaviours as important: causes from symptoms are often far removed in time and space, identifying leverage points, conflicting short + long-term consequences.

Read more about Social System:  Approaches of Parsons and Luhmann, Social Systems and Digital/online Worlds, See Also, Literature

Famous quotes containing the words social and/or system:

    To act the part of a true friend requires more conscientious feeling than to fill with credit and complacency any other station or capacity in social life.
    Sarah Ellis (1812–1872)

    All who wish to hand down to their children that happy republican system bequeathed to them by their revolutionary fathers, must now take their stand against this consolidating, corrupting money power, and put it down, or their children will become hewers of wood and drawers of water to this aristocratic ragocracy.
    Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)