Institutions in American Society

To understand the institutions that structure our society requires a genuinely interdisciplinary effort. This book presents the fruits of just such an enterprise: a joint exploration by a group of outstanding social scientists of the origins, functions, and operations of the political, economic, and societal institutions that give character and direction to our society.

Institutions in American Society has three themes. The first of these is the effect of individual action on collective outcomes. The contributors seek to understand how people behaving in similar ways, but acting within different kinds of institutions, can bring about widely different outcomes.

Second, the contributors discuss the design of institutions in order to understand and evaluate the choices that created those institutions and to understand the choices that continue to be made and produce the continual reshaping of institutions.

The third theme is that of the importance of history. The authors emphasize that institutions do change, that such changes are often a consequence of people's choices, and that such choices are functions of a people's theory of institutions at any time.

This volume substantially advances the reader's understanding of institutions, contributing a uniquely interdisciplinary approach to the structure of society.