Norms and Institutions

This illuminating book explores the norms that prescribe, proscribe, or allow almost everything that people do, want, feel, and believe. It breaks down norms and institutions (as sets of norms) by analysing what norms exist, how they arise within society, and what effects they have.Norms and Institutions reconstructs influential social norm theories, including the classical explanation of social order by Thomas Hobbes, the origin of norms under adverse living conditions by James S. Coleman, the origin of spontaneous order by Robert C. Ellickson, the management of common resources by Elinor Ostrom, and the explanation of economic institutions that affect the prosperity of nations by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. Karl-Dieter Opp identifies the strengths and weaknesses of these theories, compares their similarities and differences, and formulates a unified overarching theory: the integrated norm theory. The chapters further discuss the underlying bounded rationality model that explains the various mechanisms of the emergence and effects of norms,This book provides a jargon-free analysis of basic theoretical ideas about the explanation and effects of norms. It is a valuable and accessible resource not only for students and scholars of sociology, social psychology, and other social sciences, but also for a general readership.