Institutions and Social Structures

The recurring, organized structures through which a society meets its enduring needs: stratification systems that rank people unequally, economic institutions organizing production and exchange, kinship institutions such as marriage and the family, political and legal institutions that govern and formalize rules, and cultural and socialization institutions that transmit belief and knowledge across generations, following the standard sociological typology of major social institutions. Belongs here: a named, organized social structure serving a recurring societal function. Does not belong here: the state power and governance dimension of a political institution in its own right, which Political atlas carries per this atlas own scope charter seam, this category writing only the institutional-structure facet.