The institutional analysis of sociology is mainly realized by analyzing what.

First, the meaning and classification of social system

Social system is the steel of social network and the focus of social analysis. No matter the analysis of social structure or social process, it is inseparable from the analysis of system.

(A) the meaning of social system

Sociologists have many views on what a social system is, but it can be roughly divided into four categories: First, they regard the social system as a code of conduct for members of society. This view holds that social system is similar to moral custom, and it is the standard and requirement to guide and restrain the behavior of social members. Sumner, an early American sociologist, is the representative of this view. Second, regard the social system as a social relationship. For example, Wu Wenzao, a famous sociologist in China, thinks that "institution is a kind of social relationship caused by the activities of human groups" and "it is a form of organized human relations or a system of organized human activities" (Sociology Course 1987, 165, published by Peking University Publishing House). Third, regard the social system as a social structure. American sociologist David Bo Si Nuo pointed out in his book Sociology that "institution is a stable social structure organized to meet the basic needs of society." (Introduction to Sociology 1993 published by Xiamen University Press, p. 288). Fourth, the definition of social system is formed by combining the above four or more viewpoints: social system is a normative system of social relations and social activities formed to meet the needs of human survival. Peking University Sociology Department is the representative of this view.

To sum up, social system refers to the social structure and social relationship system with certain internal organic connection and functional interconnection in a specific social field, as well as the corresponding social behavior standard system.

The social system mentioned by sociology is different from the concept of social system used in our daily life. In real life, people usually use the concept of social system including macro and micro levels. Macroscopically, it analyzes the development of human society from a historical perspective, and defines different forms of human society with social systems, such as slave social systems and feudal social systems. Social system can also be used at the micro level, which refers to the specific social behavior norms of a social unit, such as attendance system and work system. The social system mentioned by sociology is different from both macro definition and micro definition. Usually refers to a social system, such as economic system, political system, etc. Therefore, the social system discussed by sociology has the following characteristics: first, various structures and organizations related to the social system are an organic whole, which are interdependent and influence each other to form a relatively independent social unit with internal relations; Second, the social system is not concrete and operable measures and norms, but the social behavior norms it involves are relatively stable and universal, which are applicable to different organizations in a certain social field; Third, the social system is not the whole social form, but a part of it.

In order to accurately grasp the meaning of social system, it is necessary to understand the difference between social system and several similar concepts. First of all, social system is different from social norms. The social norms involved in the social system are an interrelated organic system, not specific social behavior standards; The code of conduct contained in the social system is relatively stable and universal; Social system includes not only social norms, but also social structure and social relations. Secondly, social system is different from social organization. The structure of social system needs the help of specific and interrelated organizational activities, but it is not the social organization itself; Social system plays a guiding, regulating and restraining role in social organizations.

(B) the basic types of social system

According to different standards, social systems can be divided into different types:

According to the origin and functional evolution of social system, social system can be divided into primitive social system and derivative social system. Primitive social system refers to the earliest social system in human society, and other social systems are derived from this social system. Derived social system refers to the social system that grows, evolves and develops from the original system. Derived social system is the product of social development and civilization evolution. The more developed and advanced the society, the more effective the derived social system will be.

According to the role of people in the process of social system, social system can be divided into spontaneous social system and artificial social system. Autogenous social system refers to the social system that human society naturally produces and forms in its historical development. Man-made social system refers to a social system established purposefully according to the needs of social members.

According to social needs, social system can be divided into economic system, birth system, political and legal system, religious system, cultural system and social security system. This is the most common division in society.

Economic system refers to a social normative system that is used to coordinate the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption in order to meet the material needs of social members. The form of social ownership, resource allocation, labor relations among members, distribution of labor results and economic management mechanism are all important contents of the economic system. It is generally believed that economic system is the most important form of social system and the foundation of other social systems.

The birth system refers to the social norm system of human reproduction, that is, the reproduction of labor force, to meet the needs of human sexuality, affection and racial continuity. The continuation and development of human society need to ensure the reproduction of material data and human reproduction, both of which are indispensable. Different from animals, the population reproduction in human society is not only dominated by biological instinct, but also a social behavior, which requires an effective fertility regulation system to control and regulate human activities. Many sociologists believe that the birth system is the primitive system of society and the oldest and most basic social system of mankind. In primitive society, human beings were organized by blood relationship to carry out various social activities such as production, religion and entertainment.

The political and legal system is the product of historical development, which refers to the social norm system related to the management of social public affairs, the maintenance of social order and the distribution of social power. The function is to coordinate the relationship between social members and maintain the normal order of society. With the improvement of social productivity, social differentiation is becoming more and more obvious, and groups and members with different social status will inevitably have conflicts of interest, which will affect social stability and security. In order to adjust these conflicts of interest, the society needs to differentiate specialized organizations and forces to manage the public affairs of the whole society, so that members of all walks of life can move within the scope of the overall interests of the society and ensure the normal order of the society. This is a social function undertaken by the political and legal system. The task of the political and legal system is to maintain public order, distribute social power, ensure legal procedures and principles for exercising power, adjust interpersonal relationships and adjudicate social conflicts.

Education system refers to the social norm system of imparting cultural knowledge and values and educational management. It includes education policy, education system and teaching management system. Education plays a very important role in modern society and is an important strategy for social development. It is not only the main means to impart cultural knowledge and values, but also provides the necessary conditions for social development and cultural accumulation. At the same time, education and scientific research are closely related, and science and technology are also productive forces and a great driving force for social change.

Religious system refers to the system of social norms related to religious beliefs, rituals and organizations, and is an indispensable part of people's religious life. Different scholars have different views on the nature of religion. Engels believed that "all religions are just reflections in people's minds of the fantasy of external forces that dominate people's daily lives." In this kind of reflection, human power appears in the form of superhuman power. " (Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Volume III, People's Publishing House 1972, p. 354) It is generally believed that the religious system has the functions of providing spiritual support, strengthening moral norms and promoting social integration.

Cultural system refers to the social norm system that regulates, guides and controls cultural activities, and it is a derived social system. When social productive forces develop to a certain extent and spiritual activities are separated from social life and become independent needs, special social organizations and cultural systems will be formed to control and guide related cultural activities. Part of the cultural system is closely related to the socio-economic system and political system, such as social ideals, ethics and other ideological systems, while the other part is not so obvious and direct, such as non-ideological systems such as science and entertainment.

Social security system refers to a social standard system that provides all kinds of basic living security for members of society who have no ability to work or have no opportunity to work. It plays a very important role in overcoming natural or man-made disasters. Social security generally involves supporting the elderly, helping the unemployed, protecting the disabled, helping the poor, preventing natural disasters and taking care of some special groups. The state, enterprises and other social organizations are the main bodies of social security, which are usually realized through social insurance, social relief and social welfare.

The above has introduced several major social systems, among which the economic system and the birth system are possessed by all social forms, and they run through the whole process of human social development, so they are also called primitive social systems. Other social systems are derived from this, so they are also called derived social systems. In addition, these classifications are made to analyze and study the structure, status and development process of a specific social system in a certain social life field. In fact, these systems are interrelated and interactive, and they constitute the whole of social life.

Second, the composition and function of social system.

Social system is a relatively macro sociological concept. Although there are many kinds, they are all about the normative system. Taking the social system as a system also shows that it is a synthesis of various elements. Different combinations of these elements can form different social systems and play different functions.

(A) the composition of the social system

Generally speaking, a social system includes the following six elements: concept, norm, organization, status structure, members and equipment. Because of their different contents and different proportions, combinations and arrangements in the social system structure, these six elements have produced various systems. But for a specific system, these six elements are indispensable.

First, the concept. Idea refers to the theoretical elements used to clarify the purpose, nature and value of social system. Social system is a normative system to control social activities purposefully and rationally. In order to make members of society abide by these norms, they need to first understand the reasons for the existence, development goals and social functions of social systems. Only on the basis of understanding can social members have the consciousness of obeying social norms. For social system, it can be separated from social life and become a special social system. The concept system is the core part of the social system, which is gradually formed and perfected in the long-term social practice, and the specific norms of the social system are gradually established by relying on the concept system. If the concept system of social system is abandoned by most people, this social system will be replaced by a new and more effective social system. The conceptual system of social system is based on abstract social theory, social thought and social theory, which supports and maintains the existence of a social system. Different social systems have different ideological systems. In class society, the same social system also has different concept systems because of different class interests.

Second, norms. Norm refers to the patterns and standards of social members' behavior, which guides the daily social activities of social members and regulates interpersonal relationships among social members, and is the actual operation mode of social system. Any social system can not be separated from the specific code of conduct system, which includes social customs, traditional habits, moral norms, rules and regulations, laws and regulations and so on. The normative system of social system is not static, and it must constantly adjust its content and structure according to the requirements of social development. Generally speaking, there are two changes in the normative system of social system: if the conceptual system of social system shows superiority, it will be gradually accepted by members of society, and this normative system will be gradually improved in real life; On the contrary, if the concept system of a social system is gradually denied, this system will be replaced by a new system.

Third, organization. Organization is an entity part of social system, and it is the organizational system of social system. Any social system has a corresponding organizational system to urge social members to abide by the social code of conduct. Without social organizations, social norms cannot play an effective role. Generally speaking, the organizational system includes decision-making organization department, functional organization department and supervision organization department. The rationalization and effectiveness of social systems are different. Some social systems have clear organizational structure, rules and regulations, objectives and tasks, while others play a role through customs. In real life, we need a reasonable ideological system, norms and status structure, and also rely on an effective organizational system. Only in this way can the social system be implemented smoothly. The degree of organization of social activities reflects the ability of social members to control social activities purposefully and consciously.

Fourth, the identity structure. Identity structure refers to the norms of rights and obligations between a social status group. Status structure stipulates the rights and obligations of members to organizations or between organizations under a certain social system. Compared with the concept system of social system, the identity structure is much more specific, which is the continuation of the concept system and reflects the requirements of the concept system. For the normative system of social system, the status structure is abstract, which only stipulates the social relations among social members. The normative system of social system must rely on the identity structure. For example, the education system stipulates that teachers and students have different rights and obligations, and each teacher and student should adapt himself to this social status structure. If we don't adapt to this social status structure, conflicts will occur among social members, and the social system will take corresponding measures to adjust and solve the contradictions between the two sides.

Fifth, members. Members refer to social members who assume specific social roles in the organizational system of social systems. No matter the concept, normative system, status structure and organizational system of social system, it must be based on the activities of certain social members; Man is the carrier of all elements of the social system. Social system can only enter the historical development process through human activities. The personnel elements of social system refer to the social members who have socialized and internalized the concept and standard system of social system. They assume specific social roles in real life and participate in organizational activities according to their own understanding in order to achieve organizational goals. Organizational system only provides a basic framework for the activities of social members. Due to the differences in the abilities and opportunities of social members, the efficiency of the organizational system of the social system is not consistent, but no one can ignore this work. The effective implementation of social system requires not only an efficient organizational system, but also capable and talented organizational members.

Sixth, equipment. Equipment refers to the material conditions and means to ensure the effective implementation of social system. The effective implementation of any social system requires certain material conditions. Without this condition, the social system can't play its role. Different material conditions have different effects on the social system. Based on this, equipment can be divided into three types: basic equipment, useful equipment and symbolic equipment. Basic equipment is an indispensable material condition for the social system. Without basic equipment, the social system cannot be implemented. This is the most important and basic material premise for the implementation of social system. Some physical equipment can promote the function of social system, but it is not essential. With these physical facilities, the social system can play a better role. This kind of material equipment is called useful equipment. There are also some physical devices, which have no specific practical value, but symbols, called symbolic devices. As a symbol of organizational system, symbolic equipment plays a role in calling and uniting members of society. In some cases, they can even play a role that other material equipment can't.

For any social system, the above six basic elements are essential, and different combinations of these elements constitute different social systems. The concept system and the standard system are the spiritual part of the social system, the status structure is the social relationship part of the social system, the organization and personnel system is the entity part of the social system, and the equipment system is the material condition part of the social system. They are all necessary components of the social system.

(B) the function of the social system

The function of social system involves all aspects of human social activities. Different social systems meet the different needs of social members, and there are great differences. But in a general sense, the basic social functions of social system include: meeting social needs, maintaining social daily order, socialization, social integration, social orientation and other functions.

First, the function of meeting social needs. Any social system is produced to meet certain social needs. Although the types of social needs are different, meeting social needs is the same. For example, the birth system meets the needs of social members in courtship, marriage, sex and childbirth; The economic system meets the material needs of members of society. If a social system cannot meet the needs of society, it will lose its reason for existence and will eventually be replaced by a new social system. The development of social system is also based on the change of social demand. With the improvement of productivity, experiential education in the family can no longer meet the needs of society, so school education came into being, and the educational function of the family gradually moved out. Specialized social institutions are responsible for the education of social members, and the content, object and degree requirements of education are gradually changing to meet the needs of social development. It can be seen that the education system is gradually formed and improved with the changes of social needs.

Second, maintain the daily order function of society. Social system provides value standards, behavioral norms, organizational systems and material conditions for the daily life of social members. It encourages social members to consciously abide by social norms, guides social members to act according to the requirements of social norms, punishes behaviors that do not conform to social norms, and maintains the normal order of social life. Social system is the standard, requirement and condition for social members to participate in social life, and every social member must be active within the scope permitted by social system. The functions of some social systems are directly related to the requirements of maintaining social order. In their daily life, they play the role of mediators and people, organizations and members of society. For example, the political and legal system not only maintains the normal social order in the general sense, but also directly intervenes in the daily life of social members, regulates conflicts and disputes among social members, maintains the daily life order of society, and punishes all kinds of behaviors that violate social norms.

Third, socialize. The process of socialization is an interpersonal interaction process in which social members participate in social life and communicate with other social members. Interpersonal communication is carried out under certain social system conditions. Through this process, social members internalize the concepts and norms of the social system into their own values, so as to actively abide by the requirements of the social system, consciously cooperate with other social members, realize the goals of social organizations, and give full play to the functions of the social system. Socialization function is of special importance in some social systems. For example, the parenting function in the birth system requires parents to undertake the task of socialization of their children, guide and educate their children, and make them meet the social requirements; The policy of the education system is to impart cultural and moral values so that members of society can abide by social norms and master necessary life knowledge and labor skills.

Fourth, the function of social integration. The social system unites the social members of the organization and works together to achieve the goals of the organization. The society controls and supervises the behavior of its members through the organizational system, and coordinates the relationship between related organizations, so as to meet the social needs of its members. If the activities of social members are divorced from the constraints of the social system, it will hinder the daily social order and make the society in a state of chaos. The purpose of laws, religions and other systems in the social system is to maintain social integration and the unity of all social strata. Different from other social systems, they don't just coordinate social activities in a certain social field, but take the whole society as a unit and let all social strata work together to form a social mechanism that promotes each other and operates in an orderly manner.

Fifth, the function of social orientation. Any social system has specific codes of conduct and values, which guide the social activities of social members. This is the guiding function of the social system. From the way of view, the guiding function of social system mainly has two forms: one is to encourage behaviors and values that conform to social norms; The second is to punish those who violate social norms. Only with the guiding function of social system can we form social norms and maintain social order. Some social systems, such as education, politics, law and religion, have outstanding social-oriented functions. The main goal of these social systems is to establish and maintain values and codes of conduct that meet social needs.

The function of social system is very complicated. In real social life, the interaction of various factors makes the function of social system present multi-level and multi-directional characteristics. Sociologists usually divide the function of social system into explicit and implicit functions, positive and negative functions according to people's understanding of the function of social system and its role in society.

Explicit function refers to the social system function realized by social members, and implicit function refers to the social system function that social members have not realized; Positive function refers to the positive social function of social system, and negative function refers to the negative social function of social system. Any social system contains the opposition between explicit function and implicit function, positive function and negative function, and these functions are manifested in various ways in real life, so it is not easy to analyze the functions of social systems in real life. It is generally believed that the following principles should be adhered to: first, the combination of explicit function and implicit function. The obvious function of social system is easy to be recognized, but the investigation of social system should not only stay at the level of obvious function, but also pay attention to the potential function of social system. Its scope of action, object of action and transformation mode are all important contents of social system function analysis. Second, the combination of positive function and negative function. In practical work, we should pay attention to both the positive and negative social functions of the social system, so as to objectively understand and evaluate the role of the social system. Third, clarify the specific social functions. The function of social system is very complicated. When analyzing the function of social system, it is necessary to make clear the items, objects, functions and results to be investigated. If the specific social function is not clear, it is impossible to analyze the function of the social system.

Three. Institutionalization and system reform

After analyzing the significance, composition and social function of social system, this paper further discusses the problems of institutionalization and system reform in combination with the current reform in China.

institutionalize

Institutionalization includes not only the evolution process of the system itself, but also the influence of the system on the activities of social members. It refers to the process that the social system is gradually rationalized and effective, and the activities of social members are gradually fixed and modeled. For the evolution of the system itself, institutionalization has two functions:

First, rationalize the social system through institutionalization. The development of social system is a historical process. Members of society modify and change the original social system according to their own practice, eliminate all kinds of loopholes in the social system, and make the social system more reasonable and strict. On the other hand, the rationalization of the social system is to make the interests of more social members consistent with social interests through institutionalization, even if the social system more fully reflects the interests of social members.

Second, the same institutionalization makes the social system effective. Effectiveness is an important index to measure the development level of social system. It represents the operation of the social system, whether members of the society can work together effectively, whether the organizational system of the social system can operate effectively, and whether the social system can effectively achieve social goals, that is, the functions of the social system.

Institutionalization also plays an important role in the social activities of social members:

First, institutionalization can effectively control the social activities of social members. The randomness and uncertainty of social members' activities will hinder the normal communication between social members and make it difficult for them to cooperate effectively. To avoid this situation, it is necessary to gradually model and fix the social activities of social members to prevent personal emotions from affecting the activities of the organization. Institutionalization enables every member of society to engage in social activities according to unified standards, and those who violate social norms will be punished. Through patterned social activities, the social system can effectively control the behaviors of its members.

Second, institutionalization makes the actions of social members predictable. Model social activities make the communication between social members have rules to follow. It is very necessary for social members to take corresponding social behaviors according to their respective status and roles, and at the same time speculate on the reactions that other social members should make. If the predictability is low, there will be obstacles in communication between members of society and conflicts will be inevitable.

The development of institutionalization will encounter various contradictions. The new social system is always produced in the struggle with the old social system, and the old and new social systems are always in a state of mutual influence and conflict, which is the institutionalized conflict phenomenon. In the process of conflict, a relatively reasonable and effective new social system gradually replaces the old social system. In the process of institutionalization, several social norms will conflict with each other, and one of them may take precedence, which is called institutionalization priority. In the process of institutionalization, there will also be evasion, that is, normal social norms also tolerate deviant behavior to a certain extent. In a word, institutionalization is a historical process full of contradictions and conflicts.

(B) the internal driving force of system reform

Although the development of social system is full of contradictions and conflicts, history has never stopped institutional reform. Why do people need to change the social system? This involves the internal motivation of social system reform.

First, the development of social needs. Fundamentally speaking, the reform of social system is imperative, which is the result of the contradictory movement between productive forces and production relations, economic base and superstructure, and is the need of social development. The social needs of social members are constantly changing, which puts forward new requirements and expectations for the social system. When the original social system cannot effectively meet the needs of social members, the reform of the social system is inevitable. Of course, in real life, the relationship between social system reform and the needs of social members is not as simple as we have stated, but fundamentally speaking, the continuous development of social needs of social members is the internal driving force of social system reform, and the history of social system development just proves this.

Second, the rigidity of the social system. Institutionalization can promote the rationalization and effectiveness of the social system and make the social behavior of social members develop into patterns, but it also brings negative social functions, that is, the rigidity of the social system. When social members abide by unified social norms, external forces gradually become the motive force of social members' activities. In this case, the criterion to judge whether a social activity is effective is not the positive efforts made by social members out of personal wishes, but whether the behavior itself conforms to social norms, which will inevitably inhibit the creativity of social members. If the behavior of social members does not conform to social norms, they will be rejected by the organization or society and regarded as heresy. Therefore, observing social norms has become a part of the needs of social members. The reward and punishment system of social organizations also encourages social members to abide by social norms, but the creativity of social members is excluded from organizational activities. Some sociologists believe that institutionalized social organizations will cultivate the inertia of social members.

Third, the social system is limited. The finiteness of the social system is also one of the internal motivations of the social system reform, which means that the social system can only cover part of the social activities of social members and can do nothing about the new situation that will emerge. No matter how reasonable and effective a social system is, it can only interfere with the activities that members of society have achieved or have occurred and have been incorporated into social norms. However, the new social practice usually goes beyond the existing norms and is often regarded as heresy in the initial stage. Only when the influence of new social activities is enough to shake the original social system can these social practices be integrated into the new social system. The development of social system is a process from exclusion to absorption. Only by constantly absorbing new achievements in social practice can the social system maintain its vitality.

Fourth, the conflict of social system. An important problem in the operation of social systems is the conflict between social systems. Because different social systems guide and control the social activities of social members from different angles, they will inevitably conflict with each other, putting social members in a dilemma. For example, the reform of economic system requires the reorganization of state-owned enterprises to enhance their market competitiveness, but at the same time, many workers are facing the dilemma of being laid off and unemployed. If the social security system cannot effectively solve this problem, it will be difficult to maintain a stable social situation and ultimately hinder the smooth progress of economic system reform. This also shows that various social systems are mutually supportive and interdependent, and the reform of any social system will affect other social systems. Only by maintaining the balance between various social systems can we effectively promote social development.

(C) China's system reform.

China's large-scale system reform began with 1978 rural household contract responsibility system, and then a major social system reform involving all fields of social life was launched in an all-round way. The reason is that after the founding of New China, it copied the social and economic model of the former Soviet Union too much, emphasizing planning, centralization and unified arrangement of social life. Especially during the ten-year Cultural Revolution, the social system was severely damaged and could not play its normal social functions. 1978 The discussion on the standard of truth liberated the minds of the people of China and provided the necessary ideological and political foundation for the reform of the social system. At present, China is in a period of social transformation, from the original planned economy to the socialist market economy. Next, we will briefly introduce the system reform in major areas of our society.

First, economic restructuring. Second, political system reform.