Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 1.djvu/534

 SOCIOLOGY, OR THE SCIENCE OF INSTITUTIONS

By J. W. POWELL INTRODUCTION

An institution is a rule of conduct which men make by agree- ment or which is made for them by some authority which they recognize as such. Many, perhaps most, of these rules are of great antiquity and are observed as customs, but new rules or modifications of rules are instituted from time to time as the exigencies of society demand. Thus an institution is a recognized law of conduct devised by men. Law and institution are often synonymous terms. We use the term law from the standpoint of considering the rule ; we use the term institution from the standpoint of considering the origin of the rule. I prefer to define sociology as the science of institutions rather than as the science of law, because in the term sociology I wish to include a study of the law itself and also to consider in what manner it originates and by what agency it is enforced, whether by sanctions of in- terest, sanctions of punishment, or sanctions of conscience. The term law itself has a wider significance than that in which I wish to use a term here. Law is a general term signifying not only the law of man, but the law of nature, and I wish to use it in this broad sense. I choose the term institution to designate the law made by man ; but this term is often used with a broader signifi- cation than that which I desire — thus, an institution may be an organized body of men, or it may even be the name of a building. We sometimes call a well-known organization of men the Smith- sonian Institution, and we sometimes call the building where they carry on their operations the Smithsonian Institution ; but I here use the term institution to mean the rules of conduct in-

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