Study On Informal Institution And The Institutional Change In Rural Society

The research is based on former informal institution studies made by researchers at home and abroad, It focuses on the case of a under-developed rural society in China, In the study, the author takes advantage of the field work method of Sociology and Anthropology. The research explores the basic situations of the informal institution in rural society, It makes suggestions for the development of rural society from the perspective of the institution.The research points out that since the economic and political reform in China, the government has gradually changed its institution of managing rural society. This reform has greatly enriched rural life by allowing peasants run their own business. This reform has initiated a change of which economic development has been the focus. More than ever before, peasants regain the privilege of managing their own business and having the freedom to choose their own jobs through household contract responsibility system. In past decades the informal institution was opposed by the government Characteristics of this institution, such as locally exposed regulations, habits, and religion were prohibited and destroyed. These characteristics have been restored to rural society since the reform.The purpose of this research is to analyze the characteristics, function and effects of the informal institution. It revolves around the institution 's mental impact on ideology, habits, gift exchanges, family organizations as well as the inner social relationship in the rural society. The research emphasizes that the informal institution has had a strong impact on individual activities in rural society. This has been well acknowledged. This research further proves that rural society is not the only place the informal institution exists. What happened in the rural society is not the mere physical collision between the formal institution and the informal institution, but the co-existing of the " greattradition" and the " little tradition". This relationship is active, not passive. The research suggests that the pattern of institutional change in the rural society is not imposed institutional change but the induced one, and only when the formal institution and the informal institution live in compatibility in its highest degree, it can be changed into the motivity of development to improve the performance of institution in rural society.