Research Catalog

Title

When formality works : authority and abstraction in law and organizations / Arthur L. Stinchcombe.

Author

Stinchcombe, Arthur L.

Publication

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2001.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

ix, 208 p.; 24 cm.

Summary

We have come to assume that governing our social activities by advance planning--by creating abstract descriptions of what ought to happen and adjusting these descriptions as situations change--is not as efficient and responsive as dealing directly with the real substance of the situation at hand. Stinchcombe argues the opposite. When a plan is designed to correct itself and keep up with the reality it is meant to govern, it can be remarkably successful. He points out a wide range of examples where this is the case, including architectural blueprints, immigration law, the construction of common law by appeals courts, Fannie Mae's secondary mortgage market, and scientific paradigms and programs.

Subject

• Sociological jurisprudence
• Legal authorities
• Formalities (Law)
• Abstraction

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-201) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. Introduction: Why is Formality so Unpopular? -- 2. A Redefinition of the Concept of Formality -- 3. Legal Formality and Graphical Planning Languages -- 4. Certainty of the Law: Reasons, Situation-Types, Analogy, and Equilibrium -- 5. The Social Structure of Liquidity: Flexibility in Markets, States, and Organizations / Bruce G. Carruthers and Arthur L. Stinchcombe -- 6. Formalizing Rightlessness in Immigration Law and Administration -- 7. Formalizing Epistemological Stratification of Knowledge -- 8. Conclusion: The Varieties of Formality.

ISBN

• 0226774953 (cloth : alk. paper)
• 0226774961 (pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2001027409

OCLC

46401592

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library