Social System

A Social System is a composite system of agents who rely on each other.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) establish Social Structure through roles and positions.
  • It can (typically) maintain Group Cohesion via rules and norms.
  • It can (typically) facilitate Social Interaction through communication patterns.
  • It can (typically) regulate Group Behavior via feedback mechanisms.
  • It can (typically) allocate System Resources through distribution processs.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Small-scale Social System to being a Medium-scale Social System to being a Large-scale Social System.
  • It can range from being a Healthy Social System to being a Stable Social System to being an Unstable Social System to being a Failed Social System.
  • It can range from being a Hierarchical Social System (e.g. a patriarchal system) to being an Egalitarian Social System.
  • It can range from being a Natural Social System to being an Artificial Social System, depending on its system origin.
  • ...
  • It can (often) experience Social Change (such as societal change).
  • It can (often) resolve Social Conflict via stabilizing mechanisms.
  • It can (often) adapt Social Patterns to environmental changes.
  • It can (often) integrate New Members through incorporation processs.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Natural Social Systems, such as:
    • Human Social Systems, such as:
      • Economic Systems and political systems.
      • Human Family and social groups.
    • Insect Social Systems, such as:
      • Bee Colony with hive structures.
      • Ant Colony with collective organizations.
  • Artificial Social Systems, such as:
    • AI Social Systems with programmed interactions.
    • Multi-Agent Systems with algorithmic rules.
  • Hybrid Social Systems, such as:
    • Human-AI Networks with mixed interactions.
    • Social Computing Systems with human-machine collaborations.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • an Ecosystem, which involves ecological interactions rather than social relations.
  • an Organism, which is a biological unit rather than a social collective.
  • Physical Systems, which follow natural laws rather than social rules.
  • Technical Systems, which process data rather than manage social relationships.
• See: Sociological Systems Theory, Social Environment, Talcott Parsons, AGIL Paradigm, Action Theory (Sociology).

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References

2013

• (Wikipedia, 2013) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/social_system Retrieved:2013-12-26.
  • Social system is a central term in sociological systems theory. The term draws a line to ecosystem, biological organisms, psychical systems and technical systems. They all form the environment of social systems. Minimum requirements for a social system is interaction of at least two personal systems or two persons acting in their roles. The first who formulated a systematic theory of social systems was Talcott Parsons where it was a part of his AGIL paradigm yet the social system is only a segment (or a "subsystem") of what Parsons calls action theory; however, Vilfredo Pareto had used the term "social system" earlier but only as a sketch and not as an overall analytical scheme in the sense of Parsons. Jay Wright Forrester describes three counterintuitive behaviours as important: causes from symptoms are often far removed in time and space, identifying leverage points, conflicting short and long-term consequences.

• (Wikipedia, 2013) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Social_systems Retrieved:2013-12-26.
  • Social systems or social structure in general refer to entities or groups in definite relation to each other, to relatively enduring patterns of behavior and relationship within social systems, or to social institutions and norms becoming embedded into social systems in such a way that they shape the behavior of actors within those social systems. Social systems can be said to be the patterns of behavior of a group of people possessing similar characteristics due to their existence in same society.

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