Formal Institutions in Historical Perspective

Abstract

Modern humans (Homo sapiens) are thought to have evolved about 100,000 years ago. However, evidence of formal institutions in human society dates from less than 10,000 years ago. The paper outlines possibilities that may have enabled, or possibly necessitated, the emergence of formal institutions out of a past which contained solely informal ones. Two leading factors appear to be concentration of a growing population into urban centers and concentration of economic surplus into the hands of an elite. Formal institutions represent a technology that facilitates control over people and is compatible with hierarchical social systems and property accumulation.

Keywords::

• formal institutions
• history
• control