Linkage institution - Wikipedia
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A linkage institution is a structure within a society that connects the people to the government or centralized authority. These institutions include: elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media. Popular examples of linkage institutions include the NRA, AARP, NAACP, and BBC.[citation needed]
Government is established as a legitimate alternative to violence. These governments create policymaking institutions to develop rules by which conflicts within society are to be resolved. Democratic governments often elect a legislative body, monarchies rely on a single arbitrator, and aristocracies establish a privileged body of individuals. All of these centralize authority, develop an institutionalized structure, and provide a means for creating policy. Dynamic social changes occasionally require rules within a society to adapt. Linkage institutions serve to connect individuals within a society to the centralized authority..[1]
Political exclusions and oligarchical tendencies within societies can result in "linkage failures." These failures create tensions within society and act as catalysts for social protests and rebellion.[2]
- ^ Jenkins & Klandermans 1995, pp. 16–17
- ^ Jenkins & Klandermans 1995, p. 20
- Jenkins, J. Craig; Klandermans, Bert (1995), The politics of social protest: comparative perspectives on states and social movements, University of Minnesota Press, ISBN 978-0-8166-2422-5