Logic of Appropriateness

Tom Christensen

James G. March defines the logic of appropriateness thus: Individuals and organizations fulfill or enact identities by following rules and procedures that they imagine to be appropriate to the situations they are facing. Following standard operating procedures, they act according to what is expected of them, whether they are politicians, civil servants, or citizens. Appropriateness is a concept taken from culturally oriented theory and is concerned with informal norms and values, but it is also related to structural theory and formal norms because formal structure influences the development of informal norms. A distinction is often made between the processes whereby appropriate modes of thought and action evolve and the situations that call for appropriate action—generally termed matching situations . In this entry, the main features of the logic of appropriateness are outlined and discussed, including the key concepts underlying it—identities and rules, and the relationship between them. Next, the entry ...

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