The Structural Implications of Social System Size: A Three-Level Analysis

This study examines the structural implications of social system size on three levels of the social system hierarchy: the institutional, the communal, and the societal. Cross-tabular and correlation analysis indicate that large size has a substantial influence on the internal organization of social systems at each level. The most pervasive effect of size is on the communicative structure of social systems. With expanding system size, disproportionately large amounts of human resources are drawn into the communicative components of institutions, communities, and societies. Professional and technical functions likewise tend to increase disproportionately, but not nearly as much as communicative functions. Comparative analysis also shows that current research findings on the negative effect of size on the managerial structure of institutions may not be generalizable to larger and more diffuse social systems.