Medicare is a social insurance program that serves more than 44 million enrollees (as of 2008). The program costs about $432 billion, or 3.2% of GDP, in 2007.
The definition of an institution is an established custom or practice, or a group of people that was formed for a specific reason or a building that houses the group of people. 1  Marriage is an example of a cultural institution. 2  A town council is an example of an institution of government.
Institutions LAST MODIFIED: 26 August 2013 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756384-0132. Sociologists have long noticed that communal life is often orderly. This observation motivates the idea of âinstitution.â One definition is that institutions are stable patterns of behavior that define, govern, and constrain action. Another definition is that an institution is an organization or other formal social structure that governs a field of action.