A Sociological analysis of the growth and development of the episcopal mission in Sagada, Mountain Province : a new institutional explanation Grazielle K. Micklay

Thesis (Master of Arts in Sociology) -- University of the Philippines Diliman, July 2019

This research studies the emergence, persistence and transformation of institutions. This is approached by looking at the growth and development of the religious institution of the Episcopal church in the Philippines particularly of the St. Mary the Virgin Church in Sagada, Mt. Province through the case study method. This was analyzed through the interplay of the "choice-within-constraints" framework, institutional isomorphism and decoupling in the paradigm of New Institutionalism which shows the processes through which institutions are created, maintained, and changed. Through the New Institutionalist paradigm, it was revealed that the organizational rules of the St. Mary the Virgin Church were transformed through the negotiations and bargaining between and among the state, the Episcopal Church, and the Sagada locals or the micro-level, meso-level and macro-level actors and the scope and influence of the institutions that they create. Despite its colonial origins, the institutions of the St. Mary the Virgin Church has not homogenized because of the decoupling strategies employed by the organization in response to the strong opposition norms from the Sagada indigenous religion. Likewise, the Sagada locals, in response to the century-long presence of the Episcopal church, had also employed decou[pling strategies to accommodate the rules of the church in order to deal with the changes imposed on them by the state which had changed the norms associated with their indigenous religion. Hence the sources and the scope of institutions, and the relationship between and among each of them are offered by the New Institutionalist paradigm is beneficial to the study if institutional formation and transformation