Some people call it "common sense" =)
In a serious sense though, I think you're describing a lot of social phenomenons. There's generally peer pressure on individuals to conform with their surroundings, and a lot of different social and legal systems to reprimand them. They're not all perfect, but generally the egregious behavior (think overt racism or homophobia) is phased out by a more conscious society.
> And feel that when people think of 'conspiracies', they mistakenly visualize it as mostly 'discussions in back rooms'.
The etymology of the word "conspire" means '[with] breath', which sorta implies a hushed discussion. If you're describing something that is implicit or unspoken, it's probably not a conspiracy. Maybe a modus operandi if you want to make it sound really scary.