©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004 The Structure of Society: Organizations, Social Institutions and Globalization Chapter 9 NOTE: This is a sample - not the complete set of PowerPoint® Slides for Chapter 9

©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, Presidential Election  Why didn’t country collapse during 36 days when presidential election was “up in the air?”  Answer: Social structure  Legal and political institutions functioned as designed and structure rose above actions of individuals

©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004 Social Structure  Social structure - Social institutions, organizations, groups, statuses and roles, values, and norms that add order and predictability to our private lives.  Can create tension between needs of individual and needs of system  Examples from education system?

©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004 Tragedy of the Commons  When cost is shared and benefit is to individual, what happens?  Social dilemma - Potential for a society’s long-term ruin because of individuals’ tendency to pursue their own short-term interests

©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004  Social dilemma also occurs when people refrain from contributing to a common resource because the resource is available regardless of their contribution  Examples?  Free-Rider problem - Tendency for people to refrain from contributing to the common good when a resource is available without requiring any personal cost or contribution

©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004 Possible Solutions  Establishing communication  Restrictive rules or laws  Examples?

©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004 Bureaucracies: Max Weber  A bureaucracy is a large hierarchical organization that is governed by formal rules and regulations and that has a clear specification of work tasks.  Needed to accomplish feats such as building cities, governing large populations etc.

©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004 Characteristics of Bureaucracies  Division of labor: Specialization of different people or groups in different tasks, characteristic of most bureaucracies  hierarchy of authority: Ranking of people or tasks in a bureaucracy from those at the top, where there is a great deal of power and authority, to those at the bottom, where there is very little power and authority  Impersonality  How does a university provide an example of these 3 characteristics?

©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004 McDonaldization of Society  McDonaldization: The process by which the characteristics and principles of the fast food restaurant come to dominate other areas of social life.  Streamlined processes  Uniform goods or services  Speeded up transactions  George Ritzer used idea as metaphor for harmful effects of bureaucratization on society.  Likely to continue because:  Impelled by economic interests  Efficiency has become culturally desirable  Parallels other changes in society