Chapter 10: The Macro-Micro Link in Social Institutions: Politics, Education, and Religion

What Are Social Institutions? Social institutions are systems and structures that shape the activities of groups and individuals in society. You can’t “visit” a social institution—it is a structure, not a place. Politics, education, and religion are examples of institutions. Social structures influence our lives, but they also influence other social structures. For instance, can you think of ways that politics might influence education, or education might influence religion? We can revisit this question at the end of this chapter to see if you’ve thought of any new connections.

What Is Politics? Politics: the methods and tactics of managing a nation or state, as well as administering and controlling its internal and external affairs Politics often refers to administering and controlling the affairs of the nation or state, but the term can also refer to the attitudes and activities of certain groups or individuals. [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/The_Ratification_of_the_Treaty_of_Munster%2C_Gerard_Ter_Borch_%281648%29.jpg]

What Is Politics? (cont’d.) Government: the formal, organized agency that exercises power and control in modern society, especially through the creation and enforcement of laws In the United States, we have various levels of government, including federal, state, county, local, and so on.

What Is Politics? (cont’d.) Power is the ability to impose one’s will on others. Authority is the noncoercive, legitimate exercise of power. If you are moving to a new apartment and you need help moving your stuff, you might convince one of your friends to help out. You are imposing your will on your friend, or exercising your power over that person. In this example, though, you don’t have any authority. In the United States, an obvious example of authority is a police officer—a person who has legitimate, state-backed power. You could also think of resident assistants in the dorms, principals at schools, or any other person in a position that formalizes, or legitimates, their noncoercive exercise of power.

Types of Political Systems Authoritarianism is a system of government by and for a small number of elites that does not include representation of ordinary citizens.

Types of Political Systems (cont’d.) A dictatorship is one form of an authoritarianism system; usually a dictator does not gain power by being elected or through succession but rather seizes power and becomes an absolutist ruler. This form of government gives one person the power to rule without the consent of the citizens.

Types of Political Systems (cont’d.) Totalitarianism is the most extreme and modern form of authoritarianism, in which the government seeks to control every aspect of citizens’ lives. Oftentimes, these regimes stay in power by circulating propaganda (information intended to influence peoples’ beliefs) through government-controlled mass media.

Types of Political Systems (cont’d.) A monarchy is government by a king or queen, with succession of rulers kept within the family. Absolute monarchies typically have complete authority over their subjects. Constitutional monarchs are royal figures whose powers are defined by a political charter and limited by a parliament or other governing body.

Types of Political Systems (cont’d.) A democracy is a political system in which all citizens have the right to participate. The American political system prides itself on being a democracy, a government that confers power to the people. Despite controversy about how to count voter turnout, many worry that fewer eligible voters actually vote in the United States than in some comparable democracies. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1963_march_on_washington.jpg]

Pluralist Theory vs. Power Elite Pluralism: a system of political power where a wide variety of individuals and groups have equal access to resources and power. Sociologists have two answers to the question of who rules America—the pluralist theory of power and the idea of a power elite. Many people like the idea of pluralism because the nature of this system is to embrace diversity of views and perspectives.

Pluralist Theory vs. Power Elite (cont’d.) C. Wright Mills coined the term power elite — a relatively small number of people who control the economic, political, and military institutions of a society. Some people argue that the United States has a power elite, because there are a relatively small number of people who each have several important positions. These kinds of connections, according to Mills, keep the powerful in power and make access to power very difficult for an outsider without prior connections.

What Is Politics? (cont’d.) Many people worry about the influence of money in politics. Special interest groups are organizations that raise and spend money to influence elected officials or public opinion. The free press was very important to the drafters of the Constitution, and was originally intended to inform and educate the populace and to serve as a watchdog on government. The media continue to play a key role in the political process, but too often they focus on surface perceptions to the detriment of substantive debate.

What Is Politics? (cont’d.) In addition to special interest groups, the mass media also impacts politics. For instance, many people form their beliefs based on information from opinion leaders. Opinion leaders are high-profile people who interpret events and influence the public. For an interesting discussion, come prepared to discuss some major event that has happened recently. This will work best if the event is somewhat local (for instance, within your state). Ask students what they think about the event, and then ask how they formed this opinion. Was anyone actually there? Do they know someone who was? If not, how do they even know what really happened?

What Is Education? Education is the process by which a society transmits knowledge, values, and expectations to its members so they can function in society. So, you have all been through the educational system to some extent. What kinds of things did you learn? Ask your students to talk about their experiences in the educational system. Hopefully they will be able to discuss examples of manifest and latent functions of education, which you can elaborate on in a moment. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UniSIMClassroom.JPG]

What Is Education? (cont’d.) Schooling serves a number of important functions for society: The transmission of knowledge Learning to follow society’s rules and to respect authority Being socialized to develop other qualities that will eventually make people efficient and obedient workers The transmission of knowledge is a manifest function—that means it is an obvious function of education. Obviously, you learn to read, write, do math, and so on. Other functions are not so obvious, and those are called latent functions. Examples of latent functions include learning to follow society’s rules and to respect authority, and being socialized to develop other qualities that will eventually make us efficient and obedient workers. These goals aren’t on the class syllabus, but students learn them through interactions with teachers and others within the system.

What Is Education? (cont’d.) Educational institutions also help to reproduce the inequality seen in society. The hidden curriculum describes the values and behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling because of the educational system’s structure and teaching methods. It is clear that while education does benefit everyone, it unfortunately does not benefit everyone equally. Sociologists have long been interested in the hidden curriculum, which is related to the latent functions of education we just discussed. This includes things such as obedience to authority and strict adherence to norms. Many argue that the hidden curriculum reinforces and reproduces conditions of social inequality in society. In The Credential Society, Randall Collins argues that reproducing society’s existing class structure is the true function of education.

What Is Education? (cont’d.) The Pygmalion Effect: the idea that teachers’ attitudes about their students unintentionally influence their academic performance Rosenthal and Jacobson’s symbolic interactionist study of education suggested that teachers’ attitudes about their students unintentionally influenced their academic performance. When teachers expected students to succeed, the students indeed tended to improve. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Classe_maternelle2.jpg]

What Is Education? (cont’d.) Kozol’s ethnography, Savage Inequalities, contends that because schools are funded by local property taxes, children in poor neighborhoods are trapped in poor schools, which reinforces inequality. In his book Social Inequalities (1991), Kozol documents the significant differences among America’s schools: “the highest spending districts have twice as many art, music, and foreign language teachers . . . 75 percent more physical education teachers . . . 50 percent more nurses, school librarians, guidance counselors, and psychologists . . . and 60 percent more personnel in school administration than the low-spending districts.”

What Is Education? (cont’d.) Many believe that America’s educational system is in crisis, though there is little agreement on how to fix the problem. Some attempts have included early college high schools, homeschooling, school vouchers, and charter schools.

What Is Education? (cont’d.) Early college high schools: institutions that blend high school and college into a coherent educational program in which students earn both a high school diploma and two years of college credit toward a bachelor’s degree

What Is Education? (cont’d.) Homeschooling has grown steadily in popularity since the 1980s. In 2007–2008, it was estimated there were more than 2 million home-schooled children in the United States. The academic achievement of home-schooled students, on average, was significantly above that of publicly schooled children, even if their parents were not certified teachers. Homeschooling: the education of children by their parents, at home

What Is Education? (cont’d.) School vouchers are payments from the government to parents whose children attend failing public schools to help parents pay for private school tuition.

What Is Education? (cont’d.) Charter schools: public schools run by private entities to give parents greater control over their children’s education

What Is Education? (cont’d.) Distance learning includes any educational course or program in which the teacher and students do not meet together in the classroom, a situation increasingly available over the internet.

What Is Religion? Religion includes any institutionalized system of shared: Beliefs: propositions and ideas held on the basis of faith Rituals: practices based on those beliefs that identify a relationship between the sacred (holy, divine, or supernatural) and the profane (ordinary, mundane, or everyday) There are many different kinds of religions in the world, but they all share these same basic tenets.

What Is Religion? (cont’d.) Sociologists do not evaluate the truth of any religion, but rather study the ways that religions shape and are shaped by cultural institutions and the ways that religions influence and are influenced by the behaviors of individuals. It is very important that as sociologists, we take a step back from our own beliefs and employ our sociological imaginations to understand the values and beliefs of others. As sociologists, we are interested in society and social interactions, and we cannot understand these things without understanding the religious beliefs of people within various societies.

What Does Religion Do? Religion Shapes everyday behavior by providing morals, values, rules, and norms for its participants Gives meaning to our lives Provides the opportunity to come together with others to share in group activities and identity Again, this is true of nearly any religion. Oftentimes, the individual beliefs of religions may differ yet the structures of the religions are similar.

Religion and Social Change Religion can be made dysfunctional by promoting inequality with sexist, racist, or homophobic doctrines. On the other hand, religious organizations have also been agents of social justice and political change. In the Civil Rights era, most communications about gatherings, protests, or events to raise awareness were announced and advertised through churches.

Religious Composition in the United States

What Is Religion? (cont’d.) Religiosity is the regular practice of religious beliefs, measured by church attendance. Thirty-eight percent of Americans report attending services weekly. [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/St_Maria_Sehnde_Gottesdienst.jpg] Matthias Feige / Wikimedia Commons

What Is Religion? (cont’d.) Extrinsic religiosity refers to a person’s public display of commitment to a religious faith. Intrinsic religiosity refers to a person’s inner religious life or personal relationship to the divine.

What Is Religion? (cont’d.) Two groups have dramatically increased in size in recent decades: Fundamentalists: those who literally interpret texts and want to “return” to a time of greater religious purity Unchurched: those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, and who often adopt aspects of various religious traditions In recent decades the number of Americans who identify themselves as fundamentalist (the practice of emphasizing literal interpretation of texts and a “return” to a time of greater religious purity) and unchurched (a term describing those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, and who often adopt aspects of various religious traditions) has dramatically increased. As we can see, even religion can’t be studied without examining the context (the society, the people, their attitudes, etc.), and it’s clear that religious practice changes over time and across cultures.

So What? Importance of Institutions Social institutions are an important part of the structure of our society. As a sociologist, it is important to understand how institutions shape our lives, and how we can shape institutions as well! Ask students if they have gained any new insights after this presentation. Now can you think of ways that politics might influence education, or education might influence religion? How about other institutions that we didn’t talk about today?

Chapter 10: Participation Questions There are millions of people who are eligible to vote in the United States. What percentage of those people do you think usually come out to the polls for a presidential election? close to 100 percent not 100 percent, but over 75 percent around 50 percent less than 25 percent ANS: C These questions can be used with “clickers,” cell phones, or other audience response systems to increase participation in your classes. They can also be used to encourage discussion without technological input.

Are you registered to vote? yes no Chapter 10: Participation Questions Are you registered to vote? yes no These questions can be used with “clickers,” cell phones, or other audience response systems to increase participation in your classes. They can also be used to encourage discussion without technological input.

Chapter 10: Participation Questions Which of the following best describes your K–12 school experience? I was in a remedial track. I was in a regular or standard track. I was in an honors track. I was in a dual enrollment or advanced placement (AP) track. I was in an intense college preparatory track like the International Baccalaureate or Cambridge program These questions can be used with “clickers,” cell phones, or other audience response systems to increase participation in your classes. They can also be used to encourage discussion without technological input.

Do you think that high school prepared you for college? yes no Chapter 10: Participation Questions Do you think that high school prepared you for college? yes no These questions can be used with “clickers,” cell phones, or other audience response systems to increase participation in your classes. They can also be used to encourage discussion without technological input.

Have you taken an online class? yes no Chapter 10: Participation Questions Have you taken an online class? yes no These questions can be used with “clickers,” cell phones, or other audience response systems to increase participation in your classes. They can also be used to encourage discussion without technological input.

Which of the following best describes you? Chapter 10: Participation Questions Which of the following best describes you? attend religious services regularly attend religious services occasionally rarely or never attend religious services These questions can be used with “clickers,” cell phones, or other audience response systems to increase participation in your classes. They can also be used to encourage discussion without technological input.

This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for Chapter 10