1. Politics and Government
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

2. Power and Authority
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

3. Politics & Government Politics Power Government
The social institution that distributes power, sets a society’s agenda, and makes decisions.
Power
The ability to achieve desired ends despite resistance from others.
Government
A formal organization that directs the political life of a society.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

4. Weber’s Types of Authority
Authority - Power people perceive as legitimate, not coercive.
Traditional
Power legitimized through respect for long established cultural patterns.
Rational-legal
Power legitimized by legally enacted rules and regulations.
Charismatic
Power legitimized through extraordinary personal abilities that inspire devotion and obedience.
Examples: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Adolf Hitler

5. Politics in global perspective
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

6. THE MONARCHY MONARCHY ABSOLUTE MONARCHY CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHIES
Rule by a single family over generations typical of ancient agrarian societies.
Monarchies are legitimized by tradition, according to Weber.
ABSOLUTE MONARCHY
Rulers monopolizing power based on divine right.
Modern Example: Saudi Arabia
CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHIES
Modern-day monarchies
More figure head than ruler
Political principles rule
Elected official actually rules
Modern Example: Great Britain, Spain, Denmark, etc.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

7. Democracy
Democracy – A political system which gives power to the people as a whole.
Linked to Rational-legal Authority
High-income countries claim to be democratic.
Representative Democracy – Authority in hands of elected leaders, accountable to the people.
The U.S. is not truly democratic.
Extensive use of unelected bureaucratic officials.
Rich have more political clout than poor.
Capitalist societies claim to be democratic because of personal liberties while socialist countries claim to be democratic because of economic equality.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

8. Global Map (p. 447) Political Freedom in Global Perspective In 2005, a total of 89 of the world’s 192 nations, containing 44 percent of all people, were politically “free”; that is, they offered their citizens extensive political rights and civil liberties. Another 54 countries, which included 19 percent of the world’s people, were “partly free,” with more limited rights and liberties. The remaining 49 nations, home to 37 percent of humanity, fall into the category of “not free.” In these countries, government sharply restricts individual initiative. Between 1980 and 2005, democracy made significant gains, largely in Latin America and Eastern Europe. In Asia, India (containing 1 billion people) returned to the “free” category in In 2000, Mexico joined the ranks of nations considered “free” for the first time. Source: Freedom House (2005).
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

9. Other political systems
Authoritarianism
A political system that denies popular participation in government.
Totalitarianism
A highly centralized political system that extensively regulates people’s lives.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

10. Politics in the united states
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

11. The Rise of the Welfare State
Welfare state, government agencies and programs that provide benefits to the population.
The U.S. welfare state is still smaller than those of many other high-income nations.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

12. The Political Spectrum
The political spectrum helps us understand two types of issues:
Economic Issues
Economic Inequality - Poverty
Social Issues
Moral questions about how people ought to live.
Equal Rights, abortion, death penalty, etc.

13. Where do you fall on the political spectrum? Why?
Discussion question
Where do you fall on the political spectrum?
Why?
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

14. Class, Race, and Gender
Rich people tend to be conservative on economic issues but liberal on social issues.
Low income people are economically liberal yet socially conservative.
African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Jews and women tend to be liberal.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

15. Figure (p. 452) Left-Right Political Identification of College Students, Student attitudes moved to the right after 1970 and shifted left in the mid-1990s. College women tend to be a bit more liberal than college men. Source: Astin et al. (2002) and Sax et al. (2003).
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

16. Special interest groups
Political alliance of people interested in some economic or social issue.
Ex. Gun lobbyists
POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES
Organizations formed by special interest groups, independent of political parties, to pursue political aims by raising and spending money.
2004 – US presidency candidates spent $4 billion on their campaigns.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

17. Voter apathy Many people do not vote.
Women are more likely to vote than men.
65+ are more likely than college students to vote.
People making $75,000+ are more likely to vote than people making less than $10,000.
Homeowners, parents with young kids, more schooling and good jobs are more likely to vote.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

18. DISCUSSION QUESTION
Kentucky and Virginia are the only states that don’t automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons after serving their sentence.
Should convicted felons have a right to vote?
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

19. National Map (p. 454) The Presidential Election, 2004: Popular Vote by County George W. Bush won the 2004 presidential election with 51 percent of the total popular vote, but he received a majority in about 80 percent of the nation’s counties. John Kerry, who gained 48 percent of the popular vote, did well in more densely populated urban areas. What social differences do you think distinguish the areas that voted Republican and Democratic? Why are rural areas mostly Republican and urban areas mostly Democratic? Source: Copyright © 2004 by The New York Times. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

20. Theoretical analysis of power in society
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

21. Theoretical Analysis Pluralist model – linked to S-F.
Power is dispersed among many competing interests groups.
All groups have some voice.
The power-elite model – based on S-C.
“Real” power is concentrated among the very rich in America.
Concentrating wealth in the hands of the few makes the US a mostly capitalist economy.
Marxist political-economy model – S-C.
Power is divided along the lines of a political economy.
Bias is rooted within the nation’s social institutions.
Revolution is the only answer.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

22. Power beyond the rules
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

23. Political Revolution
Political Revolution – The overthrow of a political order in order to establish another.
Coup d’etat – one leader disposing another
Political Revolutions have common traits:
Rising expectations
Tend to happen when quality of life is improving.
Unresponsive government
Government unwilling or unable to reform.
Radical leadership by intellectuals
Revolution is often “university centered”. Students play crucial role.
Establishing new legitimacy
Guarding against the counterrevolution.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

24. Characteristics of Terrorism
Terrorism - Acts of violence, or the threat of violence, employed by an individual or a group as a political strategy.
Define violence as a legitimate political tactic while bypassing established channels of negotiation.
Used by governments as well as individuals.
State Terrorism – use of violence generally without the support of law, by government officials.
Democratic countries are especially vulnerable to terrorism.
It is a matter of definition, one person’s terrorist is another's freedom fighter.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

25. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Where were you when you heard about the 9/11 terrorist attacks?
What were people’s reactions?
What have been some of the long term consequences of the 9/11 terrorist attacks?
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

26. War and peace
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

27. A Sociological approach to war
Wars occur often but there is nothing natural about humans engaging in war.
Warfare is a product of society.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

28. Quincy Wright’s Five Factors That Promote War
Perceived threats
Threats to people and territory.
Social problems
Internal problems and frustration.
Political objectives
Show of force and protecting one’s own property.
Moral objectives
Rallying people around morality.
Absence of alternatives
Limited options
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

29. Figure 17-3 (p. 458) Deaths of Americans in Eleven U. S
Figure (p. 458) Deaths of Americans in Eleven U.S. Wars Almost half of all U.S. deaths in war occurred during the Civil War (1861—1865). Sources: Compiled from various sources by Maris A. Vinovskis (1989) and the author.

30. Sociological profile of the armed forces
A large share of young people:
join the military to earn money for college or just to get out of a small home town.
are of working-class background.
are looking to the military for a job.
The largest number of young enlistees come from the South, where local culture is more supportive of the military and where most military bases are located.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

31. Militarism The world’s nations spend 1 trillion annually.
$ for every person on earth
Military spending went up for decades due to the arms race between the US and the Soviet Union.
Trying to increase military power.
Militarism continues due to regional conflict.
Even small conflicts have the potential to grow.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition

32. Reducing Chances For War And Increasing Chances Of Peace
DETERRENCE
Balance of power (or terror) between societies.
Ex. Cold War – 50+ years
HIGH-TECHNOLOGY DEFENSE
Strategic defense initiative.
DIPLOMACY AND DISARMAMENT
Keep talking about reducing arms.
RESOLVING UNDERLYING CONFLICT
Increase spending on promoting peace rather than building up military.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition