1. Today’s Class Domination Stratification Democracy and Bureaucracy
Comparing Weber and Marx
In-class Writing
Discussion of Espeland article
Film clip/discussion

2. Domination Weber’s definition Legitimate and Illegitimate Domination
Types of Legitimate Domination
Based on personal authority:
Traditional
Charismatic
Based on normative authority:
Rational

3. Legitimate Domination
Traditional Authority
Domination through tradition
Charismatic Authority
Domination through miracles
Rational Authority
Domination through knowledge

4. Stratification Sphere Stratification Type Key Resource Economy Class
Wealth
Politics
Party (Power Group)
Power
Culture
Status Group
Social Status (Respect)

5. Stratification Ideal Types – independent dimensions of inequality
Interrelated
Cultural stratification as basis for economic and political stratification
Economic and political stratification translated into cultural stratification

6. Bureaucracy and Democracy
“Bureaucracy inevitably accompanies mass democracy . . .” (E & S, p. 983)
Passive democratization
Tension between bureaucracy and democracy
Bureaucracy as indestructible
“the discipline of officialdom”
Bureaucracy as a tool

7. Political Limitations of Bureaucracy
Increasing power of state bureaucracy (government)
Civil service mentality

8. Robert Michels Political Parties (1911): Iron Law of Oligarchy
“Who says organization, says oligarchy.”
Roots of oligarchy:
Technical expertise
Tendency to dependence on leaders
Special qualities of leaders

9. Weber’s Politics Rejection of fascism and socialism
“Politics as a Vocation” (1918)
Qualities of political leaders

10. Comparing Weber and Marx
Similarities
Comparative-historical approach
Concerns about impact of modernization (alienation; the iron cage)
Concerns about materialistic values under capitalism (commodity fetishism; Protestant ethic)

11. Comparing Weber and Marx
Differences
Optimism vs. pessimism
Class struggle vs. rationalization
Materialist account vs. complex causality
Class vs. Class, Status and Party

12. In-Class Writing
Explain the title of Espeland’s article, “Bureaucratizing Democracy, Democratizing Bureaucracy.”
(In what way does her case study show how democracy can be bureaucratized and bureaucracy democratized?)

13. Class Discussion of Espeland
What is this article about?
Who held power within the Bureau of Reclamation?
What was the chronology of the Orme Dam decision?
How was public involvement incorporated into the decision process?

14. Class Discussion of Espeland
What were the procedures of the PVA?
What kind of rationality was built into the design of this process?
Who counted as a political actor in the PVA process?
How was bureaucracy democratized?
How was democracy bureaucratized?

15. Class Discussion of Espeland
What does Espeland mean when she states that “ a narrow view of democracy limits our understanding of power”?
In what way does this case suggest that Weber was partially wrong about bureaucracy?

16. Film Clip: “In the Light of Reverence”
What are the parallels between the case depicted in the film and the case described by Espeland?
How can we describe these conflicts in terms of Weber’s distinctions about different forms of rationality?
Why are seemingly rational decision processes irrational from the perspective of some social actors?