Politics and Government PPT Macionis 20

Politics and Government

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

Power  The ability to achieve desired ends despite resistance from others

• Government –  – A formal organization that directs the political life of a society • Governments demand compliance from the population.  – Weber: Most governments governments don’t don’t openly threaten their people.

• Every government tries to make itself seem legitimate. Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

 Authority Power that people perceive as legitimate rather than coercive.

• Traditional –Power legitimized through respect for long established cultural patterns • Rational-legal –Power legitimized by legally enacted rules and regulations

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

 Authority Power that people perceive as legitimate rather than coercive.

• Charismatic –Power legitimized through extraordinary personal abilities that inspire devotion and obedience  – Routinization of charisma –The transformation of charismatic authority into some combination of traditional and bureaucratic authority

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

Monarchy  A political system in which a single family rules from generation to generation

•  Absolute monarchy  – Rulers claiming power based on divine right  – Modern examples: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain

• Constitutional monarchy  –  –  –  –

Symbolic heads of state Political principles rule Elected official actually rules Modern examples: Great Britain, Spain, Denmark

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

Democracy  A political system that gives power to the people as a whole

• Representative democracy – Authority in hands of elected leaders, accountable to the people • The US isn’t truly democratic .  – Extensive use of unelected bureaucratic officials  – Wealthy have more political clout than impoverished. • Political economy  – The interplay of politics and economics  – Capitalist societies claim freedom while socialist societies claim security.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

Other Political Systems •  Authoritarianism – A political system that denies popular participation in government  – Authoritarian government is indifferent to people’s needs.  – Examples: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Ethiopia

• Totalitarianism – A highly centralized political system that extensively regulates people’s lives  – Seeks to bend people to the will of the government  – Vietnam, North Korea

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

The Rise of the Welfare State • Individualism • Welfare state –Government agencies and programs that provide benefits to the population • One in six US workers is a government employee. • The US welfare state is still smaller than those of many other high-income nations. Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

The Political Spectrum • Ranges from extremely liberal on the left to extremely conservative on the right • Economic issues • Social issues • Class, race, and gender  • Party identification

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

Special-Interest Groups People organized to address some economic or social issue

• Special-interest groups  – Strong in nations where political parties tend to be weak  – Employ lobbyists to work on their behalf 

• Political action committee (PAC) – An organization formed by a special-interest group, independent of political parties, to raise and spend money in support of political goals

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

Voter Apathy •  Americans are less likely to vote today than a century ago.  – Only half of all registered voters participated in the 2000 presidential election. Participation rose to 60% in 2004.  – Women slightly more likely than men to vote  – Over 65 much more likely to vote than college-age  – Non-Hispanic whites more likely to vote than African  Americans  – Hispanics least likely to vote  – People with a bigger stake in US society are more likely to vote

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

Voter Apathy • Conservatives: Apathy is political indifference. • Liberals: Apathy is alienation.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

Theoretical Analysis of Power in Society • Pluralist model – An analysis of politics that sees power as spread among many competing interest groups • Power-elite model – An analysis of politics that sees power as concentrated among the rich • Marxist political-economy model – An analysis that explains politics in terms of the operation of a society’s economic system

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

Political Revolution

The overthrow of one political system in order to establish 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  – Thomas Hobbes: Intellectuals provide the  justification for revolution. • Establishing new legitimacy  – Guarding against the counterrevolution

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

Terrorism  Acts of violence or the threat of violence used as a political strategy by an individual or a group

Characteristics: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Define violence as a legitimate political tactic; bypasses established channels of negotiation Used by governments as well as individuals Democratic countries are especially vulnerable to terrorism because of broad civil liberties. One person’s terrorist is another's freedom fighter.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

War and Peace 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, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

War and Peace • Social class and the military  – "America's military seems to resemble the makeup of a two-year commuter or trade school outside Birmingham or Biloxi far more than that of a ghetto or barrio or four-year university in Boston."

• Is terrorism a new kind of war?  – Conventional warfare is symmetrical.  – Terrorism is asymmetrical.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

War and Peace • The costs and causes of militarism  – Military-industrial complex –The close association of the federal government, the military, and the defense industry  – Regional conflict as a reason for continuing militarism • Nuclear weapons  – Nuclear proliferation –The acquisition of  nuclear weapons technology by more and more nations Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

War and Peace • Mass media and war   – The power of the mass media to provide selective information to a worldwide audience means that television and other  media are almost as important to the outcome of a conflict as the military that are doing the actual fighting.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis

Pursuing Peace • Deterrence  – Balance of power between societies

• 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, 12 th Edition by John Macionis