INEQUALITY AND SOCIAL CLASS FINAL

Links between class position and political activeness

(Positive) voter/participation rates, financial influence and campaign contributions, and direct representation in government.

What did Richard Centers find in his work

The assumption that the majority of Americans identified as middle class was false due to the limited answering freedom of upper, middle, and lower class choices, more people chose work/middle class due to lower class stigma, and that Americans are more conscious of class disparities than previously believed.

The Gilbert Kahl model

A way of mapping the American class structure based primarily on economic position, specifically where a household’s income comes from.

Gilbert Kahl Model’s Classes

the capitalist class, upper middle class, working rich, middle class, working class, working poor, and underclass.

Gilbert Kahl Model Importance

The model is important for this class because it highlights how economic resources are distributed unevenly across society.

Income

The money a person or household receives over a period of time, typically through wages, salaries, investments, or government benefits. A flow of money coming into the household.

Wealth

The assets a person or household owns. (Ownership or property and investments)

Absolute poverty

Official measures set by the federal government. Measured with two pieces of information: the cost of a basic meal for a family of four and the size of the family budget devoted to food/meal expenses. (Numerical)

Relative poverty

Someone has significantly less than the average member of the community. (Not Numerical)

Pessimistic Perspective

Along with the decline of manufacturing, there was a great loss of good-paying blue-collar jobs and led to “unskilled” residents seeking employment in lowly service occupations like being fast-food workers, janitors, and hospital orderlies, which caused social inequalities.

Optimistic Perspective

Highlights the new opportunities for well trained professionals, technicians and managers that rose in the postindustrial economy. There were emerging service producing sectors which meant new jobs for those with higher education and who were considered “highly skilled” over blue collar workers.

Polarized Perspective

While there were many opportunities for well trained professionals and those with higher education and skills across the economy, good blue collar jobs were getting harder to find, especially in manufacturing, where production levels climbed as employment declined. For the “unskilled” and undereducated workers, low paid service jobs were all that was available.

Veto groups

Organized groups with special interests. They do not have the power to impose their agenda, but they do have the power to diminish policies they oppose.

What does Riesman (The Lonely Crowd) tell us about the relationship between class leadership and initiation of new ideas

Believes that leadership is needed to initiate new ideas or halt something in progress. "Very specific and narrow issues" need a leader to spearhead new policy or reform and gain the attention/support of veto groups.

What does Riesman (The Lonely Crowd) tell us about the relationship between class leadership and the maintenance of the status quo?

Class leadership is less needed to maintain the status quo. Veto groups keep the system stable by fighting against each other towards a stalemate (political stability). They preserve the existing structure of society by not letting power shift too far in any direction.

Discuss Domhoff’s “Who Rules America” in terms of: Who are the people or groups involved?

The "Power Elite"

Discuss Domhoff’s “Who Rules America” in terms of: What is the source of power for these folks?

The power elite provide, “a leadership basis for the exercise of power on behalf of the owners of all large income producing properties.”

Discuss Domhoff’s “Who Rules America” in terms of: How is the power maintained?

Through strong cohesion and by being part of one interconnected corporate community linked to policy organizations and the upper class.

Why do women make less in wages than men?

Women face disadvantages such as occupational segregation and gender discrimination when it comes to making less in wages than men.

Why are women more likely to face poverty than men after a divorce?

Women are traditionally more financially dependent than men due to caregiving or household responsibilities.

"Think Tank"

A private organization with massive funding and influence, controlled by the wealthiest capitalists in our society to exclusively advance their own political and fiscal gain.

How are "Think Tanks" and "Policy Planning Groups" connected to social class inequality?

These billionaire funded organizations bolster social class inequality by pumping money and influence into whatever outcome best serves their financial interests, while diluting the voices of the average American.

Define “think tanks” and how they are different from “policy planning groups.”

Their focus on carrying out the legislative influence of the capitalist class.

Discuss C. Wright Mills’ “Power Elite” in terms of: Who are the people or groups involved?

The national structure of power is a three tiered hierarchy, with the power elite occupying the absolute top tier: Top corporate executives (“The corporate rich”), Top Federal Officials/ Political Directorate, and Military Leaders.

Discuss C. Wright Mills’ “Power Elite” in terms of: What is the source of power for these folks?

Institutional position rather than individual attributes or independent personal wealth.

Discuss C. Wright Mills’ “Power Elite” in terms of: How is the power maintained?

Through two primary types of mechanisms: Social Psychological and Structural Power.

Marx’s view of societal stratification

Dividing social classes based on their relationship to the means of production: The capitalist class, or bourgeoisie, who own and control, and the working class, or proletariat, who do not own the means of production and must sell their labor for wages. People must cooperate in production to survive, which can also create conflict. Class differences come from property ownership.

Weber’s view of societal stratification

There are three distinct social systems: Class, economic position (income or individual strength), Status, social rank, and Party, or political power, which involves efforts to influence a community or group and is affected by ideas from both class and status. The distinction between classes is shaped by who owns property, as well as by individuals’ skills, education, and contributions to the marketplace.