class inequality- functionalists

Young (meritocracy)

Young coined, the term meritocracy to mean a society where people with merit are awarded with higher levels of status and money.

David and Moore (role allocation theory)

Roll allocation allows us to allocate the right jobs to the right people, because not everybody has the same abilities. Those who train for longer and a more skilled should carry out harder jobs. This benefits, both the individual who will be in a job appropriate to the skill, level and society who will have the right people in the right jobs, ensuring the smooth functioning of society.

Saunders (inequality protects liberty)

Saunders argues that unequal rewards are what motivate people to work hard and hence Capitalist societies thrive. he argues that to live in societies with little to know, equality would mean removing unequal rewards, and the results would be destroying the need to work harder and the entrepreneurial spirit, thus the population would not work hard and the society may falter.

Parsons (value consensus and social order)

Parsons argues that society is structured, so that people are socialised into a value . One of the key values, which we share is about “goal attainment” we agree that those who achieve the common goals should be rewarded financially. being socialised into the value, consensus means society functions as well, because people accept their position in the hierarchy, and thus social order is maintained