Chapter 13: Government, Political Power, and Social Movements

Social movements

large groups of people who seek to accomplish, or to block, a process of social change

Democracy

a political system that allows the citizens to participate in political decision making or elect representatives to government bodies, enabling them to directly or indirectly decide the laws under which they will live

What does democracy mean?

ruled by the people

Participatory democracy

a system of democracy in which all members of a group or community participate collectively in making major decisions

representative democracy

a form of democracy in which citizens elect to governing bodies representatives who then vote on laws and policies

liberal democracy

a type of representative democracy in which elected representatives hold power

monarchy

a system of government in which an unelected king or queen rules

constitutional monarchy

a system of government in which a king or queen is largely a figurehead and real power rests in the hands of other political leaders

authoritarianism

a political system in which the governing bodies or leaders use force to maintain control

Populism

the belief that politics should reflect the needs and interests of ordinary people rather than those of elite individuals or groups

nation-states

particular types of states, characteristic of the modern world, in which governments have sovereign power within defined territorial areas, and populations are citizens who know themselves to be part of single nations

nation

people with a common identity that ideally includes shared culture, language, and feelings of belonging

state

a political apparatus (government institutions plus civil service officials) ruling over a given territorial order, whose authority is backed by law and the ability

Sovereignty

the undisputed political rule of a state over a given territorial area

Nationalism

a set of beliefs and symbols expressing identification with a national community

Local nationalism

he belief that communities that share a cultural identity should have political autonomy, even within smaller units of nation- states

Power

the ability of individuals or the members of a group to achieve aims or further the interests they hold

Authority

a government’s legitimate use of power

Civil rights

legal rights held by all citizens in a given national community

political rights

rights of political participation, such as the right to vote in local and national elections, held by citizens of a national community

social rights

rights of social and welfare provision held by all citizens in a national community, e.g., the right to claim unemployment benefits and sickness payments provided by the state

Welfare state

a political system that provides a wide range of welfare benefits for its citizens

revolutions

processes of political change involving the mobilizing of a mass social movement, which, by the use of violence, successfully overthrows an existing regime and forms a new government

Democratic elitism

a theory of the limits of democracy

Pluralist theories of modern democracy

theories that emphasize the role of diverse and potentially competing interest groups, none of which dominate the political process

Power elite

small networks of individuals who, according to C. Wright Mills, hold concentrated power in modern societies

Interest group

a group organized to pursue specific interests in the political arena, operating primarily by lobbying the members of legislative bodies

lobbying

the act of persuading influential officials to vote in favor of a cause or otherwise lend support to the aims of an interest group

Labor unions

organizations that advance and protect the interests of workers with respect to working conditions, wages, and benefits

Structural strain

tension that produces conflicting interests within societies

Collective action

action undertaken in a relatively spontaneous way by a large numbers of people assembled together

Relative deprivation

deprivation one feels by comparing oneself with a group

New social movements

a set of social movements that have arisen in Western societies since the 1960s in response to the changing risks facing human societies

Legitimation crisis

the failure of a political order to be able to govern properly because it did not generate a sufficient level of commitment and involvement on the part of its citizens