Untitled Flashcards Set

What is politics?

The ability of people or groups to gain access to government and use its power to influence society.

What defines a democracy?

A political system in which people can directly vote for their representatives or on specific rules or policies.

What does lobbying involve?

Contacting elected representatives to argue for a particular position.

Who are activists?

People who believe normal methods of exerting political influence are insufficient or illegitimate.

What are social movements?

Groups organized to push for social change through contentious means.

What is an authoritarian governing style?

A style that relies on strict obedience to leaders.

What is the primary goal of political sociology?

To study the state, its policies, and the people who influence the state.

How do states fund their programs?

Through taxes, which are required payments from citizens to the state.

What is the median voter model?

Predicts that government offers policies that reflect the preferences of voters in the center.

What is suffrage?

The right to vote.

What was the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

A federal law that barred states from discriminating against Black voters.

What does the term 'biases' refer to in the context of sociology?

Inclinations or prejudices for or against something.

What is the definition of deviance?

Behaviors that violate social norms.

What are norms?

Expectations for behavior.

What are mores?

More seriously protected norms that reflect the morals and values of a social group.

What is social control?

Ways societies try to influence members' behavior to maintain social order.

What does the term 'anomie' mean?

A social lack of morals and expectations for behavior that can lead to deviance.

What does the term 'strain theory' describe?

Describes five adaptations to strain: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion.

What is economic sociology?

A field dedicated to understanding how social factors are connected to economic behaviors.

What is the gender pay gap?

The systematic difference in average pay between men and women.

What is environmental sociology?

Subfield that studies how societies interact with and affect the natural environment.

What is the tragedy of the commons?

A situation where individual people act selfishly with a shared resource, leading to its depletion.

What is the New Environmental Paradigm?

A perspective that considers potential limits to economic growth and encourages developing a stable economy balanced with nature.

What does climate change refer to?

The warming of the Earth and increases in extreme weather events.