Chapter 13: Politics and Economic Life

minimum wage - minimum standard of living for health, efficiency, general well-being

economy - system of production and exchange provides for material needs of individuals living in particular society

power - ability of individuals/groups make own interests or concerns count

• even with resistance

• somtimes involves use of physical force or threats

• in all social relationships

• ex. employer and employee

coercive and dominant power - use force and fear

• usually threatened rather than applied

• convincing potentially rebellious actors that struggle would be meaningless

• rewards for compliance

• can come from either wihin or outside state

  • ex. police, terrorism

authority and legitimate power - use sense of legitimacy, obedience, duty

• belief state or authority figure has best interests of everyone at heart

  • charismatic - authority from inspiring personality or achievements

    • ex. MLK

  • traditional - customs, rituals

    • ex. the Pope

  • rational-legal - explicit rules, decisions made for benefit of society

    • ex. the Supreme Court

intedependent power - power relationships between individuals and social groups reciprocal

• even when actors believe have no influence, actually do in variety of social circumstances

• rulebreakers subvert dominant paradigms

  • social movements have some level of impact

• shift from looking at who controls resources to specific power of social connections

privilege - nuance of power, how differences made significant

• unearned advantages and conferred dominance

authority - gov legitimate use of power

• citizens must consent to use of power

• citizens exert authroity through representatives

state - political apparatus of gov ruling over given territory

• has institutions like parliament or congress

• authority backed by legal system and capacity to use force to implement policies

• network of organizations

  • organizations have autonomy, state doesn’t always act in unified manner

infrastructural power - ability of state to control lives without using physical force

• ex. can access information, tax citizens, control with legislation

compulsory submission - no choice but to submit to power of state while reside within it

• (Weber)

monopoly of force - state decides what force is legitimate

• complications in legitimacy of force leads to breakdown of democracy

• (Weber)

capital intensive - money priamry resource

• capitalists in control

• wealth concentrated in cities

• states smaller, commercialized, focused on trade

• capitalists influence nation building

• (Tilly)

coercive intensive - raw materials and land primary resources

• states developed without capitalists, trade links weaker

• (Tilly)

nation-states - state which gov has soverign power within difined territory

• population comprises citizens believe themselves part of single nation or people

• shared culture, history, identity

• monopoly on use of force

• possession of territory other nations recognize as sovereign

sovereignty - gov possess authority over area with clear-cut borders

citizens - people living within borders of political system

• have common rights and duties

• know themselves as members of national political community

nationalism - sense of belonging to single national political community

• expressed through set of shared symbols and beliefs

• feel sense of pride and belonging

local nationalism - comunities share cultural identity should have political autonomy within smaller units of nation-state

• arisen in opposition to nationalisms fostered by states

• ex. French-Quebec challenges “Canadianness”

civil liberties - rights of individual as established by law

• ex. freedom of speech and religion

political rights - right of political participation

• ex. right to participate in elections, right to run for political office

social rights - right of individuals to enjoy minimum standard of economic welfare and security

• usually last to develop

• ex. sickness benefits, unemployment benefits

welfare state - gov orgs provide amterial benefits for those unable to support themselves adequately through paid employment

democracy - political system which people rule, not monarchs or dictators

participatory democracy - all members of group of community participate collectively in making major decisions

• limited importance in modern socieites, impossible for everyone to participate actively in making of all decisions

direct democracy - participatory democracy where citizens vote directly on laws and policies, do not need to convene in one setting to do so

constitutional monarchs - kings or queens who are largely figureheads, real power in hands of other political leaders

• power severly restricted by constitutions of respective countries

• ex. Royal family of England

liberal democracies - voters can choose between two or more political parties

• majority of adult population has right to vote

communism - in future capitalism replaced by society with no class

• economic system under communal ownership

• (Karl Marx)

populist authoritarianism - philosophy and style of gov with assertive leadership values security over civil liberties

• strong nationalism, anti-immigrant, anti-globalization

• challenge to liberal democracy

populism - belief politics should reflect needs and interests of ordinary people rather than elite individuals and groups

authoritarianism - political system where gov bodies/leaders use force to maintain control

interest groups - group organized to pursue specific interests in political arena

• operate primarily by lobbying members of llegislative bodies

• vary in size, can be national or statewide

• ex. American Medical Association

lobbying - act of presenting arguments to influential officials to convince them to vote in favor of cause

politics - social institution distributes power, sets society agenda, makes decisions

• become more polarized

government - formal organization that directs political life of society

• speaks for state

• administration constantly changes, but many aspects of state remains the same

Piven and Cloward - power relational and two-way street

• people compete over same resources

  • ex. money, affection, time, status

• don’t possess infinite employment/food/time

• people contest terms and ends of cooperative efforts

  • strike over fair wages, employment practices

• rule-making and rule-breaking rational and essential to relationships

  • not all rule-breaking needs to be dramatic

social cleavages - individuals who belong to similar demographics vote in similar ways

• ex. age, sex/gender, race/ethnicity, education, social class, religion

democratic elitism - rule by elites inevitable, hope elites effectively represent interests in innovative and insightful fashion

• (Weber)

pluralist theories of modern democracy - gov policies in democracy influenced by bargaining among numerous groups representing different interests

• individuals have little/no direct influence on political decision making, presence of interest groups limit centralization of power in hands of gov officials

• ex. business orgs, trade unions, ethnic groups, environmental orgs, religious groups

power elite - highest positions runs country and rest of world

• come from similar social backgrounds, interests, know each other on personal basis

work - activity people produce from natural world and ensure survival

• not just paid employment

occupation - paid employment individual regularly works

• basis of economic system

technology - application of knowledge of material world to production, creation of material instrumentss used in human interaction with nature

• nature of industrial production changes in relation to wider social and economic influences

informal economy - transactions outside sphere of reuglar employment

• sometimes involves exchange of cash for services provided or direct exchange of goods or services

• ex. babysitter paid in cash “off the books”

housework - unpaid work with household appliances

division of labor - social cohesion when multiple part of society function as integrated whole

• work divided into enormous number of different occuptations which people specialize

• (Dukheim)

economic interdependence - most people in modern soceity don’t produce food they eat or material goods they consume

• division of labor global, components of all products sourced from many factories in different countries

alienation - own abilities as human beings taken over by others

• loss of workers control over both process and products of labor (Marx)

strike - temporary stopage of work by group of employees to express grievance or enforce demand

• may seek higher wages or greater job security

union - means of redressing imbalance of power between workers and employers

collective bargaining - process of negotiation between employers and workers

• used to reach agreements about broad range of working conditions

  • ex. pay scales, working hours, training, health and safety, right to file grievances

capitalism - way of organizing economic life

• private ownership of means of production

• profit as incentive

• competition for markets to sell goods

• acquire cheap materials

• cheap labor

• expansion and investment to accumulate capital

corporations -

entrepeneur - boss who owns and runs firm

monopoly - one firm occupies commanding postiion in given industry

oligopoly - small group of giant corportations predominates

• firms able to dictate terms on buy goods and services from smaller firms that are their suppliers

family capitalism - large firms run by individual entrepeneurs or by members of same family then passed on to descendants

• ex. Rockefellers, Fords

managerial capitalism - managers have more influence in growth of large firms

welfare capitalism - practice that sought to make corporation primary shelter from uncertainties of market in modern industrial life

institutional capitalism - emergence of sonsolidated network of business leadership concerned with decision making in single firms and development of corporate power

• based on practice of corps holding stock shares in other firms

interlocking directorates - linkage among corps created by individuals who sit on two or more corp boards

• exercise control over much of corp landscape

global capitalism - corp increasingly stateless, loyal to no country

• shareholders, directors, top officers drawn from many countries

transnational corps - large corps establish branches in two or more countries

• operate across manhy diff national boundaries

automation - programmable machinery

knowledge economy -economy where ideas, infor, forms of knowledge underpin innovation and economic growth

• ex. high technology, education and training, research and development, financial sector

unemployment - inability to find job when one wants it

• rates fluctuated