Transcript Chapter 11: The Macro-Micro Link in Social Institutions: Politics

Chapter 11
The Macro-Micro
Link in Social
Institutions: Politics,
Education, and
Religion
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The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Politics?
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According to sociologists, politics refers to
the methods and tactics of managing a
political entity such as a nation or state, as
well as to the administration and control of its
internal and external affairs.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Politics? (Cont’d)
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Government is the formal, organized agency
that exercises power and control in modern
society, especially through the creation and
enforcement of laws. Power is the ability to
impose one’s will on others. According to
sociologists, authority is the legitimate, noncoercive exercise of power.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Politics? (Cont’d)
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Authoritarianism is a system of government
by and for a small number of elites that does
not include representation of ordinary
citizens. A dictatorship is one form of an
authoritarianism system; usually a dictator
does not gain power by being elected or
through succession but seizes power and
becomes an absolutist ruler.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Politics? (Cont’d)
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Totalitarianism is the most extreme and
modern form of authoritarianism in which the
government seeks to control every aspect of
citizens’ lives.
The Real World
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What is Politics? (Cont’d)
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A monarchy is government by a king or
queen, with succession of rulers kept within
the family. Absolute monarchies typically
have complete authority over their subjects,
while constitutional monarchs are royal
figures whose powers are defined by a
political charter and limited by a parliament or
other governing body.
The Real World
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What is Politics? (Cont’d)
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A democracy is a political system in which all
citizens have the right to participate.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Politics? (Cont’d)
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The American political system prides itself on
being a democracy, a government that confers
power to the people. Despite controversy
about how to count voter turnout, many worry
that fewer eligible voters actually vote in the
United States than in some comparable
democracies.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Politics? (Cont’d)
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Sociologists have two answers to the question
of who rules America—the pluralist theory of
power and the idea of a power elite. Pluralism
is a system of political power in which a wide
variety of individuals and groups have equal
access to resources and the mechanisms of
power.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Politics? (Cont’d)
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The power elite is a term coined by C. Wright
Mills for a relatively small number of people
who control the economic, political, and
military institutions of a society.
The Real World
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What is Politics? (Cont’d)
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Many people worry about the influence of
money in politics. Special interest groups are
organizations that raise and spend money to
influence elected officials and/or public
opinion.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Politics? (Cont’d)
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Political action committees (PAC’s) are
organizations that raise money to support the
interests of a select group or organization. 527
committees are organizations that have no
official connection to a candidate, but that
raise and spend funds like a campaign does.
The Real World
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What is Politics? (Cont’d)
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The free press was very important to the
drafters of the Constitution, and was
originally intended to inform and educate the
populace and to serve as a watchdog on
government. The media continue to play a key
role in the political process, but too often they
focus on surface perceptions to the detriment
of substantive debate.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Education?
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Education is the process by which a society
transmits knowledge, values, and expectations
to its members so they can function in society.
The Real World
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What is Education? (cont’d)
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Schooling serves a number of important
functions for society. These include the
transmission of knowledge, learning to follow
society’s rules and to respect authority, and
being socialized to develop other qualities that
will eventually make us efficient and obedient
workers.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Education? (cont’d)
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Educational institutions also help to reproduce the
inequality seen in society. It is clear that while
education does benefit everyone, it unfortunately
does not benefit everyone equally. Sociologists have
long been interested in the hidden curriculum (the
values and behaviors that students learn indirectly
over the course of their schooling because of the
educational system’s structure and teaching
methods).
The Real World
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What is Education? (cont’d)
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This includes things such as obedience to
authority and strict adherence to norms. Many
argue that the hidden curriculum reinforces
and reproduces conditions of social inequality
in society.
The Real World
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What is Education? (cont’d)
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Rosenthal and Jacobson’s symbolic
interactionist study of education suggested
that teachers’ attitudes about their students
unintentionally influenced their academic
performance. When teachers expected
students to succeed, the students indeed
intended to improve.
The Real World
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What is Education? (cont’d)
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Kozol’s ethnography, Savage Inequalities,
contends that because schools are funded by
local property taxes, children in poor
neighborhoods are trapped in poor schools,
which reinforces inequality. In The
Credential Society, Collins argues that
reproducing society’s existing class structure
is the true function of education.
The Real World
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What is Education? (cont’d)
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Many believe that America’s educational
system is in crisis, though there is little
agreement on how to fix the problem.
The Real World
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What is Education? (cont’d)
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Charter schools are public schools run by
private entities to give parents greater control
over their children’s education. Early college
high schools are institutions that blend high
school and college into a coherent educational
program in which students earn both a high
school diploma and two years of college
credit toward a bachelor’s degree.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Education? (cont’d)
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Homeschooling involves the education of children
by their parents, at home. School vouchers are
payments from the government to parents whose
children attend failing public schools to help parents
pay for private school tuition. Finally, distance
learning includes any educational course or program
in which the teacher and students do not meet
together in the classroom, a situation increasingly
available over the Internet.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Religion?
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Religion includes any institutionalized system
of shared beliefs (propositions and ideas held
on the basis of faith) and rituals (practices
based on those beliefs) that identify a
relationship between the sacred (holy, divine,
or supernatural) and the profane (ordinary,
mundane, or everyday).
The Real World
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What is Religion? (cont’d)
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Sociologists do not evaluate the truth of any
religion, but study the ways that religions
shape and are shaped by cultural institutions
and the ways that religions influence and are
influenced by the behaviors of individuals.
The Real World
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What is Religion? (cont’d)
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Religion shapes everyday behavior by
providing morals, values, rules, and norms for
its participants. Religion also helps give
meaning to our lives and provides the
opportunity to come together with others to
share in group activities and identity.
The Real World
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What is Religion? (cont’d)
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Finally, religious organizations have also been
agents of social justice and political change.
On the other hand, religion can also be
dysfunctional by promoting inequality with
sexist, racist, and homophobic doctrines.
The Real World
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What is Religion? (cont’d)
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When religiosity (the regular practice of
religious beliefs) is measured by church
attendance, 38 percent of Americans report
attending services weekly. Extrinsic
religiosity refers to a person’s public display
of commitment to a religious faith, while
intrinsic religiosity refers to a person’s inner
religious life or personal relationship to the
divine.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
What is Religion? (cont’d)
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In recent decades the number of Americans
who identify themselves as fundamentalist
(the practice of emphasizing literal
interpretation of texts and a “return” to a time
of greater religious purity) and unchurched (a
term describing those who consider
themselves spiritual but not religious and who
often adopt aspects of various religious
traditions) has dramatically increased.
The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Concept Quiz
1. The ability to impose one’s will on others is called:
a. the government.
b. politics.
c. power.
d. authoritarianism.
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The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Concept Quiz
2. The placement of students into different educational
programs of study such as remedial classes or
college-prep classes is called:
a. tracking.
b. intrinsic education.
c. the hidden curriculum.
d. simulacrum.
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The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Concept Quiz
3. The values or behaviors that students learn indirectly
over the course of their schooling because of the
educational system’s structure and teaching methods
is called:
a. tracking.
b. intrinsic education.
c. the hidden curriculum.
d. simulacrum.
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The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Concept Quiz
4. Public schools run by private entities to give parents
greater control over their children’s education are
called:
a. charter schools.
b. early college high schools.
c. home schools.
d. tracking schools.
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The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Concept Quiz
5. Attendance at a religious service is an example of
_______ religiosity.
a. intrinsic
b. secular
c. liberation
d. extrinsic
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The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Concept Quiz
6. The practice of emphasizing literal interpretation of
religious texts and a “return” to a time of greater
religious purity is called:
a. fundamentalism.
b. liberation theology.
c. secularization.
d. intrinsic religiosity.
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The Real World
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.