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Chapter 11 |
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Politics is about power and authority. Authority is power that people view as legitimately exercised over them, while coercion is power they consider unjust. The government, also referred to as the state, is a political entity that claims a monopoly on legitimate force or violence over some territory.
Max Weber identified three sources of authority. Power in traditional authority is derived from customs set in the past that serve as the rules for the present. Power in rational-legal authority (also called bureaucratic authority) is based on law and written procedures. In charismatic authority, power is based on loyalty to an individual to whom people are attracted. Charismatic authority has the potential to undermine traditional and rational-legal authority because of its unstable succession of power and the nature of its leadership.
Various types of government exist, each with its own unique way of exercising power. In a monarchy, power is based on hereditary rule. In a democracy, power rests with citizens. Literally translated, democracy means "power to the people." In a dictatorship, power is seized by an individual who yields total control over the people. An oligarchy is a type of dictatorship with power being exercised by a small group. Totalitarianism is almost total control of a people by the government.
The political system in the United States has been based on two main political parties, the Democrats and Republicans, since the Civil War. Although each party represents different philosophical principles, they are both different slices of the center. Voter turnout is higher among people who feel they have the greatest stake in the political system. Regular voters are more likely to be white, older, more educated, affluent, and employed. In contrast, those who gain less from the system in terms of education, income, and jobs are more likely to feel alienated from politics. Lobbyists and special-interest groups, such as political action committees (PACs), play a significant role in U.S. politics. A major criticism against lobbyists and PAC's is that their money, in effect, buys votes.
In a view known as pluralism, functionalists say that no one group holds power. A country's many competing interest groups balance one another. Conflict theorists claim the United States is governed by the power elite. The power elite consist of the top leaders of the largest corporations, the most powerful members of the armed forces, and certain elite politicians. Sociologist William Domhoff uses the term ruling class to refer to the power elite. Whether or not the functionalists or conflict theorists are correct requires additional study and research. It is certainly possible that both views may be partially correct.
An essential characteristic of the state is its monopoly on violence. At times, this violence may be directed at other nations. Armed conflict between nations or politically distinct groups is referred to as war. When one group is politically weaker than its opponent the technique of terrorism is often employed. Terrorists rely on isolated attacks on highly visible targets to instill fear in their enemy's population. This is often accomplished through the use of suicide bombers. The most famous of these acts was the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon under the direction of Osama bin Laden on September 11, 2001.
The economy, a system of producing and distributing goods and services, has evolved from a simple subsistence economy of 100,000 years ago to the complex postindustrial economy of today's western world. The earliest human groups were hunting and gathering societies. Small groups lived off the land and produced little or no surplus. Economic systems grew more complex as technology improved and societies became larger. The first major change in the economy occurred with the domestication of animals and plants. These new societies were classified as pastoral and horticultural. Because of a more dependable food supply, humans settled in a single place and developed communities. Surpluses also began to be accumulated, laying the foundation for social inequality. The invention of the plow brought the next major change in society. Agricultural societies freed even more people from food production, and more specialized divisions of labor followed. The steam engine, invented in 1765, ushered in the industrial society which allowed people to produce even a greater surplus of goods, increasing trade as well as the level of social inequality. As surpluses grew greater emphasis was placed on consumption rather than production, a situation referred to as conspicuous consumption. Since 1973, a new society has emerged. Referred to as the postindustrial society, the emphasis is on service, trade, and an information explosion in what sociologists call a "global village." Another society may be on the horizon, the biotech society that merges biology and economics.
Today, the world's two major economic systems are capitalism and socialism. In capitalism, private citizens own the means of production and pursue profits. In socialism, the state owns the means of production and determines production with no goal of profit. Adherents of each have developed ideologies that defend their own system and paint the other as harmful. Critics of capitalism point out that it leads to social inequality. Critics of socialism say the system does not respect individual rights. Some nations have adopted a hybrid economic system that reduces the greed and exploitation of capitalism and the lack of freedom and individuality of socialism. This is referred to as democratic socialism or welfare capitalism. In recent years there has been a movement towards convergence theory, a system where capitalism and socialism adopt features of the other.
The term corporate capitalism indicates that giant corporations dominate capitalism. The profit goal of multinational corporations removes their allegiance from any particular nation. The global expansion of capitalism due to new technology, accompanied by the trend toward larger political unions, may indicate that a world political order is developing. This may bring world peace, but perhaps at a high cost of personal freedom.
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