Power, Authority, and the State Power determines which individuals and groups will be able to translate their
preferences into the reality of day-to-day social organization. The State.
The state rests on force
and consists of people who exercise an effective monopoly in the use of physical
coercion within a given territory. Sociological Perspectives on the State.
Functionalists say the state performs four functions: enforcement
of norms, overall social planning and direction, arbitration of conflicting
interests, and protection of a society’s members and interests against outside
groups. Conflict theorists say the state is a vehicle by which one or more
groups impose their values and stratification system upon other groups and
depict it as an instrument of violence and oppression. Legitimacy and Authority.
Sociologists distinguish
between power that is legitimate and power that is illegitimate. Legitimate
power is authority. Sociologist Max Weber suggested that power may
be legitimated by traditional, legal-rational, and/or charismatic
means.
Political Power Politics refers to the processes by which people and groups acquire
and exercise power. Political power is power that is organized and wielded
by the state. Types of Government.
Government can take the form of totalitarianism, authoritarianism,
or democracy, which is promoted by a strong civil society. Political Power in the United States.
A constitutional system of government defines and prescribes the boundaries
within which political power is pursued in the United States. Central to American
political processes are political parties, popular electoral participation,
interest-group lobbying (including political action committees),
and the mass media. Models of Power in the United States.
Marxist theory holds that political processes are affected by class
interests and conflict. The elitist model depicts major decisions as being
made by a power elite. The pluralist perspective says that no one group really
runs the government.
Economic Power Modern economic systems provide a different answer to the question of how economic
activity is organized--by the market or by the plan—and to the question of who
owns the means of production—individuals or the state. Comparative Economic Systems.
Capitalist economies rely heavily on free markets and privately held
property, and socialist economies rely primarily on state planning
and publicly held property. Most nations are characterized by mixed economies
that include elements of both. Transition from a Command
to a Market Economy.
Eastern Europe, the former Soviet
Union, and China are undergoing a transition from a command to a market economy,
with marketization and privatization proceeding slowly and resulting in a
high level of social uncertainty.
The Power of Corporations The government is an important participant in the U.S. economy, but the primary
productive role is played by private business. The Power of National Corporations.
Large corporations exercise enormous power in American life and constitute
oligopolies. The decisions made by their executives have implications
and ramifications that reach throughout the nation. The Power of Multinational Corporations in the Global Economy.
The rise of multinational corporations and the growing internationalization
of the world economy, including core regions and periphery regions,
have given economic power a new dimension. Such firms rival nations in wealth
and frequently operate as private governments pursuing their worldwide interests
by well-developed foreign policies. The Control of Corporations.
Some social scientists say that a managerial revolution has separated
ownership and effective control in corporate life, but others point to the
institutional constraints, such as corporate interlocks, that operate
on corporate decision makers.
The Sociology of Work Power extends into the workplace, determining whether work will be available,
how work will be organized, and the manner in which work will be remunerated. Changes in the Work Experience.
The work experience of Americans has undergone significant change
over the past 160 years; the proportion working on farms has declined, while
the proportion employed in service industries has risen. Work in nonindustrialized
societies is very different than work in industrialized societies. The Significance of Work.
People work for many
reasons in addition to "self-interest," and work has many social
meanings, especially those that define a person’s position in the social structure. Satisfaction and Alienation in Work.
Individuals in occupations that combine high economic, occupational,
and educational prestige typically show the greatest satisfaction with their
work and the strongest job attachment. When individuals fail to find their
work satisfying and fulfilling, they may experience alienation. Marx
and Durkheim had differing conceptions of alienation.
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education