Authority
justifiable right to exercise power
Charismatic Authority
based on the personal appeal of an individual leader
Traditional Authority
based on the appeals to the past or a long established way of doing things
Legal-Rational Authority
based on legal, impersonal rules that have been routinized and rationalized
Bureaucracy
legal-rational organization or mode of administration that governs by rules and roles and emphasizes meritocracy
The Milgram Experiment
tested people to see how far they would go in obeying an authority figure. Results = obedience’s to authority is a very powerful form of social control that can make “ordinary” people do unspeakable things
Power
ability to carry out one’s will despite resistance
Dominance
probability that a command with specific content will be obeyed by a given group of people
Domination by Economic Power vs. Domination by Authority
Domination by Economic Power = monopolies
Domination by Authority = willing obedience of the ruled to the commands of legitimate authority
The State
ex: Nazi Germany
ULTIMATE example of domination by authority
Coersion
use of force, as opposed to authority, to get others to do what you want
International State System
produced European states through colonization and subsequent decisions
Welfare State
system in which the state is responsible for the welfare of its citizens
Sociologist T. H. Marshall identified three types of citizen rights
Civil Rights: personal freedom from interference
Political Rights: Right to vote/hold office
Social Rights: Protection by the state
Three Dimensions of Power
1st: outright conflict resulting in one side “winning”
2nd: power that is so imposed that it seems pointless to resist
3rd: averting conflict all together by limiting peoples choice
Impossibility Theorem
shows how difficult it is for people to express their true, first-choice desires when selecting between more than two alternatives
Hard Power
use of military or economic force to influence behavior
Soft Power
use of cultural or ideological means to influence behavior
Thomas Hobbes
believed that the state of nature is chaos and that people submit to authority (the state) as a means of survival
John Locke
argued that people live in peace and equality in the state of nature but that they ultimately submit to authority (the state) for financial reasons (property)
Theory of Collective Action
states that it is harder to organize larger groups that smaller ones because less accountability exists in larger groups and individuals in larger groups may find it easier to slack off and not do their part
Political Participation
any activity that has the intent or effect of influencing government action
Civil Volunteerism Model
focuses of individual- level traits that affect how politically active a person is