chapter 11 politics and the economy. power, authority, and violence authority is legitimate power...

Chapter 11

Politics and the Economy

Power, Authority, and Violence

• Authority is Legitimate Power– Illegitimate Power is Coercion

• Traditional Authority– Authority Based on Tradition

• Rational-Legal Authority– Authority Based on Written Rules

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Power, Authority, and Violence

• Charismatic Authority– Authority Freely and Graciously Given– Threat Posed by Charismatic Leaders

• Transfer of Authority– Orderly from One Leader to Another


Types of Governments

• Monarchies

• Democracies– Direct– Representative– Universal Citizenship

• Dictatorships and Oligarchies– Totalitarianism


U.S. Political System

• Political Parties and Elections– Democrats, Republicans, and Third Parties– Different Slices of Center– Centrism and Extremes– Third Parties



Which Political Party Dominates?

Voting Patterns

• Non-Hispanic Whites Most Likely to Vote

• African-Americans Next Most Likely

• Latinos Least Likely to Vote

• Social Integration

• Alienation and Apathy

• Gender and Racial-Ethnic Gap in Voting


Lobbyists and Special Interests

• Special Interest Groups are People Who: – Think Alike on a Particular Issue and Mobilize

for Political Action

• The Money

• Lobbyists are People Paid to Influence Legislation

• “Handlers” Bypass Limits


Who Rules the U.S.?

• Functionalist Perspective: Pluralism– Diffusion of Power Among Many– Checks and Balances– Women, men, racial–ethnic groups, farmers,

factory/office workers, bankers, bosses, etc.– As well as such broad categories as the rich,

middle class, and poor


Who Rules the U.S.?

• Conflict Perspective: The Power Elite– Top Business, Political, and Military Leaders– Ruling Class– Not a Secret Group, Just Similar Backgrounds

and Orientations

• Which View Is Right?



Power in the United States: The Model Proposed by C. Wright Mills

War and Terrorism

• Why do Countries go to War?– Revenge– Power– Prestige– Unity– Positions


War and Terrorism

– Ethnicity– Beliefs

• The Flesh and Blood of War

• Terrorism– “Violence intended to create fear in an effort

to bring about political objectives.”

Sources “In Perspective” 2003; Belasco 2008; Stiglitz 2008; Statistical Abstract of the United States 1993: Table 553; 2009: Table 485© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Transformation of EconomicSystems

• Preindustrial Societies: The Birth of Inequality

• Industrial Societies: The Birth of the Machine

• Postindustrial Societies: The Birth of the Information Age


The Transformation of EconomicSystems

• Biotech Societies: The Merger of Biology and Economics– Marriage of biology & economics should yield

greater surpluses & more extensive trade

• Implications for Your Life– Whenever society changes, so do our lives


World Economic Systems

• Capitalism– What State Capitalism Is

• Socialism– What Socialism Is– Socialism in Practice– Democratic Socialism


World Economic Systems

• Ideologies of Capitalism and Socialism– Capitalists and socialists paint each other in

such stark colors that: • Each perceives the other system as one of

exploitation

• Criticisms of Capitalism and Socialism

• Convergence of Capitalism & Socialism


The Globalization of Capitalism

• A New Global Structure and the Global Oppression of Workers

• Stagnant Paychecks– Trends in Leisure– Telecommuting

• The New Economic System and the Old Divisions of Wealth


The Globalization of Capitalism

– High insecurity with layoffs, plant closings, and the prospect of more of the same

– Half of the entire country’s income goes to the richest fifth of Americans

– Only 3 percent goes to the poorest fifth

• The Global Superclass



The Inverted Income Pyramid: The Proportion of Income Received by Each Fifth of the U.S. Population

A New World Order?

• Trends Toward Unity– Perhaps the key political event in our era is

the globalization of capitalism

• Strains in the Global System– As the economic and political arrangements

of the present give way;• Future generations will face a new world


chapter 11 politics and the economy. power, authority, and violence authority is legitimate power...

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