This goes at the beginning of the notesNov. 5, 2013Tuesday, November 05, 20131:29 PM Elite Theory -Politics is defined as the struggle for power to control policy-Political Stratification- population is segmented into separate groups that are in layers ("strata") with higher or lower amounts of power-Political Elite- organized-Mass- unorganized-Political Understructure- not separate class, political elite uses this to carry out policies -Suggests that relatively few people in key positions in government, industry, academia, the media, and other institutions control a disproportionate share of the nation's economic and political resources How can the Republican and Democratic Parties be Elite?-Republicans: big business, want more money for the higher up not necessarily poorer people-Democrats: Favorable tax rates (I didn't get to write all of these down) -"Elite" Actors- Government, Industry, Academia, The Media, Other-Resources: Economic, Political Power Elite-C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite (1956)oThe "war lords" in the military establishmentsoThe "corporation chieftains" in the economic sectoroThe "political directorate" in the top positions in the political systems Class Approach-Stratification: basic fact of structured inequality in the distribution of values in societyoClasses (strata)- large group of individuals who are similar in their possession of or control over some fundamental valueoClass Conflict- classes lower in the class system can increase their share of key values only at the expense of the classes above them Classic Class Approach-He went through this really fast and I didn’t get to write it down. May be on blackboard laterModern Class Approach-More than 2 major class strata, characterized by levels of social, political, and economic power-Control of the means of production is important -Possession of information resources and knowledge has become the crucial resource distinguishing classes in post industrial and societies The Pluralists Approach-Multiple groups compete actively in the pursuit of the political interestsoGroup- any aggregate of individuals who interact to pursue a common interest-AssumptionsoGroup memberships are multiple and not overlappingoMany different political resources might influence those who make public policy decisionsoEvery individual has some political resources with which he can attempt to influence policy decisions Government and Pluralism-Politics- interaction among groups that are pursuing their political interests-Public Policy- the balance point of the competition among groups on an issue at the timewhen government makes a policy decisionWhat is the role of government under the pluralist approach?-Sets rules-Listens to all groups-Balance resources-Find policy-Implement policy Criticism of Pluralism-Some groups are likely to win almost every time the play the game of politics because they have a huge advantage in their political resources-$$$ Money dominates all other resources-Government is guided by strong ideology and is almost always responsive to upper strata groups with the most power in society Compare Approaches-Equality?oStratification vs. Choice -Nature of Society?oElite/Class- Coercive View of SocietyoPluralism- Integrative View of Society***He is putting this PowerPoint on Blackboard at some pointThere will be a chart about comparing the approaches more in depth he said to look over***Also the highlighted spots are where he had changed the slide and I wasn't able to copy down everything This goes at the beginning of the
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