Week 1 02 03 2015 Week 2 02 03 2015 held Chapter 2 Concentration of power Economic and Political Institutions Politics refers to the agreement in society over who has the right to exercise control over others who can establish laws to regulate social life and how conflicting interests in society can be resolved Economics refers to the process through which goods and services are produced and distributed There are 3 types of economic systems Capitalism contains three key features The means of economic production and distribution are privately Profit motive is the primary guiding force in economic behavior There is free competition among producers and consumers of goods Government should stand aside during this process and let the market operate unhindered There are no pure forms of capitalism in the world today but the US is the most capitalist society Socialism economies in which the means of production and distribution are collectively held so that goods and services that people need are provided and equally distributed Production is based on human need and pure socialists reject the profit motive The primary motivation is to achieve collective goals A pure socialist society is rare Mixed Economy There are elements of both capitalism and socialism Most industry is privately owned and geared toward making a profit There is a competitive market economy but it still has strong regulations by the state Today the US economy is not based on individual ownership of businesses Rather the dominant form of business today is corporation or a business enterprise that is owned by stockholders most of whom are not involved in running the daily affairs of business Corporations versus Individual businesses Corporations are companies that are owned by stock holders and there are three things that distinguish them from individual owned businesses Corporations have access to a much broader scope of capital than individual businesses do Also stockholders only have a limited liability should the company because sued or go bankrupt Lastly the ownership of corporations is separate from the control of its policies and daily affairs Corporations now dominate the US economy Oligopoly when few corporations control the market Conglomerate A corporations that owns companies in other fields The US now participates in a global economy in which national boundaries have become less determinate as restraints on economic competition Unionization Capitalists were inclined to pay their workers as little as possible Workers went on strike and formed unions to eventually prevail in gaining rights Labor unions from many industries have combined forces The US is called a post industrialization society because of its shrinking number of workers in industrial occupations The largest growth in the workforce has been in white collar jobs such as sales management and teaching Unions face increasing hostility from the US public The US government has continued to grow because of a shift in regulation between social policy and economic regulation and the idea that any social ills can be cured through aggressive spending and people demand more services today than they have in the past Perspectives on concentration of power Functionalist perspective societies are made up of interrelated and independent parts including economic and political institutions as well as practices and cultural values Conflict perspective there is no necessary harmony among corporations the government and various groups in society The Power Elite Model a small groups of very powerful people make just about all of the important decisions in the US people in top positions in government businesses and the military Pluralist model power is spread over a large number of groups with divergent values interests and goals Military industrial complex the relationship between the military that wants to purchase weapons and the corporations that produce the weapons World Economic System World system theory world nations have become increasingly interdependent both economically and politically and are now linked to a worldwide system with some countries having more resources than others There are core nations which are capitalistic technologically advanced and peripheral nations which are less developed and have less resources The nations dominate and exploit the peripheral nations With the depression of 2008 2009 it is caused by lack of regulation in lax banking policies The recession is producing more and more chronic unemployment and African Americans are most likely to be affected The US is also facing a lot of competition resulting from outsourcing downsizing and offshoring Big government has also become a problem as governments become increasingly involved in its citizen s personal lives Government officials can be made to be more responsive they can regulate much more closely and they can be made more accountable Citizens can take action and become involved by organizing into a group to get the attention of government officials The success of collective action depends on the group s ability to appeal to large number of people strategic use of legislative strategies and effective use of media Currently many organizations are working to ensure labor rights throughout the world Divorce divorce rates have doubled since the 1940s divorce tends to leave women with lower standard of living and increased parental responsibilities Courts usually divide up only tangible property and do not take into account professional degrees earned during marriage Children suffer from the stress of diver from separation with negative effects persisting into childhood Dual earner families Single parenthood 30 of families with children under age 18 Violence in family violence between spouses former spouses cohabiting partners and dates One quarter of women and 8 of men was the victim of domestic violence at some point in their lives 25 33 of homosexuals have also been abused by a partner Actual numbers probably higher as people reluctant to admit Pregnant women are more likely to be victims of abuse than non pregnant This is because the pregnant woman is less focused on the partner and more distracted They are also more vulnerable and dependent Also if women make more money more powerful than they are also more likely to be victims of abuse It s not what you do it s the abuser s fault There is physical assault sexual assault psychological assault attacks against property and pets