Sociology:
Your Compass for a New World
Robert J. Brym and John Lie
Wadsworth Group/Thomson
Learning
© 2003
Chapter 11
Politics
Power and Democracy
The Level of Democracy in a Society
Depends on How Power Is Distributed.
Power Is the Ability to Control Others,
Even Against Their Will.
When Power Is Concentrated in the
Hands of Few People, Society Is Less
Democratic.
Authority
 Authority, or Legitimate Power, May Be
One of Three Types
Traditional
Charismatic
Legal-rational
State and Civil Society
The State Is the Set of Institutions That
Specializes in the Exercise of Power and Authority
Civil Society Is the Private Sphere of Social Life.
To a Degree, Citizens Control the State Through
Political Parties
Lobbies
The Mass Media
Public Opinion
Social Movements
The Institutions of State
and Civil Society
STATE
Executive
(e.g., President: initiates laws,
ensures their implementation)
Legislature
(e.g., Congress:
makes laws)
Bureaucracy
(implements laws)
Judiciary
(courts:
interpret laws)
Coercive Apparatus
(police, military:
enforce laws)
Democracy involves two-way control.
CIVIL SOCIETY
Political
Parties
Lobbies
Mass
Media
Public
Opinion
Social
Movements
Pluralism
Pluralists Correctly Note That Democratic
Politics Is About Negotiation and Compromise
They Fail to Appreciate That Economically
Advantaged Groups Have More Power
Than Disadvantaged Groups
Percent of Political Activities Undertaken
by Rich and Poor Americans, 1988 (in %)
Percent
40
R = rich (annual family income $125,000+)
P = poor (annual family income < $15,000)
30
20
10
0
R
P
population
R
votes
P
R
P
contacts
Activity
Source: Verba, Schlozman, and Brady (1997).
R
P
hours
R
P
dollars
The Political Unity of Big Business,
U.S.A., 1984
Percent of Electoral Races
80
60
40
20
0
divided
predominant
Degree of Business Unity
Source: Clawson, Neustadtl and Scott (1992: 160).
unified
Elite Theory
Elite Theorists Correctly Note That Power Is
Concentrated in the Hands of Advantaged
Groups
They Fail to Appreciate How Variations in
the Distribution of Power Influence Political
Behavior and Public Policy
Power Resource
and State-centered Theories
Power Resource Theorists Usefully Focus on
Changes in the Distribution of Power in Society
and Their Effects
They Fail to Appreciate That State
Institutions and Laws Also Affect Political
Behavior and Public Policy
This Is the Focus of State-centered Theory
New Democracies
In Many New Democracies, Citizens Enjoy
Regular, Competitive Elections but Lack Legal
Protection of Rights and Freedoms.
Citizens Win Legal Protections of Rights and
Freedoms When
Their Middle and Working Classes Become
Large, Organized, and Prosperous
Powerful, Friendly, Pro-democratic Foreign
States Support Them
The Three Waves of
Democratization, 1828-1995
Number of liberal democracies
80
Third wave
60
40
20
0
1820
First wave
Second wave
1864
1908
Sources: Diamond (1996: 28); Huntington (1991: 26).
1952
1995
Year
Electronic Democracy
and Postmaterialsm
Believers in Electronic Democracy and
Postmaterialism Think the United States Has
Reached a New and Higher Stage of
Democratic Development
However, Enduring Social Inequalities
Prevent Even the Most Advanced
Democracies From Being Fully Democratic
The Class Cleavage in U.S.
Presidential Elections, 1960-92
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
Election Year
Source: Brooks and Manza (1997b).
1984
1988
1992