The Real World

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

Chapter 11
The Macro-Micro Link in Social Institutions: Politics, Education, and Religion

2nd Edition

Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein

What is Politics?
Politics: the methods and tactics of managing a nation or state, as well as administering and controlling its internal and external affairs. Government: the formal, organized agency that exercises power and control in modern society, especially through the creation and enforcement of laws.

What is Politics? (Contd)

Power is the ability Types of Political Systems: to impose ones Authoritarianism is a will on others. system of government by Authority is the and for a small number of legitimate, nonelites that does not include coercive exercise representation of ordinary of power. citizens.

Authoritarianism
Totalitarianism is the most extreme and modern form of authoritarianism in which the government seeks to control every aspect of citizens lives.

Types of Political Systems

(Contd)

A monarchy is government by a king or queen, with succession of rulers kept within the family.
Absolute monarchies typically have complete authority over their subjects Constitutional monarchs are royal figures whose powers are defined by a political charter and limited by a parliament or other governing body.

Types of Political Systems

(Contd)

A democracy is a political system in which all citizens have the right to participate. Pseudo-democracy, Corporate Democracy, Disenfranchisement, and low voter turnout in Canada Critical:(Neo-Marxists; Feminists; Critical ~ Frankfurt School; Chomsky Manufacturing Consent).

Pluralist Theory vs. Power Elite: Who Rules Canada?

Pluralism: a system of political power where a wide variety of individuals and groups have equal access to resources and power (Weber). C. Wright Mills coined the term power elitea relatively small number of people who control the economic, political, and military institutions of a society.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqb6hE1052M

What is Politics? (Contd)

Many people worry about the influence of money in politics. Special interest groups are organizations that raise and spend money to influence elected officials and/or public opinion. Corporate Influence on Parliament: Corporate Tax Evasion? Poor No More (2010)

What is Politics? (Contd)

The free press was very important to the drafters of the Constitution, and was originally intended to inform and educate the populace and to serve as a watchdog on government. The media continue to play a key role in the political process, but too often they focus on surface perceptions to the detriment of substantive debate The
free press/corporate press. Framing Palestine/Israel Conflict; Residential schools; G20

What is Education?
Education is the process by which a society transmits knowledge, values, and expectations to its members so they can function in society. Schooling serves a number of important functions for society: The transmission of knowledge Learning to follow societys rules and to respect authority Being socialized to develop other qualities that will eventually make us efficient and obedient workers

What is Education? (Contd)

Educational institutions also help to reproduce the inequality seen in society. The hidden curriculum describes the values and behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling because of the educational systems structure and teaching methods. The Pygmalion Effect: the idea that teachers attitudes about their students unintentionally influenced their academic performance.

What is Education? (contd)

This includes things such as obedience to authority and strict adherence to norms. Many argue that the hidden curriculum reinforces and reproduces conditions of social inequality in society. Foregrounding Critical Pedagogy (bell hooks; Paulo Freire)

What is Education? (Contd)

Kozols ethnography, Savage Inequalities, contends that because schools are funded by local property taxes, children in poor neighborhoods are trapped in poor schools, which reinforces inequality. Waiting for Superman (2010)

Education?
Many believe that Americas educational system is in crisis, though there is little agreement on how to fix the problem. Some attempts have included: Charter schools are public schools run by private entities to give parents greater control over their childrens education.

Solutions to Failing Education System? (Contd)

Early college high schools are institutions that blend high school and college into a coherent educational program in which students earn both a high school diploma and two years of college credit toward a bachelors degree.

Solutions to Failing Education System?

School vouchers are payments from the government to parents whose children attend failing public schools to help parents pay for private school tuition. Homeschooling involves the education of children by their parents, at home. Distance learning includes any educational course or program in which the teacher and students do not meet together in the classroom, a situation increasingly available over the Internet.

What is Religion?
Religion includes any institutionalized system of shared:
beliefs (propositions and ideas held on the basis of faith) rituals (practices based on those beliefs) that identify a relationship between the sacred (holy, divine, or supernatural) and the profane (ordinary, mundane, or everyday).

What is Religion?
Religion includes any institutionalized system of shared beliefs (propositions and ideas held on the basis of faith) and rituals (practices based on those beliefs) that identify a relationship between the sacred (holy, divine, or supernatural) and the profane (ordinary, mundane, or everyday).

What is Religion? (Contd)

Sociologists do not evaluate the truth of any religion, but study the ways that religions shape and are shaped by cultural institutions and the ways that religions influence and are influenced by the behaviors of individuals.

What does religion do?

Religion:
shapes everyday behavior by providing morals, values, rules, and norms for its participants. gives meaning to our lives. provides the opportunity to come together with others to share in group activities and identity.

Religion and Social Change

Religion can be dysfunctional by promoting inequality with sexist, racist, or homophobic doctrines. (Christian Fundamentalism in the U.S., murdering doctor who performed legal abortions) On the other hand, religious organizations have also been agents of social justice and political change (social integration/cohesion). (i.e. The role of church in the Civil Rights Movement).

Religious Composition of the United States (Figure 11.2)

http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/ analytic/companion/rel/canada.cfm
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd Edition
Copyright 2010 W.W. Norton & Company

What is Religion? (Contd)

Religiosity is the regular practice of religious beliefs, measured by church attendance. Canada-historically a Christian nation, profound impact on both the character of the nation and on the Canadian characters (OToole, 2000: 67). Immigration shifts from European to Asian & Africanstill most Canadians identify as Christian. Increasingly secular, with a qualifier.

What is Religion? (Contd)

Extrinsic religiosity refers to a persons public display of commitment to a religious faith. Intrinsic religiosity refers to a persons inner religious life or personal relationship to the divine. Spiritualism, New Age Movements.

What is Religion? (Contd)

Two groups have dramatically increased in size in recent decades:
Fundamentalist: those who literally interpret texts and want to return to a time of greater religious purity Unchurched: those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious and who often adopt aspects of various religious traditions

Theory in Everyday Life

The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd Edition

Copyright 2010 W.W. Norton & Company

Social Institutions | Concept Quiz

1. The ability to impose ones will on others is called: a. the government b. politics c. power d. authoritarianism

Social Institutions | Concept Quiz

2. The placement of students into different educational programs of study such as remedial classes or college-prep classes is called: a. tracking b. intrinsic education c. the hidden curriculum d. simulacrum

Social Institutions | Concept Quiz

3. The values or behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling because of the educational systems structure and teaching methods is called: a. tracking b. intrinsic education c. the hidden curriculum d. simulacrum

Social Institutions | Concept Quiz

4. Public schools run by private entities to give parents greater control over their childrens education are called: a. charter schools b. early college high schools c. home schools d. tracking schools

Social Institutions | Concept Quiz

5. Attendance at a religious service is an example of _______ religiosity. a. intrinsic b. secular c. liberation d. extrinsic

Social Institutions | Concept Quiz

6. The practice of emphasizing literal interpretation of religious texts and a return to a time of greater religious purity is called: a. fundamentalism b. liberation theology c. secularization d. intrinsic religiosity

This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for Chapter 11

The Real World

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY 2nd Edition

Kerry Ferris
and

Jill Stein

For more learning resources, please visit the StudySpace site for The Real World, 2e at:
wwnorton.com/studyspace

2010 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.