Power, Politics, and Society: An Introduction to Political Sociology

401 Pages·2011·7.18 MB·English

by  Betty Dobratz

P , P ,
OWER OLITICS AND
S : A I
OCIETY N NTRODUCTION
P S
TO OLITICAL OCIOLOGY
Betty A. Dobratz
Iowa State University
Lisa K. Waldner
University of St. Thomas
Timothy Buzzell
Baker University
First published 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Published 2016by Routledge
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Credits appear on Page 383, which constitutes an extension of the copyright page.
ISBN: 9780205486298 (pbk)
Cover Designer: Karen Salzbach
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dobratz, Betty A.
Power, politics, and society: an introduction to political sociology / Betty A. Dobratz, Lisa K.
Waldner, Timothy Buzzell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-205-48629-8 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-205-48629-0 (alk. paper)
1. Political sociology. I. Waldner, Lisa K. II. Buzzell, Tim. III. Title.
JA76.D598 2012
306.2—dc22
2010052422
Please visit the companion website at www.routledge.com/9780205486298
CONTENTS
Preface x
Chapter 1 POWER 1
Power: The Key Concept in Political Sociology 2
Metaphors and Paradoxes: Sociological Tools in the Study
of Power 3
Metaphors of Power Arrangements 5
The Conceptualization of Power in Political Sociology 10
Pluralist 11
Elite/Managerial 14
Social Class and Politics 17
Criticisms of the Class Perspective 22
The Traditional Frameworks Today 22
New Directions after the Traditional Frameworks 24
Conclusion 31
References 34
Chapter 2 ROLE OF THE STATE 36
What is the Modern Nation-State? 37
Defining the State 37
Emergence of States 38
Differentiating Government from the State 40
Features of Stateness 43
Differentiating Nation and State 43
Emergence of Nations 45
Different Forms of the Nation-State 47
Democracy 47
Democracy and Undemocratic Practices 48
Undemocratic State Forms 49
Theoretical Views on the State 51
Pluralism 52
Elite Views of the State 53
Class-Based Views of the State 55
Updated Marxist Theories of the State 57
State-Centric 59
Political Institutional or Institutionalist 60
Other Emerging Views of the State 62
Rational Choice 62
Postmodern 62
The Welfare State 63
Types of Welfare States 63
Role of Race and Gender 64
Future of the State 65
iii
iv Contents
Conclusion 66
Endnotes 66
References 67
Chapter 3 POLITICS, CULTURE, AND SOCIAL PROCESSES 71
Culture and Politics 72
Politics, Culture, and Theoretical Frameworks 74
Pluralist 74
Elite/Managerial 75
Class Perspective 77
Rational Choice 78
Institutionalist 79
Postmodern 81
Political Socialization 82
Political Values 86
The Shift from Materialist to Post-Materialist Values 87
Inkeles and the Modern Personality 89
Religion and Political Values 90
Ideology, Beliefs, and Public Opinion 92
The Faces of Ideology 92
Political Culture and Media 97
Media and Political Knowledge 99
Media and Political Values 101
Media and Political Symbols 103
Political Culture and Place 104
Political Subcultures 104
Nationalism 106
Conclusion 109
References 109
Chapter 4 THE POLITICS OF EVERYDAY LIFE: POLITICAL ECONOMY 114
Capitalism and Democracy 116
Theoretical Frameworks 117
Pluralist 117
Elite/Managerial 117
Class/Marxist 118
Postmodern 118
Rational Choice 118
Institutionalist 120
Class-Domination Theory of Power 120
Wall Street versus Main Street 121
Middle Class 124
Taxation 126
IndividualTaxes 127
Corporate Taxation 129
International Comparison Regarding Taxation 129
Summary 130
Contents v
The Welfare State 130
Corporate Welfare 130
Social Security 131
Public Assistance 132
Debt and Bankruptcy 135
Household Debt and Bankruptcy 136
Who Goes Bankrupt and Why? 137
Infrastructure 139
Bridges 143
Levees 144
Conclusion 146
Endnotes 147
References 147
Chapter 5 THE POLITICS OF EVERYDAY LIFE: SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 152
Education 153
No Child Left Behind 154
Marriage and Family 156
Family Law 158
Same-Sex Marriage 160
Health Care 167
Theoretical Frameworks 167
U.S. Health Care Uniqueness 169
Civil Liberties 170
Twenty-First Century: War on Terror 173
Race and Ethnic Relations and the Racial State 174
The Frameworks 174
Explaining the Racial State 175
Color-Blind Policies 176
Racial Identity and Equality 176
Environmental and Natural Disasters 176
Immigration: A Major Ethnic and Racial Issue Facing the United States 177
Conclusion 182
Endnotes 183
References 183
Chapter 6 POLITICAL PARTICIPATION 189
Political Participation as Power 189
Theoretical Frameworks 192
Pluralist 192
Elite/Managerial 195
Class 197
Rational Choice 198
Postmodern 199
Political Participation and Its Many Forms 201
Early Typologies of Political Participation 201
Emerging Typologies of Political Participation 204
vi Contents
Institutional Forms of Political Participation 205
Political Talk/Political Discourse 206
Political Participation and the Internet 207
Campaigning and Canvassing 208
Noninstitutional Forms of Political Participation 209
Graffiti 209
Protest and Demonstrations 211
Social, Political, and Revolutionary Movements 212
Political Engagement and Group Context 215
Politics and Social Capital 216
Themes in Research on Social Capital and Political Participation 218
The Changing Nature of Political Participation 219
Conclusion 222
References 222
Chapter 7 ELECTIONS AND VOTING 226
Theoretical Frameworks 227
Pluralist 227
Elite/Managerial 227
Class 228
Rational Choice 228
Postmodern 228
Institutionalist and Political Culture 229
The Functions of Elections 229
Electoral Systems and Turnout 230
Voting Behavior Research 235
Social Cleavages or Characteristics 236
Social Class 236
Gender Gap 240
Racial Cleavages 241
Religious Cleavages 243
Political Views and Issue-Based Voting 244
Liberalism and Conservatism 245
Party Identification 247
U.S. Presidential Elections 248
Elections during the Twenty-First Century 251
Conclusion 263
Endnotes 264
References 264
Chapter 8 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 269
Theoretical Frameworks 271
Pluralism and the Classical Collective Behavior Model of Social Movements 272
Elite Theory and Resource Mobilization 272
Class Framework or the Political Process Model 272
Rational Choice 273
Postmodern 274
Contents vii
Old and New Social Movements 274
Smart Growth Movements as New Social Movements 276
Criticisms of New Social Movements 276
Other Approaches to Movements 277
Collective Identity 278
Framing 279
Emotions 281
Toward a Synthesis of Structuralist, Rationalist,
and Culturalist Frameworks 283
The Life Cycle of Social Movements 284
Social Movement Emergence and Mobilization 284
Social Movement Outcomes, Influence, and Decline 289
Repression: The State’s Reaction to Movements 293
Globalization and Transnational Movements 295
Conclusion: Social Movements as Part of Political Sociology 297
Endnotes 298
References 298
Chapter 9 VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM 303
Political Uses of Hate 304
Genocide 304
Defining Genocide 304
Conditions for Genocide 305
Sociological Causes of Genocide 305
War Making 307
Theoretical Views on War Making 307
Future of War Making 309
New Wars 309
Terrorism 310
Defining Terrorism 312
Labeling Terrorism 314
Types of Terrorism 315
Terrorism and Sociological Theories 322
Collective Action Theory 323
Political Economy 323
World Systems Perspective 324
Framing 325
Categorical Terrorism 326
Causes of Terrorism 326
Microdynamic and Social Psychological Variables 327
Mesodynamic 327
Macrodynamic or Structural 329
Responding to Terrorism 333
Security and Response 333
Repression 334
Alleviating Structural Causes 335
viii Contents
Eliminating Political Opportunities 335
Peacebuilding 336
The Future of Terrorism 336
Optimistic View 337
Pessimistic View 337
Future Directions 337
Research 337
Conclusion 338
Endnotes 339
References 339
Chapter 10 GLOBALIZATION 344
What is Globalization? 345
Defining Globalization 345
Critique of the Term 346
Components of Globalization 346
Theoretical Perspectives on Globalization 351
World Systems Theory (WST) 351
Theories of Global Capitalism (GC) 352
Postmodern Views on Globalization 353
Network Society 353
Cultural Theories of Globalization 354
McDonaldization Thesis 355
Globalization Debates 356
Is Globalization Occurring? 356
What is the Evidence for Globalization? 357
Impact of Globalization on the Nation-State 359
Withering State Debate 360
Strong State–Weak State Thesis 361
Competing Globalization Camps 362
Theoretical Views on State Power 362
Public Policy 366
Welfare State 367
Nationalism 368
Democracy and Globalization 369
Is Democracy Spreading? 369
Role of Globalization 370
Exporting Democracy 372
Antiglobalization Movements 372
Future of Globalization 375
Future Trends 375
Future Sociological Research on Globalization 376
Conclusion 377
Endnotes 377
References 378
Credits 383
Index 384
TABLES AND FIGURES
Figure 1.1 The Pluralist Metaphor of Power: Groups and Coalitions at the Political Table 11
Figure 1.2 The Elite/Managerial Metaphor of Power: Dominance at Top 14
Figure 1.3 The Institutionalist’s Metaphor of Power 27
Figure 2.1 Differences between Major Models of the State 61
Figure 3.1 Materialist, Mixed, and Postmaterialist Population in Britain, France, West Germany, Italy,
Belgium, The Netherlands, and the United States by Age Group 88
Figure 3.2 Respondents Who Identify Themselves as Liberal, Moderate, or Conservative in the GSS,
1974 to 2008 94
Figure 3.3 TVas a Source of Political Information, 1974–2004, American National Election Studies 100
Figure 3.4 Newspapers as a Source of Political Information, 1974–2004, American National Election
Studies 101
Figure 3.5 Internet as a Source of Political Information, 1996–2004, American National Election
Studies 102
Figure 4.1 Major Categories of Federal Income and Outlays for Fiscal Year 2008 127
Figure 4.2 Social Security Reduces Number of Seniors in Poverty 131
Figure 4.3 The Social Control Model of State Response to Insurgency 134
Figure 4.4 Federal Capital Spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure, 1956 to 2007 140
Figure 5.1 Pew Research Center 2009 Results on Public Opinion on Gay Marriage 163
Figure 5.2 Pew Research Center 2009 Results on Public Opinion on Civil Unions 164
Figure 7.1 Secrecy Folder for Absentee Voting in Iowa 231
Figure 7.2 Official Absentee Ballot for Story County, Iowa, in the 2008 Election 258
Figure 8.1 APolitical Process Model of Movement Emergence 273
Figure 9.1 Comparison of Domestic Terrorism Deaths by Region 312
Figure 9.2 Terrorist Groups by Type 319
Figure 9.3 Terrorist Incidents by Global Region 321
Figure 9.4 Deaths by Region Including Both Domestic and International Terrorism 322
Figure 9.5 Location of Perpetrator and Victim in Terrorist Incidents 338
Figure 10.1 Pre and Post Reform Voting Power in the International Monetary Fund 348
Table 4.1 Republicans, Democrats Change Views about Whether Government Is Run for Benefit of All
(Depending on Which Political Party the President Affiliates With) 125
Table 4.2 One Hundred Years of Taxes Showing When Tax Freedom Day Has Occurred 128
Table 6.1 Contrasting Traditional Typologies of Political Participation 203
Table 6.2 Types of Political Participation Reported in the 2008 National Election Studies 204
Table 7.1 Voters among the Total Population (Eighteen plus), Citizens, and Registered Voting-Age
Populations 1964–2008 Presidential Elections 233
Table 7.2 National Election Political Preference from 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2008 CNN Exit Polls (in
Percentage) by Selected Sociodemographic Characteristics 237–238
Table 7.3 National Election Political Preferences from 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2008 CNN Election Exit
Polls (in Percentages) by Political Attitudes 246
Table 7.4 Popular Votes and Electoral College Votes in Presidential Elections 1960–2008 248–249
Table 7.5 Media Exposure of Obama, Clinton, and McCain Over Time from January 6
to June 15, 2008 255
Table 8.1 Characteristics of Old and New Social Movements 275
Table 8.2 Characteristics of Pro-Growth and Smart Growth Movements 277
Table 10.1 Theories of Globalization 356
Table 10.2 Three Globalization Camps 358
Table 10.3 Globalization Indicators 360
Table 10.4 Differing Theoretical Views of the Impact of Globalization on the State 366
Table 10.5 Antiglobalization Entities 375
ix