Sociology

Sociology Study Guide

• The three means of control: o Reward: Offering a benefit or something positive in exchange for obedience or compliance. o Punishment: Threatening or creating negative consequences for disobedience. o Influence: Manipulating information, attitudes, and feelings. • The two types of power: o Illegitimate: Few in society view the people who are acting in power do not have a right to do so. o Legitimate: Society views the power or authority to be valid and/or justified. • The three types of legitimate power: o Traditional: Power is based on socially accepted customs and practices. It has historical roots and is religiously sanctioned; for these reasons, it is usually hereditary and an ascribed status. Leadership quality is not a requirement; people will obey because they always have. o Rational-legal: Power is based on rules, regulations, and procedures that are expressly designed to establish power and how it is exercised and distributed. It is based more on the position and not the person holding the position. o Charismatic: Power is based on the qualities of the leader, like being able to excite and inspire his/her followers. It is often unstable as it rests with the charisma of one person. This kindof leader can have a positive or negative influence on societies. • The three perspectives on the distribution of political power: o Pluralist: Social order is achieved when the state effectively mediates interest groups, seekspublic consensus, and passes laws and regulations to reflect that consensus. o Elitist: Democracies in the modern world are led by a very small minority (the elite). o Class conflict: Derived from Karl Marx’s works, this perspective believes that power is in the hands of a small ruling class. • The three most common types of government: o Authoritarianism: Form of government where rulers rarely consider what the public wants. o Totalitarianism: Form of government where rulers don’t recognize any limits to their authority. o Democracy: Form of government based on participation of the population. • The three main types of democracy: o True: All citizens have direct participation in government. o Representative: Citizens can vote for leaders to represent them in government. There isno guarantee that those representatives will act as their constituents wouldwant. o Liberal: Supports the protections of individual rights. • The three types of political activity: o Gladiatorial: Those who hold office, campaign actively, and in other ways have a high-level of involvement.

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