Download The Changing Economy - Introduction to Sociology and World

School of Business Administration
IU – VNU HCMC
BA116IU
Introduction to Social Sciences
Semester 2, 2008-2009
Instructor:
Dr. Truong Thi Kim Chuyen
USSH – VNU HCMC
Chapter 14
GOVERNMENT, THE ECONOMY,
AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Chapter Outline
•Economic Systems: Case Study: Capitalism in China
•Power and Authority
•Political Behavior
•Models of Power Structure in the United States
•War and Peace
•The Changing Economy
•The Environment
•Social Policy and the Economy: Affirmative Action
Economic Systems
 Industrial Revolution
– Brought about changes in social organization
of the workplace
– Industrial Society: depends on
mechanization to produce its goods and
services
Economic Systems
• Capitalism
– Economic system in which the means of
production are largely in private hands, and
the main incentive for economic activity is the
accumulation of profits
• Laissez-faire: people could compete freely with
minimal government intervention
• Monopoly: exists when a single firm controls the
market
Economic Systems
 Capitalism
– U.S. outlaws monopolies through antitrust
legislation
– Globalization and the rise of multinational
corporations have spread capitalistic pursuit
of profits around the world
Economic Systems
 Socialism
– Refined by Marx and Engels.
– Attempts to eliminate economic exploitation
– Under socialism, the means of production and
distribution are collectively rather than privately
owned
• Communism: refers to economic system under which all
property is communally owned and no social distinctions are
made on the base of people’s ability to produce
Economic Systems
 The Informal Economy
– When transfer of money, goods, or services takes
place but is not reported to the government
– Difficult to measure
– In developing nations, the informal economy
represents significant part of total economic activity
– It is in some respects dysfunctional for workers
Case Study: Capitalism in China
 The Road to Capitalism
– Communist party assumed leadership of China in
1949, outlawed profit-making
– By the 1960s, China’s economy was dominated by
state-controlled enterprises
• Economy suffered and many of the businesses failed
– From the late 1980s to the mid 90’s, China’s
government slowly eased restrictions against private
enterprise
Case Study: Capitalism in China
 The Chinese Economy Today
– By 2001, the number of state-run companies
had been cut in half
– Chinese capitalists must now compete with
multinational corporations, which can now
operate more freely in China.
– In 2003, GM’s Chinese operation was
producing 110,000 automobiles a year for
Chinese consumers, with double the profit
rate as the U.S.
Case Study: Capitalism in China
 Chinese Workers in the New Economy
– Loosening of state control over economy
meant a rise in occupational mobility
– Struggles include lag between urban and rural
salaries, worker safety is not a priority in
many small businesses, and the road to
advancement is slower for women in China
Power and Authority
 Power
– Weber argued power is ability to exercise
one’s will over others
– Sources of power in political systems include:
• Force: actual or threatened use of coercion to
impose one’s political dissidents
• Influence: exercise of power through a process of
persuasion
Power and Authority
 Types of Authority
– Authority: power that has been
institutionalized and is recognized by people
over whom it is recognized
• Traditional Authority: legitimate power is
conferred by custom and accepted practice
Power and Authority
 Types of Authority
– Authority
• Legal-Rational Authority: power is made
legitimate by law
• Charismatic Authority: power is made legitimate
by leader’s exceptional personal or emotional
appeal to his or her followers
Political Behavior in the United States
 Participation and Apathy
– Only a small minority actually participate in
political organization on a local or national
level
– Voter turnout particularly low among members
of racial and ethnic minorities
– The segment of voting population that has
shown the most voter apathy is the young
Political Behavior in the United States
Political Behavior in the United States
 Women in Politics
– Women are significantly underrepresented in
government in the United States
– There is evidence that media cover women
politicians differently from men
– “Gender gap” exists in political preferences
and activities of males and females
Models of Power Structure in the
United States
 Power Elite Models
– Mills’s Model
• Mills described a small ruling elite of military,
industrial, and governmental leaders
• Power rested in the hands of a few, inside and
outside of government….the power elite
• The power elite are mostly male, white, and upper
class
Models of Power Structure in the
United States
 Power Elite Models
– Domhoff’s Model
• Stresses roles played by elites of corporate
community and leaders of policy-formation
organizations such as:
– Chambers of commerce
– Labor unions
Models of Power Structure in the
United States
 Figure 14-1: Power Elite Models
Models of Power Structure in the
United States
 Pluralist Model
– Many conflicting groups within the community
have access to government, and no single
group is dominant
• A variety of groups play significant role in decision
making
Models of Power Structure in the
United States
 Figure 14-2: U.S. Public Opinion on the Necessity of War, 1971-2004
War and Peace
 War
– Conflict between organizations that possess
trained combat forces equipped with deadly
weapons
• Global view
• Nation-state view
• Micro view
War and Peace
 Peace
– Absence of war and as a proactive effort to
develop cooperative relations among nations
– Many analysts stress that nations cannot
maintain their security by threatening violence
War and Peace
 Terrorism
– Use or threat of violence against random or
symbolic targets in pursuit of political aims.
– Essential aspect of contemporary terrorism
involves use of the media
The Changing Economy
 The Changing Face of the Workforce
– Sociologists foresee a workforce increasingly
composed of women and racial and ethnic
minorities
– A more diverse workforce means relationships
between workers are more likely to cross
gender, racial, and ethnic lines
The Changing Economy
 Figure 14.3: Racial and Ethnic Composition of the U.S. Labor Force, 1980
and 2020 (projection)
The Changing Economy
 Deindustrialization
– Systematic, widespread withdrawal of
investment in the basic aspects of productivity
such as factories and plants
– Downsizing: reduction in a company’s
workforce
The Environment
 Environmental Problems: An Overview
– Air Pollution
• In cities, air pollution is primarily caused by
automobiles and emissions from electric power
plants and heavy industries
• World Health Organization estimates that up to
700,000 premature deaths per year could be
prevented if pollutants were brought to safer levels
The Environment
 Environmental Problems: An Overview
– Water Pollution
• Dumping of waste materials by industries and local
governments has polluted streams, rivers, and
lakes
• Many bodies of water now unsafe for drinking,
fishing, and swimming
• Pollution of oceans now becoming major concern
Functionalism and Human Ecology
The natural environment perfroms three basic functions for humans, as it
does for the many animal species:
1. Provides the resources essential for life: air, water, materials used to
create shelter, transportation, and needed products. If human societies
exhaust these resources – for example, by polluting the water supply or
cutting down rain forests – the consequences can be dire.
2. Serves as a waste repository: more so than other living species,
humans produce a huge quantity and variety of waste products –
bottles, boxes, papers, sewage, garbage, and so on. Various types of
pollution have become more common because human societies are
generating more wastes than the environment can safely absorb.
3. “Houses” our species: it is our home, our living space, the place
where we reside, work, and play. At times we take this truism for
granted, but not when day – to – day living conditions become
unpleasant and difficult. If our air is “heavy”, if our tap water turns
brown, if toxic chemicals seep into our neighborhood, we remember
why it is vital to live in a healthful environment.
• “Everything is connected to everything else”.
• Government policymakers and
environmentalists must determine how they can
fulfill human societies pressing needs (for
example, for food, clothing, and shelter) while at
the same time preserving the environment as a
source of resources, a waste repository and our
home.
Conflict View of Environmental Issues
- Less affluent nations are being forced to
exploit their mineral deposits, forests, and
fisheries to meet debt obligations
- The poor turn to the only means of survival
available to them:
– Plow mountain slopes
– Burn plots in rain forests
– Overgraze grasslands
• In his view, a capitalist system create a
“treadmill of production” because of its
inherent need to build ever-expanding
profits. This treadmill necessitates creating
an increasing demand for products,
obtaining natural resources at minimal
cost, and manufacturing products as
quickly and cheaply as possible – no
matter what the long-term environmental
consequences.
Environmental Justice
– Legal strategy based on claims that racial minorities
are subjected disproportionately to environmental
hazards
– President Bill Clinton issued an executive order in 1994
that requires all federal agencies to ensure that lowincome and minority communities have access to
better information about their environment, and an
opportunity to participate in shaping government
policies that affect their health.
– To date, most sociological studies of the problem of
industrial waste have focused on the discriminatory
nature of the siting process.
Social Policy and the Economy
 Affirmative Action
– The Issue
• Affirmative action refers to positive efforts to recruit
minority group members or women for jobs,
promotions, and educational opportunities
Social Policy and the Economy
 Affirmative Action
– The Setting
• Discriminatory actions currently outlawed include:
– Discrimination based on race, sex, or both
– Word-of-mouth recruitment among all-White or all-male
workforces
– Recruitment exclusively in schools or colleges that are
limited to one sex or are predominantly White
Social Policy and the Economy
 Affirmative Action
– The Setting
• Discriminatory actions currently outlawed include:
– Discrimination against married and/or pregnant women
– Advertising in male and female help wanted columns
when gender is not an occupational qualification
– Job qualifications and tests that are unrelated to the job
Social Policy and the Economy
 Affirmative Action
– Sociological Insights
• Conflict theorists view affirmative action as a legislative
attempt to reduce the inequality embedded in the social
structure by increasing the opportunities of groups that have
been deprived in the past
• Interactionists focus on situations in which some women and
minorities in underrepresented professions and schools are
often mistakenly viewed as products of affirmative action
Social Policy and the Economy
 Affirmative Action
– Policy Initiatives
• Opponents of affirmative action insist that its goals are
quotas that lead to reverse discrimination
• A 1996 California measure prohibited any program that gives
preference to women and minorities in college admissions,
hiring, promotion, or government contracts
• The University of Michigan’s admissions practices spurred
the 2003 Supreme Court ruling that one may consider race
as one factor in the admissions process
The Changing Economy
 Figure 14.4: U.S. Median Income by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender, 2002