SY 1001:03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: World Health Organization, Culture Industry, Marxist Feminism
WEEK 5: POLITICS (CHAPTER 7)
➢ POLITICS is a system of power that determines who gets what, when, and how (Lasswell)
➢ POWER is the ability to control others, even against their will (Max Weber)
• Power is legitimate when people regard its use as valid or justified
• Power is institutionalised when the norms and statuses of social organisations
govern its use.
➢ AUTHORITY is legitimate, institutionalised power.
• According to Max Weber, authority can have one of three bases:
▪ TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY – rulers inherit authority through family or clan
ties
− In tribal and feudal societies
− Believed to be derived from the will of a god
▪ LEGAL-RATIONAL AUTHROITY – laws specify how one can achieve office
− In modern societies
− Derived from respect for the law
− People believe these laws are rational
▪ CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY – based on the beliefs in the claims of
extraordinary individuals to be inspired by a god or some higher principle
➢ The STATE osists of istitutios that forulate a outrs laws and public policies.
➢ THEORIES OF POLITICAL POWER
• PLURALIST THEORY – holds that power is widely dispersed. As a result, no group
enjoys disproportionate influence and decisions are usually reached through
negotiation and compromise.
• ELITE THEORY – holds that small groups occupying the command posts of soiets
most influential institutions make important decisions that profoundly affect all
members of society. Moreover, they do so without much regard for elections or
public opinion.
• RULING CLASS THEORY – holds that a small group with common interests hold the
greatest power in society. In a capitalist society, the capitalist class, which owns the
means of production, is also the ruling class, meaning its interests are politically
dominant.
find more resources at oneclass.com
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• STATE-CENTERED THEORY – holds that the state itself can structure political life to
some degree independently of the way power is distributed between classes and
other groups at a given time.
➢ DEMOCRACY – eas rule the people
• Formal democracy – involves regular, competitive elections
• Liberal democracy – lack the freedoms and constitutional protections that make
political participation and competition meaningful
WEEK 5: MASS MEDIA (CHAPTER 11)
➢ MEDIA are etee pheoea: the stad i the iddle as itermediaries between two
other eleets. For eaple, a es roadast ediates etee the listeer or ieer
and the world of current affairs.
➢ THEORIES OF MEDIA EFFECTS
• CONFLICT THEORY – ownership and control of the mass media are crucial issues
because they are considered to shape public debate and ideas in ways that favour
the interests of the media owners
• THE TWO-STEP FLOW MODEL OF COMMUNICATION – the mass media influence
opinion leaders in social groups rather than individuals and these opinion leaders in
turn influence their groups
• COMMODIFICATION THEORY – artistic impression has been commodified by the
culture industry and reduced to the presentation of only those problems that can be
solved by the culture industry in profitable ways
• POSTMODERNISM – there is no longer a reality separate from the media: the media
are reality
• SYMBOLIC VIOLENCE THEORY – the banality of the sensational dominates news
media and leads to a culture of instantaneity and simple answers, thus driving away
complexity and history and leaving no space for difficult questions
• OPRAHIFICATION – experience and emotion enter the sphere of public debate,
displacing the roles of rationality and expert knowledge
➢ Effects of the internet? Rather than causing social isolation as was first feared, research
shows that the Internet actually enhances social relations.
• New technology allows easier communication with others and can help people work
through their everyday lives in a broadly supportive environment.
• Social networking is used as an important tool for the presentation of self
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Politics is a system of power that determines who gets what, when, and how (lasswell) Authority is legitimate, institutionalised power: according to max weber, authority can have one of three bases, traditional authority rulers inherit authority through family or clan ties. Believed to be derived from the will of a god. Legal-rational authroity laws specify how one can achieve office. People believe these laws are rational: charismatic authority based on the beliefs in the claims of extraordinary individuals to be inspired by a god or some higher principle. The state (cid:272)o(cid:374)sists of i(cid:374)stitutio(cid:374)s that for(cid:373)ulate a (cid:272)ou(cid:374)tr(cid:455)(cid:859)s laws and public policies. Theories of political power: pluralist theory holds that power is widely dispersed. Moreover, they do so without much regard for elections or public opinion: ruling class theory holds that a small group with common interests hold the greatest power in society. Democracy (cid:373)ea(cid:374)s (cid:858)rule (cid:271)(cid:455) the people(cid:859: formal democracy involves regular, competitive elections.
