SOCY1050 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Political Sociology, Social Movement, Aborigines Advancement League
Lecture 6B
Politics and Social Movements
Politics
How power is used to affect the scope and content of governmental activities
• Political sphere may range beyond ‘government’
• Government: “The social institution on that distributes power, sets a society’s
agenda and makes decisions; the State”.
– Political sociology -> interested in studying the institutions that specialise in
the exercise of power and authority
• Governance: “‘the process by which societies and organisations make important
decisions, determine whom they involve in the process, and how accountability is
ensured”.
Institutions of State and Civil Society
Power
“the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his or her
own will despite resistance; the ability to control others, even against their will” (Furze et al 2014.
• The capacity to affect the conduct of others through real or threatened use of
rewards and/or punishments
• A special form of influence
• Relies on various resources – wealth, prestige, education etc
• Never equally distributed (if it is distributed – who distributes it?)
• Can be authoritative and coercive, or non-violent and participatory
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
