Sociology 1020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Advocacy Group, The Political Quarterly, Consumerism
7 Apr 2016
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Gerry stoker, explaining political disenchantment: finding pathways to democratic. Less partisan, emergence of issue based voting. Participation in parties, action groups and collective protest pales alongside engagement through signing a petition or using consumer power to make a point (p. 186). Stoker says that citizen activities these days tend to be more individually than collectively focused. Citizen activities consumerism, petition, paying taxes, civil disobedience, protesting, political organization, volunteering, community activities. Yes, groups can get more done and often have a more sane message than if thousands of individuals preach their views. As a form of collective decision making politics is, even in a democracy, a centralized form of decision making compared to market-based alternatives (p. It"s a group of people making the decision as opposed to following what the market is saying. Individualism can ruin this as some policies benefit individuals but not groups or the population as a whole.
