SOC103H1 Lecture Notes - George C. Homans, Talcott Parsons, Social Exchange Theory
Document Summary
Politics: the process by which individuals and groups act to promote their interests. Elena (worst ever): waste of time/money, common person has little/no say. Boris (best ever): canada provides equal opportunities for everyone, rights/liberties are protected by canada. Politics as a key process in different kinds of social systems eg families, small groups, large organizations. Goal attainment function: all social systems have this political process for management/administration/promotion of citizen engagement criticism: philosophical/anecdotal, not historical, qualitative not quantitative. Based on quantitative data from political and public opinion polling. Of environics: a public opinion polling firm. Wants to connect political ideas to historical events and cultural values. Wrote sex in the snow, fire and ice, american backlash. Social exchange theory: small groups mainly rule themselves through processes of informal control, which we might label strong group politics", unlike parsons, homans looked for pay off, practical reasons people value self-gov" groups.
