This document provides a detailed summary of all required readings for Sociology 324 for the Semester 1 A1. It is a thorough analysis of all required theories and shows clear demarcation of parallels between theories and theorists
Political Sociology: Structure and Process
Wednesday, 28 February 2024 14:22
George A. Kourvetaris. 1997. "The Study of Societal Power and Authority" and "Major Models in
Political Sociology", in Political Sociology: Structure and Process. London: Allyn and Bacon, pp 13-28,
pp 49-54.
Social Bases of Power and Power Structures
• Collective resources that individuals or groups master or mobilise to promote or to stem
change
○ Includes who takes action
○ Who gets mobilised for political or social interest
• Mobilisation = process of forming crowds, groups, associations and organisations for the
pursuit of collective goals
○ Ecological movement in 1960s
○ Anti-nuclear movement in 1980s
• Power resources include in/tangibles that can be used as a base
○ Tangible = measurable (resources, output, expert knowledge, military etc.)
○ Intangibles = immeasurable (morale, leadership, competence, respect etc.)
• Possession of power does not always result in use or application thereof
Structure of Power
• Most societies contain a power structure
• Power structures = regular and stable relationships between groups and individuals and the
way power is exercised among them
• Power relations can be static or dynamic
Forms of Social Power
• Force
○ Utilitarian
○ Coercive
○ Persuasive
• Manipulation
• Persuasion
• Authority - the established right, within any social order, to determine policies, to pronounce
judgements on relevant issues, and to settle controversies, or more broadly, to act as leader or
guide to other men"
▪ Coercive
▪ Induced
▪ Legitimate
▪ Personal
▪ Competent
○ Socially approved power that entails legitimacy and impersonality
Sources of Authority and Legitimacy
• Three major sources of authority or legitimacy
○ Traditional
▪ Conferred by custom and accepted practice
▪ Predominant form in pre-industrial societies
○ Legal-rational
▪ Found mostly in modern societies
▪ Accorded authority by certain legal and bureaucratic procedures of the electoral
process
▪ Characteristic of modern organisations and advanced political systems
○ Charismatic
▪ Based on charisma and extraordinary personal qualities of an individual
Soc 324 Page 1
, ▪ Based on charisma and extraordinary personal qualities of an individual
▪ Their authority comes from their charisma
▪ Emerge during periods of crisis pr profound social and political change
▪ However, do not always solve problems and can lose their legitimacy and
effectiveness to rule
Consequences and Problematics of Power
• Can be used to benefit society or to hurt people (individuals or collectivities)
• Power may enhance the individuals own selfish motives or serve the community as a means to
a beneficial end
○ It can become ego gratifying and seductive
• Many people believe power is by nature a corruptive force
• It can be used to dominate, control, conquer or exterminate
Soc 324 Page 2
, Defining Power (28/02)
Wednesday, 28 February 2024 14:59
Haralambos, M. & Holborn, M. 2008. Power, politics and the state, in Sociology: Themes and
perspectives (7th ed.). London: Harper Collins. 521–562.
Introduction
• Two forms of power
○ Authority
▪ Accepted as legitimate and, therefore, obeyed
○ Coercion
▪ Not regarded as legitimate by those subject to it
Defining Power
Max Weber:
The chance of a man or a number of men to realise their own will in a communal action even
against the resistance of others who are participating in the action
Charismatic Authority
• Devotion felt by subordinates for a leader who is believed to have exceptional qualities
• Charismatic leaders are able to sway and control their followers by direct emotional appeals
which excite devotion and strong loyalties
Traditional Authority
• Authority rests upon belief in 'rightness' of established customs and traditions
• Those in authority command obedience on the basis of their traditional status
○ Usually inherited
• Subordinates controlled by feeling of loyalty and obligation
Rational-legal Authority
• Legitimacy and control stem from acceptance of a set of impersonal rules
• Able to issue commands and have them obeyed because others accept the legal framework
that supports their authority
• Rules and laws are consciously constructed for the attainment of a particular goal and specify
the means by which that goal is to be attained
Ideal Types
• Authority would never perfectly conform to any of the three types
• The examples are 'pure' forms of authority
○ Authority may stem from two or more sources
○ Impossible to find a perfect example
Steven Lukes - A Radical View of Power
Decision Making
• Different individuals or groups express different policy preferences and influence the making
of decisions over various issues
○ If government followed policies advocated by trade unions; this acknowledges trade
unions have power
Non-decision Making
• Power may be used to prevent certain issues from being discussed or decisions being taken
• Prevent those who are making a decision to consider alternative sources of action or limiting
range of decisions allowed to take
Shaping Desires
Soc 324 Page 3
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