Chapter 14: Power, Politics, and Government

Table of Contents

1. Politics, Power, And Authority
2. Political Systems In Global Perspective
3. Perspectives On Power And Political Systems
4. Politics And Government In Canada
5. Governmental Bureaucracy
6. Major Political Issues In Canada: Quebec Separatism And Aboriginal Self-Government
7. Political Issues For The Twenty-First Century

I. Politics, Power, And Authority

1. Politics is the social institution through which power is acquired and exercised by some people and groups.
   
   
2. In contemporary societies, the primary political system is the government-the formal organization that has the legal and political authority to regulate the relationships among members of a society and between the society and those outside its borders.

3. Sociologists often refer to the government as the state-the political entity that possesses a legitimate monopoly over the use of force within its territory to achieve its goals.
   
   
4. While political science primarily focuses on power and the distribution of power in different types of political systems, political sociology examines the nature and consequences of power within or between societies and focuses on the social circumstances of politics and the interrelationships between politics and social structures.
   
   
5. Power and Authority
   1. Power is the ability of persons or groups to achieve their goals despite opposition from others; the most basic form of power is force or military might; however, most leaders do not want to base their power purely on force-they attempt to legitimize their power by turning it into authority.
      
      
   2. Authority is power that people accept as legitimate rather than coercive. According to Max Weber, there are three ideal types of authority:
      1. Charismatic authority is power legitimized on the basis of a leader's exceptional personal qualities or the demonstration of extraordinary insight and accomplishment, which inspires loyalty and obedience from followers. The routinization of charisma occurs when charismatic authority is succeeded by a bureaucracy controlled by rational-legal authority or by a combination of traditional and bureaucratic authority.
         
         
      2. Traditional authority is power that is legitimized on the basis of long-standing custom (e.g., monarchies).

3. Rational-legal authority is power legitimized by law or written rules and regulations. In rational-legal authority, power is legitimized by procedures; if leaders obtain their positions in a procedurally correct manner (such as election or appointment), they have the right to act.

II. Political Systems In Global Perspective

1. Emergence of Political Systems
   1. Hunting and gathering societies do not have political institutions as such because they have very little division of labour or social inequality.
      
      
   2. Political institutions first emerge in agrarian societies as they acquire surpluses and develop greater social inequality.
      
      
   3. Nation-states-political organizations that have recognizable national boundaries within which their citizens possess specific legal rights and obligations-developed first in Spain, France, and England between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries.

2. Monarchy is a political system in which power resides in one person or family and is passed from generation to generation through lines of inheritance.
   1. Monarchies are most common in, or associated with, agrarian societies and are associated with traditional authority patterns.
      
      
   2. While absolute monarchs claim a hereditary right to rule (based on membership in a noble family) or a divine right to rule, rulers in limited monarchies depend on powerful members of the nobility to retain their thrones. In constitutional monarchies, the royalty serve as symbolic rulers or heads of state, while elected officials hold actual authority in the national parliaments.

3. An authoritarian system is a political system controlled by rulers who deny popular participation in government (e.g., Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are authoritarian absolute monarchies).
   
   
4. A totalitarian system is a political system in which the state seeks to regulate all aspects of people's public and private lives (e.g., the National Socialist [Nazi] Party in Germany during World War II).

5. A democracy is a political system in which the people hold the ruling power either directly or through elected representatives.
   1. Direct participatory democracy requires that citizens be able to meet together regularly to debate and decide the issues of the day; direct democracy has never been attempted at the national level in most nations, including Canada.
      
      
   2. Representative democracy is a political system whereby citizens elect representatives to serve as bridges between themselves and the government; elected officials are accountable to the people through elections.

III. Perspectives On Power And Political Systems

1. Functionalist Perspectives: According to the pluralist model, power in political systems is widely dispersed throughout many competing special interest groups-political coalitions made up of individuals or groups that share a specific interest they wish to protect or advance with the help of the political system.
   1. Key elements of pluralism:
      1. Decisions are made on behalf of the people by leaders who engage in a process of bargaining, accommodation, and compromise.
         
         
      2. Competition among leadership groups (such as leaders in business, labour, education, law, medicine, consumer groups, and government) protects people by making the abuse of power by any one group more difficult (i.e., veto groups).
         
         
      3. People can influence public policy by voting in elections, participating in existing special interest groups, or forming new ones to gain access to the political system.
         
         
      4. Power is widely dispersed in society; leadership groups that wield influence on some decisions are not the same groups that may be influential in other decisions.
         
         
      5. Public policy is not always based on majority preference; it is the balance between competing interest groups.
         
         
   2. Special interest groups help people advocate their own interests and further their causes, and are also known as pressure groups and lobbies.

3. Over the last two decades, special interest groups have become more involved in "single-issue politics," in which political candidates often are supported or rejected solely on the basis of their views on a specific issue-such as abortion, gun control, gay and lesbian rights, or environmental concerns.
   
   
2. Conflict Perspectives: According to the elite model, power in political systems is concentrated in the hands of a small group of elites and the masses are relatively powerless.
   1. Key elements of elite models:
      1. Decisions are made by the elite, which possesses greater wealth, education, status, and other resources than do the "masses" it governs.
         
         
      2. Consensus exists among the elite on the basic values and goals of society; however, consensus does not exist among most people in society on these important social concerns.
         
         
      3. Power is highly concentrated at the top of a pyramid-shaped social hierarchy; those at the top of the power structure come together to set policy for everyone.
         
         
      4. Public policy reflects the values and preferences of the elite, not the preferences of the people.
         
         
   2. According to C. Wright Mills, the power elite is composed of leaders at the top of business, the executive branch of the federal government, and the military who have similar class backgrounds and interests.
      1. The corporate rich are the most powerful because of their unique ability to parlay the vast economic resources at their disposal into political power.
         
         
      2. At the middle level of the pyramid, Mills placed the legislative branch of government, interest groups, and local opinion leaders.
         
         
      3. The bottom (and widest layer) of the pyramid is occupied by the unorganized masses who are relatively powerless and vulnerable to economic and political exploitation.
         
         
   3. G. William Domhoff referred to elites as the ruling class-a relatively fixed group of privileged people who wield sufficient power to constrain political processes and serve underlying capitalist interests.
      1. Individuals in the upper echelon are members of a business class based on the ownership and control of large corporations.
         
         
      2. The intertwining of the upper class and the corporate community produces cohesion at both the economic and social levels.
         
         
      3. Members of the ruling class also are linked though exclusive social clubs, expensive private schools, debutante parties, and other upper-class indicators.

4. The corporate rich and their families influence the political process in three ways: (1) they influence the candidate selection process by helping to finance campaigns and providing favours to political candidates; (2) through participation in the special interest process, they are able to gain favours, tax breaks, regulatory rulings, and other governmental supports; and (3) they gain access to the policy-making process by holding prestigious positions on governmental advisory committees, presidential commissions, and other governmental appointments.
   
   
4. Class Conflict Perspectives
   1. Most contemporary elite models are based on the work of Karl Marx; however, there are divergent viewpoints about the role of the state within the Marxist (or class conflict) perspective.

2. While instrumental Marxists argue that the state acts invariably to perpetuate the capitalist class, structural Marxists contend that the state is not simply a passive instrument of the capitalist class.
   
   
3. Critique of Pluralist and Elite Models
   1. Critics feel that the pluralist model is naive in its assumption that diverse interest groups balance one another out. For example, a wide disparity exists between the resources and political clout of "Big Business" when compared with those of interest groups representing children or persons with disabilities.
      
      
   2. One critique of elite models is that social change does not always favour the dominant groups in our society.

4. While political theorists have traditionally been concerned with class issues, in recent years political theorists have begun to emphasize gender issues.

IV. Politics And Government In Canada

1. A political party is an organization whose purpose is to gain and hold legitimate control of government.
   1. Parties develop and articulate policy positions; educate voters about the issues and simplify the choices for them; recruit candidates who agree with those policies, and help those candidates win office; and, when elected, hold the candidates responsible for implementing the party's policy positions.
      
      
   2. Since Confederation, two political parties-the Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives-have dominated the political system in Canada. Ideally, political parties will offer clear alternatives to the electorate-alternatives that reflect the aspirations, concerns and viewpoints of the population. However, our two major parties have rarely offered clear policy alternatives because:
      1. Most voters consider themselves moderates so neither party has any incentive to move far from the middle.

2. The two large political parties are dominated by active elites who are not representative of the general population. Many represent special interests and come from the upper echelons of society.
   
   
2. Politics and the People
   1. Political socialization is the process by which people learn political attitudes, values, and behaviour. For young children, the family is the primary agent of political socialization.
      
      
   2. Socioeconomic status affects people's political attitudes, values, and beliefs.
      
      
   3. Political participation occurs at four levels: (a) voting, (b) attending and taking part in political meetings, (c) actively participating in political campaigns, and (d) running for or holding political office.

4. About 75 percent of those eligible vote in federal elections. The proportion who vote in provincial and municipal elections is much smaller. Only a very small percentage participates in politics beyond simply casting a ballot.

V. Governmental Bureaucracy

1. Characteristics of the Federal Bureaucracy
   1. The size and scope of government has grown in recent decades partially because of dramatic increases in technology and in demands from the public that the government "do something" about various problems facing society.
      
      
   2. Much of the actual functioning of the government is carried on by the permanent government in Ottawa, which is made up of top-tier, civil-service bureaucrats who have built a major power base.
      
      
   3. The governmental bureaucracy has been able to perpetuate itself and expand because it has many employees with highly specialized knowledge and skills who cannot easily be replaced by those from the "outside."

VI. Major Political Issues In Canada: Quebec Separatism And Aboriginal Self-Government

1. The Quiet Revolution and Quebec Nationalism
   1. The constitutional crises of recent years were set in motion by the Quiet Revolution, which began in Quebec in the 1960s. Prior to 1960, Quebec had been a very traditional society; the Catholic Church and the family were at the core of French-Canadian society and economic power was in the hands of English-Canadians. In a very short time Quebec underwent a dramatic transformation into a secular, urban society.
      
      
   2. While the transformation of Quebec was remarkably rapid, it was not rapid enough for some. Nationalist groups, which began to emerge in the 1960s, saw independence as the only means by which Quebec could fulfil its destiny. A competing vision was offered by federalists such as Pierre Trudeau, who felt that Quebec's aspirations could best be met within a bilingual Canada.

2. Aboriginal self-government is another persistent issue in Canada. Aboriginal peoples claim a unique status based on their position as Canada's First Nations and have, because of that position, pursued their right to self-government.

VII. Political Issues For The Twenty-First Century

1. New challenges make it increasingly difficult for nations to control events such as the proliferation of arms and nuclear weapons and domestic or international terrorism.
   
   
2. International agencies, such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, face many of the same problems that individual governments do-including severe economic constraints and extreme differences of opinion among participants.

3. While some people believe that the answer for democracy in the twenty-first century is greater participation in politics, others believe that the current system will not change as long as governmental bureaucracies have the ability to set their own rules and regulations and monitor the everyday lives of people.

Back to Chapter Resources