Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Authority and the State

Do you think the United States has a true democracy?

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Who Rules in the United States?

• In the United States, power is shared between three branches of government as well as between the federal government and the many state governments.

• Other important actors in our political system are political parties and interest groups.

Who Rules in the United States?

• A political party is an organization that wants to gain power in a government, typically by backing a candidate who shares the same beliefs.

Who Rules in the United States?

• An interest group is an organization that seeks to gain power in government and influence policy without its representative (a lobbyist) seeking election.

The Myth of the Vanishing Voter

You May Ask Yourself, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Does your personal philosophy match your party affiliation?

Political Party Quiz/

Where do you stand?

Infographic, Voter Registration by Social Group, 2006

Figure 15.2 Voter Registration Rates by Social Group, 2006

You May Ask Yourself, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Infographic, Voter Registration by Social Group, 2006

Figure 15.2 Voter Registration Rates by Social Group, 2006

You May Ask Yourself, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Infographic, Voter Registration by Social Group, 2006

Figure 15.2 Voter Registration Rates by Social Group, 2006

You May Ask Yourself, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Infographic, Voter Registration by Social Group, 2006

Figure 15.2 Voter Registration Rates by Social Group, 2006

You May Ask Yourself, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Infographic, Voter Registration by Social Group, 2006

Figure 15.2 Voter Registration Rates by Social Group, 2006

You May Ask Yourself, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Types of Legitimate Authority

• Authority is the justifiable right to exercise power.

Types of Legitimate Authority

• Charismatic authority is based on the personal appeal of an individual leader.

• Traditional authority is based on appeals to the past or a long established way of doing things.

• Legal-rational authority is based on legal, impersonal rules that have been routinized and rationalized.

Types of Legitimate Authority

Bureaucracy is a legal-rational organization or mode of administration that governs with

reference to rules and roles and emphasizes meritocracy.

Obedience to Authority

• The Milgram Experiment – tested people to see how far they would

go in obeying an authority figure– results showed that obedience to

authority is a very powerful form of social control that can make “ordinary” people do unspeakable things because an authority figure told them to do so

Obedience to Authority

The Milgram Experiment

Authority, Legitimacy, and the State

• Max Weber stated that:– Power is the ability to carry out one’s will

despite resistance. – Domination is the probability that a

command will be obeyed by a group of people.

Authority, Legitimacy, and the State

• Coercion is the use of force to get others to do what you want. Once a person or institution decides to use physical coercion, it loses all its legitimate authority.

Types of Legitimate Authority

• A “state,” according to Weber, is a human community that claims the legitimate use of physical force in a given territory.

Authority, Legitimacy, and the State

• Most European states developed through fights over territorial boundaries.

• Many countries in the world have been somewhat arbitrarily “produced” through colonization or groups like the United Nations.

Authority, Legitimacy, and the State

• The welfare state is a system in which the state is responsible for the welfare of its citizens.

Authority, Legitimacy, and the State

• Sociologist T. H. Marshall identified three types of citizenship rights (rights that one has as a citizen of a nation):– civil rights– political rights– social rights

Authority, Legitimacy, and the State

• Civil rights guarantee personal freedom without state interference.

• Political rights are rights to participate in politics, hold office, or vote.

• Social rights guarantee protection by the state.

Types of States

• Democracy is a system of government where the power lies with the people, who can vote and participate in the political system.

• Dictatorship is a system of government where participation in politics is limited to a select few (or maybe even just one person).

Radical Power and Persuasion

• Thomas Hobbes believed that the state of nature is chaos and that people submit to authority (the state) as a means of survival.

• John Locke argued that people live in peace and equality in the state of nature, but that they ultimately submit to authority (the state) for financial reasons — to help iron out disagreements about property.