Ch. 8 Social Class

Question 1

What is social class?

Answer 1

Max Theber defines social class as property, power, and prestige

Question 2

Does Marx agree or disagree with Theber’s definition of social class?

Answer 2

Disagree. He believes social class is categorized by power and resources

Question 3

Wealth

Answer 3

what you own minus what you owe

Question 4

Income

Answer 4

what comes in over a specified time period

Question 5

Distribution of wealth

Answer 5

• unequally distributed

Question 6

Income distribution

Answer 6

unequally distributed

Question 7

Is the wealth gap growing or shrinking?

Answer 7

the wealth gap has been growing since the 1960’s

Question 8

Democratic Facade

Answer 8

to what extent does democracy allow the public to have an influence on decisions the government makes

Question 9

Power Elite

Answer 9

make the decisions based on their own self interest

Question 10

Prestige

Answer 10

we display prestige in many ways

Question 11

Status Inconsistency

Answer 11

ranking higher on some dimensions of status than others

Question 12

Lenski Study

Answer 12

people want to maximize their status but others will try to bring up a lower status

Question 13

Eric Wright

Answer 13

people can occupy contradictory class locations

Question 14

Marx’s Model

Answer 14

• capitalists: wealthy
• workers: proletariat
• inconsequential others: beggars

Question 15

Eric Wright’s model

Answer 15

• capitalists: wealthy
• petty bourgeoisie: business owners
• managers
• workers

Question 16

Cal + Gilberts model

Answer 16

• capitalists: top 1%
• upper middle class: 125,000+
• lower middle class: struggle financially but have normal lifestyles
• workers: paid low wages
• underclass workers: unqualified for many jobs and those they are qualified for are low paying

Question 17

What percent of the US population is below the poverty line?

Answer 17

• 20% (60 million)

- 67% of that are children

Question 18

When was the poverty line established?

Answer 18

• 1960’s due to the War on Poverty

Question 19

What are critiques of the poverty line?

Answer 19

it does not account for many people because it doesn’t include people without adequate housing, food, and transportation

Question 20

Feminization of Poverty

Answer 20

women are more likely to fall into poverty, especially if they are single mothers

Question 21

Deferred Gratification

Answer 21

• thought to be a reasoning into poverty

- people need immediate gratification

Question 22

Horatio Alger Myth

Answer 22

• encourages people to strive to get ahead

- blames individuals for their failures

Question 23

What are the 3 tiers expected to be in the future?

Answer 23

• wealthy
• technically trained
• jobless poor