Chapter 12.4, 12.5, 12.6- (Economics and) Politics

Question 1

What is Politics?

Answer 1

the social institution that distributes power, sets a society’s goals, and makes decisions

Question 2

What is Power?

Answer 2

the ability to achieve desired ends despite resistance from others

Question 3

What is Government?

Answer 3

a formal organization that directs the political life of a society

Question 4

What is Authority?

Answer 4

power that people receive as legitimate rather than coercive

Question 5

What is Traditional Authority?

Answer 5

power legitimized by respect for long-established cultural patterns

Question 6

What did Max Weber claim about Traditional Authority?

Answer 6

1. closely linked to kinship

2. preindustrial societies rely on tradition to transform raw power into authority

Question 7

What did Max Weber claim about Rational-legal Authority?

Answer 7

1. rational-legal authority underlies the operation of bureaucratic offices as well as the law
2. as societies industrialize, tradition gives way to rationality

Question 8

What did Max Weber claim about Charismatic Authority?

Answer 8

1. linked to extraordinary personal qualities

2. at any time, some individuals transform power into authority through charisma

Question 9

what is Rational-legal Authority?

Answer 9

power legitimized by legally enacted rules and regulations (aka: bureaucratic authority)

Question 10

What is Charismatic Authority?

Answer 10

power legitimized by extraordinary personal abilities that inspire devotion and obedience

Question 11

What is Routinization of Charisma?

Answer 11

the transformation of charismatic authority into some combo of traditional and bureaucratic authority

Question 12

What is a Monarchy?

Answer 12

a political system in which a single family rules from generation to generation

Question 13

What is Democracy?

Answer 13

a political system that derives its legitimacy from the people as a whole

Question 14

What is Authoritarianism?

Answer 14

a political system that denies the people participation in government

Question 15

What is Totalitarianism?

Answer 15

a highly centralized political system that extensively regulates people’s lives

Question 16

What is the Welfare State?

Answer 16

a system of government agencies and programms that provide benefits to the population

Question 17

What is the Political Spectrum?

Answer 17

ranging from liberal left to conservative right, political spectrum helps us understand both economic and social issues

Question 18

What are Special-interest Groups?

Answer 18

people organized to address some economic or social issue

Question 19

What is the Pluralist Model?

Answer 19

the analysis of politics that sees power as spreads among many competing interest groups

Question 20

What is the Power-elite Model?

Answer 20

the analysis of politics that sees power as concentrated among the rich

Question 21

What is the Marxist Political-economy Model?

Answer 21

the analysis that explains politics in terms of the operation of a society’s economic system

Question 22

What is the Theoretical Approach applied to the Pluralist Model?

Answer 22

structural-functional

Question 23

What is the Theoretical Approach applied to the Power-elite Model?

Answer 23

social-conflict

Question 24

What is the Theoretical Approach applied to the Marxist Political-economy Model?

Answer 24

social-conflict

Question 25

What is Political Revolution?

Answer 25

the overthrow of one political system in order to establish another

Question 26

What is Terrorism?

Answer 26

acts of violence or the threat of violence used as a political strategy by an individual or group

Question 27

What is War?

Answer 27

organized, armed conflict among the people of two or more nations, directed by their governments

Question 28

What is the Military-industrial Complex?

Answer 28

the close association of the federal governments, the military, and defence industries

Question 29

What is Nuclear Proliferation?

Answer 29

the acquisition of nuclear weapons technology by more and more nations