Political Power in American Society

1. Political Power in American Society Unit 6 Social Institutions

2. Influence of the Vote • Similar to other democracy in countries, the US encourages political participation through voting • Voting is the citizen’s source of power • Voting allows us to remove incompetent or corrupt officials • It allows us to influence issues at all levels of politics

3. How much choice do we have? • In reality our voting choices are limited • The power of Political Parties limits the number of candidates • Only candidates with endorsement from one of the major parties has a chance at winning a state or national election • Because candidates need to appeal to a large number people, the candidates are usually more alike than they are different • Campaigning is also very costly, meaning the candidate needs party support or extremely wealthy

4. What do we base our votes on? • Political Socialization: informal and formal processes by which a person develops political opinions • Socialization can be formal or informal • Informal Socialization can be influenced by family, media, economic status, and education

5. Informal Factors • Family: Children learn their political attitudes In the same way they learn norms and values. Family influence is strong • Education: The level of education a person has influence on their political knowledge and participation. The higher the level of education, the more knowledge they have of politics and policy. They also participate in politics more often. • Mass Media: Television is the leading source of political information for people. The media determines what issues get attention.

6. Informal Factors • Economic Status and Occupation: Economic Status largely influences political views. The poor are more likely to favor govt. programs. Where you work also influences your views. Corporate execs are more likely to support tax breaks to corporations. • Age and Gender: Young adults tend to be more progressive than older people on issues of race and ethnic equality. Women tend to be more liberal than men on social issues.

7. Do Americans use their voting rights? • Typically the US has the lowest voter turnouts in the Industrial World. • Why? • Low confidence in the political leaders • Political parties aren’t as effective at getting people to the polls as they used to be

8. Two Models of Political Power • There are two models of political power in the US: pluralism and elitism • Pluralism: system in which political decisions are made as a result of bargaining and compromise among special interest groups • No one group holds a majority of the power, it is widely distributed • Elitism: system in which a community or society is controlled from the top by a few individuals or organizations • Power in concentrated in the hands of a few who share common interests and backgrounds

9. Functionalist: Pluralism • According to pluralists, the decisions in the US are not made by an elite few • Interest Groups: a group organized to influence political decision making • Pluralists believe that decisions are made as a result of competition among the interest groups • Each group has its own interest. It works to achieve its goal and to protect itself from opposing interest groups • The governments job is to balance public welfare with the desires of the various interest groups

10. Conflict Perspective: Elitism • C Wright Mills was a leading proponent of the elite perspective • In the 1950’s he claimed that the US no longer had separate economic, political and military leaders. He felt that key people in each group overlapped to form a unified group he called the power elite. • Power Elite: a unified group of military, corporate, and government leaders • According to Mill, members of this group have common interests and similar economic and social backgrounds. They share values and attitudes making it easy for them to coordinate their actions to get what they want