10-400-13 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Direct Democracy, Proportional Representation, Social Change
Mabéty Desjardins
Sociology of the Firm
The Major Actors confronting the Firm
THE STATE
PART 1: Politics and Political Movements
The state’s power is under threat from globalization trends, terrorist opposition, popular
disenchantment and environmental disasters. No country is truly isolated from external economic,
cultural, and political forces
Core concepts
POLITICS: process by which individuals and groups act to promote their interests, often
in conflict with others
POWER: it reflects the extent to which available resources both constrain and enable
people’s actions (resources provide the means for action, but they also provide a limit on
what action is possible) Max Weber described power as: ability of a person or group to
achieve their objectives, even when opposed
AUTHORITY: power considered legitimate by those subjected to it. Where authority is
widely accepted, politics will likely follow peaceful, established patterns, but when it
does not exist, intense conflicts are probable sooner or later
2 types of authority
(1) TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY: people obey because that is the way things have always
been done. The power holder enjoys the sanctity of the immemorial traditions and may
expect obedience as long as these established rules are followed. Authority of this type is
more secure when it is grounded in the belief that it derives from a revered spiritual
source
(2) CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY: it rests on belief in the exceptional qualities of an
individual person, someone of exemplary or heroic character who reveals how life will
unfold, perhaps involving new social values and patterns of conduct. The charismatic
leader is thought to be able to resolve problems beyond the capacity of ordinary people
and may build a devoted following, sometimes rooted in religious faith. He can be
revolutionary but his authority is fragile
(3) RATIONAL-LEGAL AUTHORITY: it is based on formally established rules,
procedures, and expertise in which an individual’s acknowledged right to command is
limited to his or her formal position. Characteristic of bureaucratic environment
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS: established rules and procedures for the conduct of political
affairs, including the government of society. They constitute a network of power relationships
Global trends in political institutions: increasing scale of government, growing political
intervention in social affairs, the rise of the nation-state, and various forms of bureaucratic
administration
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: they connect various segments of the public to the state, which is the
core political frame of contemporary complex societies
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STATE: human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of
physical force within a given territory BUT not all states are legitimate so another DEF: the state
is a set of procedures and organizations concerned with creating, administrating, and enforcing
rules or decisions for conduct within a given territory. Legitimacy is not assumed
Residents consider the use of force to be acceptable only when state leaders call upon it and
probably only when it is applied according to widely held rules
MONARCHY: political system in which a single individual claims legitimacy based on royal
lineage (In Canada, and others, monarchy only has formal powers and the practice is essentially
formal)
The Emergence of Modern States
Hypotheses on the diversification of political regimes
(1) Moore’s alternate paths
Investigation of the conditions that led to the major forms of the modern state:
communism (Soviet Union and Republic of China), democracy (USA, Britain
and France) and fascism (Germany and Japan)
He explains it starts from the relationships of the agrarian classes
In Canada, he related this to the elimination of arbitrary government and mass
participation in the making of rules
Conditions for emergence of democracy
1. Neither the monarchy nor the landed aristocracy should be able to dominate each
other consistently. A central power must bring some semblance of order to the
nobility. If absolute power is held for too long, democracy will not flourished
2. In the absence of urban dwellers to counteract the landed aristocracy when it
challenges royal power, democratic impulses falter. NO BOURGEOIS, NO
DEMOCRACY
3. Development of commercial agriculture by the landed aristocracy is a key to
democratic resistance to the monarchy
4. There should be no massive reservoir of peasants that might be mobilized as
capitalism develops, either to fascists ends or in a communist movement
5. A revolutionary break with the past should occur (for example, civil wars are
considered vital components of democratic development) W/o it, democracy will
not become strongly entrenched
(2) Skocpol’s theory of Social Revolutions
SOCIAL REVOLUTION: rapid, basic transformations of a society’s state and
class structure
Social structure can contribute to bringing about social change
Modern social revolutions occur only in countries situated in disadvantaged
positions in the international arena
Great emphasis on the actions of the peasantry
Social change can be encouraged by popular mobilization against counter-
revolutionaries and foreign powers
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Document Summary
The state"s power is under threat from globalization trends, terrorist opposition, popular disenchantment and environmental disasters. No country is truly isolated from external economic, cultural, and political forces. Politics: process by which individuals and groups act to promote their interests, often in conflict with others. Authority: power considered legitimate by those subjected to it. Where authority is widely accepted, politics will likely follow peaceful, established patterns, but when it does not exist, intense conflicts are probable sooner or later. 2 types of authority (1) traditional authority: people obey because that is the way things have always been done. The power holder enjoys the sanctity of the immemorial traditions and may expect obedience as long as these established rules are followed. The charismatic leader is thought to be able to resolve problems beyond the capacity of ordinary people and may build a devoted following, sometimes rooted in religious faith.
