SOCA02H3 Lecture : Politics
Document Summary
Political sociology mainly concerned with institutions that specialize in exercise of power and authority: the state: comprises institutions that formulate and carry out country"s laws and public policies. in performing these functions, the state regulates citizens in civil society, or private sphere of social life. Power is the most important part in politics. Politics is machine that determines who gets what, when, and how (lasswell, 1936: power - the ability to control others, even against their will - fuels the machine. use of power sometimes involves force: when most people basically agree with how political machine is run, raw power becomes authority, which is legitimate, institutionalized power. power is legitimate when people regard its use as morally correct or justified. power is institutionalized when norms and statuses of social organizations govern its use. Norms able to transfer power to one and to the other. Naked power to keep an a eye on people such as ceis.