WGS 200 Chapter Notes - Chapter 15: Equal Rights Amendment, Violence Against Women Act, Jim Crow Laws
23 Jul 2016
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Document Summary
The state is a major social institution organized to maintain systems of legitimized power and authority in society. The state plays an important role in both teaching and enforcing social values. It is a very powerful institution that has profound implications for people"s everyday lives. The state is an abstract concept that refers to all forms of social organization representing official power in society: the government, law and social policy, the courts and the criminal justice system, the military, and the police. The state determines how people are selected to govern others and controls the systems of governance they must use. With considerable authority in maintaining social order, the state influences how power is exercised within society. The definition of state here is different from state as a geographic region, such as california or ohio. B/c the state is a conduit for various patterns of social inequity, it does not always fairly regulate and control social order.
