File - Yesenia King

Ch. 13 Politics and the Economy

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The Transformation of Economic Systems  Economy (Market):  The mechanism by which values are established in order to exchange

goods and services  The system of distribution of goods and services  Essential to our welfare  Radically different today than in the past

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The Transformation of Economic Systems  Preindustrial Societies: Birth of Inequality  Hunting and Gathering Societies  High degree of social equality  Pastoral and Horticultural Societies  Surplus; trade between groups  Agricultural Societies  The invention of the plow; specialized division of labor

 Increasing Social and Economic Inequalities 3

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The Transformation of Economic Systems  Industrial Societies: Birth of the Machine  Brought Previously Unseen Surpluses  Conspicuous Consumption  Factories Exploited Labor  More Efficient Machines Led to Conspicuous Consumption  Postindustrial Societies: Birth of Information Age  Service Sector  Vast Surplus of Goods  Extensive Trade among Nations  Wider Variety and Quantity of Goods  Information Explosion  Global Village 4

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World Economic Systems-Capitalism Capitalism: Three components  Private Ownership of Means of Production  Market Competition  Pursuit of Profit

 Laissez-Faire Capitalism – Government is not

involved in decision making  Welfare or State Capitalism – Individuals have certain rights but are overseen by the government –this is the U.S. economy

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World Economic Systems-Socialism Socialism - Three components:  Public Ownership of Means of Production  Central Planning  Distribution of Goods without Profit Motive

 Needs Decided by Central Committee  Designed to Eliminate Competition  Everyone Works for the Government

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The Convergence of Capitalism and Socialism  Criticism of Capitalism: leads to social inequality  Criticism of Socialism: not respecting individual rights  Both capitalist and socialist systems have adopted features

from the other  The convergence theory refers to the growing similarities shared by capitalism and socialism  i.e. Western banks in China, unemployment compensation in the U.S.

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Work in the Postindustrial Economy  The dual labor market  Primary labor market–Jobs that provide extensive benefits to

workers  Secondary labor market–Jobs that provide minimal benefits to workers

 Labor unions–Organizations of workers that seek to improve wages and

working conditions through various strategies  Decline of unions  Shrinking industrial sector  Service jobs are unlikely to be unionized.

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Self-Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment  Involves exchange of goods and services not reported to the government,

including from work done “ on the side” and from illegal activities (drug dealing)  Undocumented workers – over 1 million  Self-employment–Earning a living without being on the payroll of a large organization

 Underemployment: Lower salaries, fewer benefits, and reduced/no pensions  Many workers agree to cuts in pay and/or benefits.

 Jobs disappear as:  occupations become obsolete.  businesses change the way they do business.  companies downsize or close. Politics Politicsand andthe theEconomy Economy

The Underground Economy 

Economic activity involving income not reported to the government as required by law  Most of us occasionally participate in the underground

economy in small ways.  Much of the underground economy is due to criminal

activity.  The largest segment is people who fail to report legally

earned income on their tax returns.

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Race and Gender in the Workplace  In the past, white men have been the mainstay of the US

labor force.

 In the future, more workers will be women and minorities.

 The workplace must develop programs and policies that

meet the needs of a socially diverse workforce and encourage everyone to work together effectively and respectfully.

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New Information Technology and Work  Computers are de-skilling labor (McDonaldization).  Computers are making work more abstract.  Computers limit workplace interaction.  Computers increase employers' control of workers.  Computers allow companies to relocate work.

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The Globalization of Capitalism  Stagnant Paychecks: the productivity of U.S. workers has

increased year after year, yet inflation and cost of living has affected the value of a paycheck  New Economic System and Old Divisions of Wealth: U.S.

worker face high insecurities in the workplace with layoffs and plant closings. Many are affected by outsourcing. The wealthy are not really affected by the current recession.

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The Globalization of Capitalism The Global Superclass: this term refers to the leaders of the globe’s top multinational companies  This class is very powerful and wealthy  They have access to the top circle of political power around the globe

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Corporations Organizations with a legal existence, including rights and liabilities, apart from those of its members 

 A few large corporations dominate the US economy.  Economic concentration has created the conglomerate, a giant

corporation comprising many smaller corporations.  Federal law forbids monopoly, the domination of a market by a single producer.  Oligopoly, the domination of a market by a few producers, is legal and common.

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Global Capitalism and Our Future  Global Trade will continue to increase  Elimination of Tariffs 1) The Most Industrialized Nations will continue to garner the world’s

wealth 2) A major concern is that economic inequality will increase between rich and poor nations and within rich and poor nations

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Politics Democracy and Human Rights: Having our Say

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The U.S. Political System Republicans  Older  Middle to Upper Social Classes  Conservative  Less government

Democrats  Younger  Minority Groups  Women more than men  Liberal  Working classes  More government

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Voting Patterns  Non-Hispanic Whites most likely to vote  Men and women tend to vote for different presidential

candidates  The more people feel they have a stake in the system, the more likely they are to vote  Voter Apathy is present in the U.S.: indifference to votingWhy is it so widespread?

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Political Power in American Society: The Vote Regular and Fair Elections?  Voting is:  an important source of power for citizens  it enables people to remove incompetent, corrupt, or insensitive

officials from office  To influence issues at the local, state, and national levels.  In current U.S. practice, voting has severe limitations as a

means of exercising power.  the range of candidates from which to choose is restricted

 the high cost of political campaigns reinforces the limited choice of

political candidates  the exercise of power by those at the top of the American political structure Politics Politicsand andthe theEconomy Economy

Lobbyists and Special Interests Special Interest Groups: People Who Think Alike on a Particular Issue and Mobilize for Political Action Lobbyists: People Paid to Influence Legislation who work for Special Interest groups  Often times, lobbyists are people who are retired from the government  The main criticism of Special Interest groups and Lobbyists are that they buy votes 21

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Functionalist Perspective Functionalist Perspective: Pluralism (Diffusion Among Many)  The functionalist perspective believes that the U.S. is

ruled by many different groups  There is a check and balance between the main branches of the government: Legislative, Judicial, and Executive

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Conflict Perspective Conflict Perspective: The Power Elite/Ruling Class -Elites rule the government (Mills and Dumhoff)

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Nationalism and the Nation-State • For millennia people lived in small bands

and tribes that often allowed a great deal of participation in governance by many or all members.

• • • • •

Nationalism – is the intense belief in the worth, rightness, and glory of one’s own nation Nation – an independent entity with full sovereignty Sovereignty – a nation is sovereign when it answers to no higher power, except as it may freely enter into treaties State – term used by political scientists to refer to a sovereign government entity Nation-state – a sovereign entity that represents the interests of people who share a common culture, presumably a common language, as well as a common territory

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Democracy and Its Alternatives  Democracy has been tried since ancient times, but

has often seemed unwieldy and fractious compared to its alternatives.  Democracy – or rule by the people  Monarchy – or rule by a hereditary leader  City-state – is a city that functions as an autonomous unit under its

own leadership (e.g., ancient Athens)  Oligarchy – is rule by a powerful elite  One-party system – governmental system that gives control to a single party  Two-party system – governmental system that includes two active political parties Politics Politicsand andthe theEconomy Economy

Why is Democracy important? • Many social scientists believe that it is a mechanism

that convinces us that we have some sort of power when we actually don’t.

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This idea of Democracy… …according to Joseph Stiglitz (Economist) is that it’s being reconfigured and it’s changing.  Stiglitz’s concepts:

-Democratic Deficit—gap between informal/intrinsic and substantive rights.

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 Intrinsic rights: basic rights, freedom of speech—values

important to people -instrumental mechanism in that if there were certain problems in society then democracy as a process allows for that info to pass and be disseminated —allows us to call out and hold governments somewhat responsible/accountable.  Substantive rights: crucial issue—what happens in

practice—US doesn’t do very well. -Example: The average life of a Black male in Harlem is less than a

Bangladeshi -ability to exercise those rights? -What happens in cases where your social/intrinsic rights are being violated? Then it affects your ability to participate in general, your community, vote, etc.

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Democratic Paradox: (Stiglitz’s concept)  Democracy spreading around the world, other

countries/societies are embracing it (Arab Spring); but those who have it don’t want it. This has to do with the way politics are being reconfigured.  Example: we still vote but it doesn’t function—people are

losing interest in the idea of democracy.

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So, Democracy today has to do with the working definition of Democracy. This includes:  Regular and fair elections—all members  Effective competition  Civil Liberties—political and civil rights—having right to vote, right to

run for office, etc.

But in order for democracy to function well, it requires it’s 3 legs to be balanced. These are: 3) Civil society—the 3rd sector; lies between other 2 sectors 2) Government—fair elections; non-corrupt, etc. 1) Market—*what is happening in terms of the democratic deficit is that the market is becoming more powerful and out of balance than the other two legs Politics Politicsand andthe theEconomy Economy

 Democracy is a process leading to a “thing”—not really endpoint

because it’s constantly changing.  But in a democracy decisions of government should be

transparent and open to discussion  participation allows for accountability; but this isn’t happening.

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Is Democracy Universal? Stiglitz makes the argument that everyone in the world accepts democracy at some level.  Institutions aren’t universal but the idea of having power over your

own life is universal.  There is a more general notion that people should have some input in their lives—this has been around since way past modern societies— African and Native American tribes.  Democracy isn’t tied to a state—having the ability or right to have a say in these processes is accepted (perhaps not by those in power).

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How is globalization affecting democracy?  Issues mentioned above are being affected.  Becoming larger than nation state  Issues of power—who is accountable?

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Globalization  Always been around  Process  Increased movement of food, ideas, culture, politics,

interconnectedness  Technology is key  Political – global one idea system

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The Right to Be Fully Human  Following WWII, the UN drafted a comprehensive

declaration of human rights and has followed this with statements on the rights of refugees, children, women and others.  Human rights – refers to the rights of individuals around the world  Civil rights – refers to the rights of citizens of nations

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Democracy supposed to act on behalf of people – government is supposed to enforce that.  However, if government power is being compromised and put in others’

hands it takes away from people because of privatization (water, gas, etc).  This is seen as government convergence—more and more government privatization and shifting power from government.  Overlapping communities across borders because of increasing risks—ex.

Environmental problems, terrorism, etc.  

growing risk beyond scope of one nation because of these things democracy needs to be rethought in this era of globalization o Who is supposed to resolve this? UN?

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 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-

1EHTt4HFng&feature=channel  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOLfGUKX8EE&feature=

channel  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_3K1PCZHE0&feature=

channel

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