Politics Sociology Crash Course

What is politics according to sociologists?

• A system used by governments to control citizens

• The study of government laws and regulations

• A major social institution organizing decision-making and distributing power

• The process of electing leaders only

Who defined power as the ability to achieve desired ends over the objections of others?

• Karl Marx

• Max Weber

• Emile Durkheim

• John Locke

What type of power is backed by the threat of force according to Max Weber?

• Charismatic power

• Traditional authority

• Coercive power

• Rational-legal authority

Which authority is legitimized by respect for long-standing cultural patterns?

• Democratic authority

• Rational-legal authority

• Traditional authority

• Charismatic authority

What is an example of charismatic authority?

• The Divine Right of Kings

• Martin Luther King Jr. leading the civil rights movement

• A bureaucratic system

• The US Constitution

What political system gives power to the people as a whole?

• Authoritarianism

• Democracy

• Monarchy

• Totalitarianism

Which model sees power as being concentrated in the hands of small groups?

• Marxist political economy model

• Power-elite model

• Structural functionalist theory

• Pluralist model

What does the political spectrum in the US range from?

• Liberal on the left to conservative on the right

• Socialist to capitalist

• Monarchist to democrat

• Authoritarian to libertarian

What is the routinization of charisma?

• The act of a government enforcing laws

• The process of turning charismatic authority into traditional or rational-legal authority

• When a leader loses their influence

• A method of voting

Which type of authority does democracy tend to be backed by?

• Traditional authority

• Rational-legal authority

• Charismatic authority

• None of the above