Capitalism, Authority and the State

Question 1

Define work.

Answer 1

anything that produces something paid or unpaid

Question 2

define economy.

Answer 2

institution in charge of managing interaction involves with production, distribution and conception of goods and services

Question 3

how has work changed in the U.S.?

Answer 3

– deindustrialization bc of more machines replacing human workers and the labor has been outsourced internationally, this makes it harder to make a living w/out education

– non-standard service sector jobs: low skill, low income, doesn’t have usual/normal shifts –> health issues, divorce, etc. provide service

– non-standard contingent jobs: free agent, only lived for certain amt of time, risky, usually low paying, no benefits, crazy schedule, about 25% of jobs

– work hours: usually inferred to mean hours of work for pay, paid work hours on average haven’t changed but how there are two groups within workforce

       1. overemployed: college edu, salary, wealthy but work 24/7
       2. underemployed: w/ growth of short term jobs, less edu, always scrambling for job

Question 4

T or F, people are putting in more work hours outside fo paid worktime today

Answer 4

True, seen in total family work time which includes unpaid work, on average same TFWT

Question 5

T or F, dual earning families have more TFWT on average

Answer 5

True, bc we have more family structure (like single mother households) which are argued to be less efficient since it is harder for one to manage both work and family spheres this increase mainly cause by boom in women labor force

Question 6

How did work for Black women shift over time?

Answer 6

– Black women did mainly domestic and sometimes yard work after slavery for little pay so they entered work force before white women

– white women didn’t enter till WW2 and continued to increase until late 80s or 90s where it plateaued at a very high rate

Question 7

T or F, first women to work were unmarried w/ out children

Answer 7

True, then there was slow shift

Question 8

What are four reasons for the increase in the women’s labor force?

Answer 8

1. expansion of service sector: more digestible bc more like existing women culture
2. men income goes down: cannot be only provider
3. decrease in fertility: move time to make money bc of condoms/tech, also bc children stop working so become liability instead of asset
4. increase in divorce rates: bc divorce is likely people make financial decisions to protect themselves w/ this in mind

Question 9

What are relationship-specific investments?

Answer 9

– if relationships are more unstable, we are less likely to make relationship specific investments, if the relationship ends, the investment is also affected and you may not get expected payment, this happens for stay @ home moms for example when divorce

Question 10

What is the difference between capitalism and socialism?

Answer 10

• • capitalism
    
    • –> private ownership
    • –> competitive
    • –> goal = profit
    • –> individual investment
    • –> rooted in certain values
• • socialism
    - -> collective ownership
    - -> cooperation
    - -> goal = everyone has what they need

– can have mixed economy too which is mix btwn both

Question 11

define corporation.

Answer 11

– basic definition of it

– one business, one focus, one goal

Question 12

define conglomerate

Answer 12

– large, includes multiple coorporations, diff services/goods

Question 13

T or F, as business become international, norms of how people make money are questioned

Answer 13

True

Question 14

Define interlocking directorates.

Answer 14

– small # of seats of power are filled by even smaller amount of people filling seats bc some of multiple seats

Question 15

Define the institution of state/government.

Answer 15

• • creating and enforcing laws
• • social services
• • helps to maintain order
• • tends to offer structure w/ education system
• • regulates the economy

Question 16

Define politics.

Answer 16

• • a process where ppl try to acquire and exercise power

- - want people they support to have influence

Question 17

What is power?

Answer 17

• • ability to make things happen or make people do what you want (coercion)
• • power in it’s rawest form makes people do things even if they don’t want to do it

Question 18

What is legitimacy?

Answer 18

– another layer when added to power becomes authority aka legitimate authority

 - -> authority can be very precarious
 - -> general agreement that the person or group can make the rules
 - -> authority --> just because it's legitimated doesn't mean it's smooth an everyone is down

Question 19

What is the paradox of authority?

Answer 19

– can have that authority but once it’s removed one wouldn’t have anything

• • authority doesn’t really work w/ the latent aspect of coerciion
• • potential for latent coercion to become manifest will always be there

Question 20

What are the 3 main types of authority?

Answer 20

• • Traditional authority
    
    • -> hereditary; position of authority is inherited; source of authority is personal
      ex: monarchy
• – Charismatic authority
  
  • -> something about this person that makes people want to listen/follow them
    ex: Martin Luther King Jr, Prophet Muhammad PBUH
  • -> have something about themselves that moves people
  • -> this authority is also personal
• • Rational/Legal authority
    
    • -> authority itself is vested and held w/in the position
    • -> source is formal
      ex: judge; presidency
    • -> authority housed w/ in position itself –> therefore there’s criteria we’ve attached to these positions

Question 21

What are the diff types of Political systems?

Answer 21

• • democracy

- - authoritarian/totalitarian

Question 22

Describe and define democracy.

Answer 22

– recognize individual rights, approach rules w/ understanding that individuals can judge what’s best for themselves

– elect representatives that respond to wishes of groups, universal voting rights (except kids, immigrants, imprisoned commonly)

• • brings up electoral college and debates and value of individual votes in diff states
    
    • —-> in U.S. there’s 2 party system even though views are broad under 2 umbrellas

Question 23

Define and describe authoritarian/totalitarian.

Answer 23

– gov has control of everything

– Totalitarian –> everything is decided for you

– Authoritarian –>sort of hands off in certain aspects of life

Question 24

Describe voting patterns in U.S.

Answer 24

– structural thing sin place that aren’t conducive to voting

• • voter turnout is about half
• • people more likely to vote are older, white, higher SES, married

        --> prodestant and jewish more likely to vote