College Network Sociology Chapter 18

Front 1

Authoritarianism

Back 1

A political system in which people are denied the ability to participate in government

Front 2

authority

Back 2

power that people perceive as legitimate

Front 3

charismatic authority

Back 3

power that is legitimated by the extraordinary personal attributes or accomplishments of a person that inspire awe and obedience among others

Front 4

democracy

Back 4

a political system in which the people as a whole exercise power either directly or indirectly (through elected representatives)

Front 5

elite model

Back 5

a view of power in society as concentrated in the hands of a small group of elites, while the majority of people are relatively powerless

Front 6

government

Back 6

the formal organization with the legal and political authority to direct the political life of a society

Front 7

monarchy

Back 7

a political system in which a single family exercises power over a society; that power is transferred across generations through lines of inheritance.

Front 8

pluralist model

Back 8

a view of power in society that sees power as widely dispersed among many competing special interest groups

Front 9

political action committees (PAC)

Back 9

organizations of special interest groups that raise money to help elect and lobby public officials

Front 10

political parties

Back 10

formal organizations that seek to acquire, occupy, influence, and control positions in government

Front 11

political socialization

Back 11

the process through which people lwarn political values, perspectives, issues, and behaviors

Front 12

politics

Back 12

the social institution through which power is organized, distributed, and exercised by some people and groups over others

Front 13

rational-legal authority

Back 13

power legitimized by written law or regulations and associated with a socially recognized position

Front 14

state

Back 14

the political entity in a society that possesses a legitimate monopoly over the use of force

Front 15

special interest groups

Back 15

coalitions of people that share an interest ina specific issue or policy

Front 16

totalitarianism

Back 16

a political system in which the state extensively regulates many aspects of peoples lives

Front 17

traditional authority

Back 17

power that is legitimated by longstanding customs and habits within a society

Front 18

C. Wright Mills

Back 18

Developed power elite view that sees the ruling elite as the top leaders of business, military, and government

Front 19

William Domboff

Back 19

Believed that the ruling class influenced power in three ways