Sociology

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economic system

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a socially created institution that coordinates human activity in the effort to produce, distribute and consume goods and services.

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goods

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any products that are manufactured, grown, or extracted from the earth, such as food, clothing, housing, automobiles, coal, computers, etc.

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sesrvices

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activities performed for others that result in no tangible product, such as entertainment, transportation, financial advice, medical care, education.

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domestication

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the process by which plants and animals were brought under human control.

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mechanization

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the addition of external sources of power, such as oil or steam, to hand tools and modes of transportation.

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colonization

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a form of domination in which one country imposes its political, economic, social and cultural institutions on indigenous population and the land it occupies.

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capitalism

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an economic system in which the raw materials and the means of producing and distributing goods and services are privately owned. Capitalist systems are characterized by private ownership of the means of production and are profit-driven, free of gov interference, and consumer driven.

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private ownership

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a situation in which individuals (rather than workers, the gov or communal groups) own the raw materials, machines, tools, labor trucks, buildings and other inputs needed to produce and distribute goods and services.

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laws of supply and demand

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natural laws regulating capitalist economies such that as demand for an item increases, prices rise. When manufactures respond the price increase by producing a larger supply of that item, this increases competition and drives the price down.

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socialism

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an economic system in which the raw materials and the means of producing and distributing goods and services are collectively owned. Public ownership rather than private ownership is an essential characteristic of this system.

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core economies

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the wealthiest, most highly diversified economies in the world with strong stable governments.

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peripheral economies

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economies that rely on a few or even a single commodity, such as coffee, peanuts, or tobacco, or a single mineral resource such as tin, copper or zinc.

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semiperipheral economies

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economies characterized by moderate wealth (but extreme inequality) and moderately diverse economies. These economies exploit peripheral economies and are, in turn, exploited by core economies.

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Odious debts

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the "personal" debts of a ruler or a particular regime that are incurred without consent of the population.

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Primary sector of the economy

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includes economic activities that generate or extract raw materials from the natural environment.

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Secondary sector of the economy

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includes economic activities that transform raw materials into manufactured goods.

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Tertiary sector of the economy

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includes economic activities related to delivering services, including the creation and distribution of information.

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gross domestic product

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the monetary value of the goods an services that a nation's work force produces over the course of a year (or some other time period)

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Monopoly

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a situation in which a single producer dominates a market.

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Oligopoly

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a situation in which few producers dominate a market.

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Conglomerates

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large corporations that own "smaller" corporations acquired through merger or acquisition.

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Political system

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A socially created institution that regulates the use of and access to power that is essential to articulating and realizing individual, local, regional, national, international, or global interests and agendas.

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Power

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the probability that an individual can acheive his or her will even against another individual's opposition.

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Authority

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legitimate power in which people believe that the differences in power are just and proper--that is, people view a leader as being entitled to give orders.

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Traditional Authority

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A type of authority that relies on the sanctity of time-honored norms that govern the selection of someoneto a powerful position (chief, king, queen) and specify responsibilities andd appropriate conduct for the individual selected.

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Charismatic Authority

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A type of authority that derives from the exceptional and exemplary qualities of the person who issues the commands.

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Legal-rational Authority

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A type of authority that rests on a system of impersonal rules that formally specifies the qualifications for occupying a powerful position.

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Government

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The organizational structure that directs and coordinates people's involvement in the political activities of a country or other teritoru (city, county, state) within that country.

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Democracy

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a system of government in which power vested in the citizen body, and in which members of that citizen body participate directly or indirectly in the decision-making process.

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Representative democracy

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a system of government in which decision making takes place indirectly through elected representatives.

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Totalitarianism

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A system of government characterized by:
-a single ruling party led by a dictator
-an unchallenged official ideology that defines a vision of the "perfect" society and the means to acheive that vision.
-A system of social control that suppresses dissent and opposition.
-Centralized control over the media and economy.

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Authoritarianism

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A system in which there is no separation of power and a single pereson (dictator), group (family, military, single party), or social class holds all power.

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Theocracy

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A form of government in which political authority rests in the hands of religious leaders or a theologically trained elite. Under this system, there is no separation of church and state.

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The power elite model

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The power elite are those few people who occupy such lofty positions in the social structure of leading institutions that their decisions have consequences affecting millions of people worldwide.

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Pluralist Model

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A model the views politics as an aren of compromise, alliances, and negotiation among many competing and different special-interest groups, and power as something that is dispersed among those groups.

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Special Interest groups

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groups composed of people who share an interest in a particular economic, political, and social issue and who form an organization or join an existing organization with the goal of influencing public opinion and government policy.

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Political action committees

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Committees that raise money to be donted to the political candidates most likely to support their special interests.

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Empire

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a group of countries under the control of a foreign power such that the dominant power shapes the subordinate entities' political, economic, and cultural development.

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Imperialistic Power

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A political entity that exerts control over foreign entities through conquest or force and/or through policies and economic pressures.

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Hegemony

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a process by which a power maintains its dominance over other entities.

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militaristic power

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one that believes military strength, and the willingness to use it, is the source of national--and even global--security.

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Insurgents

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Groups who participate in armed rebellion against some established authority, government, or administration with the hope that those in power will retreat.