Sociology Chapters 9-10

Front 1

Bureaucracy

Back 1

Large hierarchical organization governed by formal rules and regulations and having clearly specified work tasks

Front 2

De-skilling

Back 2

subdivision of different people or groups in different tasks requiring less skilled employees.

Front 3

division of labor

Back 3

Specialization of different people or groups in different tasks, characteristics of most bureaucracies.

Front 4

free-rider problem

Back 4

tendency for people to refrain from contributing from those at the top, where there is a great deal of power and authority to those at the bottom, where there is very little power and authority.

Front 5

Mcdonaldization

Back 5

process by which the characteristics of the fast food restaurant come to dominate other areas of social life.

Front 6

multinational corporation

Back 6

company that has manufacturing production, and marketing divisions in multiple countries.

Front 7

oligarchy

Back 7

system of authority in which many other people are ruled by a privileged few.

Front 8

social dilemma

Back 8

potential for a society's long term ruin because of individuals' tendency to pursue their own short-term interest.

Front 9

social structure

Back 9

framework of society-social institutions, organizations, groups, statuses and roles, cultural beliefs, and institutionalized norms-that adds order and predictability to our private lives.

Front 10

tragedy of the commons

Back 10

situation in which people acting individually and in their own self-interest use, up commonly available (but limited) resources, creating disaster for the entire community.

Front 11

absolute poverty

Back 11

inability to afford the minimal requirements for sustaining a reasonably healthy existence.

Front 12

authority

Back 12

possession of some status or quality that compels others to obey one's directives or commands.

Front 13

Caste system

Back 13

stratification system based on heredity, with little movement allowed across strata

Front 14

colonization

Back 14

process of expanding economic markets by invading establishing control over a weaker country and its people

Front 15

competitive individualism

Back 15

cultural belief that those who succeed in society are those who work hardest and have the best abilities and that those who suffer don't work hard enough or lack the necessary traits or abilities.

Front 16

culture-of-poverty thesis

Back 16

belief that poor people, resigned to their position in society, developed a unique value structure to deal with their lack of success.

Front 17

estate system (feudal system)

Back 17

stratification system in which high -status groups own land and have power based on noble birth

Front 18

false consciousness

Back 18

situation in which people in the lower classes come to accept a belief system that harms them; the primary means by which powerful classes in society prevent protest and revolution.

Front 19

means of production

Back 19

land, commercial enterprises factories, and wealth that form the economics basis if class society

Front 20

middle class

Back 20

in a society stratified by social class a group of people who have an intermediate level of wealth, income, and prestige, such as manager, supervisors, executives, small business owners, and professionals.

Front 21

near-poor

Back 21

individuals or families who earnings between 100% and 125% of the poverty line

Front 22

poor

Back 22

in a society stratified by social class, a group of people who work for minimum wage or chronically unemployed

Front 23

poverty line

Back 23

amount if yearly income a family requires to meet its basic needs, according to federal government

Front 24

power

Back 24

Ability to affect decision in ways that benefit a person or protect his or her interests

Front 25

prestige

Back 25

respect and honor given to some people in society

Front 26

relative poverty

Back 26

individuals' economic position compared with the living standards of the majority in the soceity

Front 27

slavery

Back 27

economic form of equality in which some people are legally the property of others

Front 28

social calss

Back 28

group of people who share a similar economic position in a society, based on their wealth and income.

Front 29

social mobility

Back 29

movement of people or groups from one class to another.

Front 30

socioeconomic status

Back 30

prestige, honor, respect, and lifestyle associated with different position or groups in society.

Front 31

stratification

Back 31

ranking system for groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society.

Front 32

upper class

Back 32

in a society stratified by social class, a group of people who have high income and prestige and who own cast amounts of property and other forms of wealth, such as owners of large corporations, top financiers, rich celebrities and politicians, and members of prestigious families.

Front 33

working class

Back 33

in a society, stratified by social class, a group of people who have a low level of wealth, income and prestige, such as industrial and factory workers, office workers, clerks, and farm, manual labors.

Front 34

working poor

Back 34

employed people who consistently earn wages but do not make enough to survive.