...ideology which places a high premium on progress as a slow, gradual process. Conservatives, or in political terms, the Right, view most forms of change as an invitation to chaos. They prefer smaller government and less regulation (www.diffen.com). This constituency is likely to be privileged in society, and usually as a result of aristocracy that has been inherited, or passed down from previous generations. When things change too quickly, this privilege, in the eyes of its possessors, is at risk- hence the fear of change a conservative may have. The other ideology that is gaining traction in recent generations, in America, is liberalism. Liberalism is a belief in equal opportunity for all, within a defined set of laws governed by law. Liberal minded people in America believe in more evenly distribution of wealth, rights, and resources, regardless of individual wealth. This country started with more conservative ways of living. For instance, early on, slavery was acceptable. It had been acceptable for kings to rule over peasants for centuries prior. Human rights, in early America, were limited to white men. As time wore on, an attitude...
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...Why have Marxist’s predicted that the state would wither away? * ‘Withering away of state’ – term coined by Engels, definition: Disappearance of the state as a political instrument of class rule due, due to the disappearance of social classes. * 1st reason: * ‘State’ is part of Superstructure– rooted from Marx’ theory of Historical Materialism (Superstructure vs Infrastructure) – Is part of the superstructure. * Therefore it reflects the class structure of the economic system – In capitalism, the state is the political guardian of the bourgeois society, the political agent of the economic ruling class = the instrument of class rule. * It will use both coercion and economic consensus to protect status quo, regardless of which party is in power. * 2nd Reason * State is Reformist: According to Marx, the most reformist parties (Labour) are most successful in protecting capitalism. (Hailsham Quote: ‘if you do not give the people reform…. revolution’) * Marxists reject the Parliamentary road to socialism - Revolution is true ‘people power’. State advocates to reform and therefore withering away of state expected in order to establish full communism. * Reforms can only alleviate the worst aspects of capitalism – they cannot, by definition, remove the exploitative roots of class conflict which will ultimately bring about the complete overthrow of capitalism. Therefore state loses its reason for existence and in order to...
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...Final Exam Questions 1. Q: Explain the historical relationship between Hutus and Tutsis. Before 1500s, there were mainly 2 tribes in Rwanda. Hutus and Tutsis. However, Tutsis had better agricultural and trade and combat skills. Very slowly over time, Tutsis took over the land ownership of Hutus and Hutus became part of Tutsis society. This was not a violent take over. This happened peacefully. Tutsi created an agreement that allowed Hutus to work on their land in exchange for payment and protection. As Tutsi became stronger, they saw no need to pay and protect Hutus. Hutus became Tutsis’ slaves. After World War II, Rwanda became Belgian colony. Belgian government tried to establish equal rights between Tutsis and Hutus. UN in 1962 gives independence to Rwanda. Election system allowed a Hutu to become a president. Tutsis tried to overthrow the government, but failed and almost all Tutsis fled from the country. Hutus killed almost 12,000 Tutsis in the process. The president signed a cease fire and in 1990, he promised to make many changes to Rwanda to try and allow Hutus and Tutsis to live together in peace. However, Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana was killed when his airplane was shot down by unknown group. Angry Hutu extremists started to massacre Tutsis in Rwanda. Almost 927,000 Tutsis were killed in 100 days. UN and all other countries in the world did nothing. 2. Q: It...
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...are always unequal to men in terms of: Institutions – leadership and hierarchy Representation – culture, in scriptures. Attitudes and beliefs - socialisation Item A Sociologists disagree about the role of religion in society. Functionalists, for example, see religion mainly as a positive force. However, Marxists see religion as a tool of capitalism. They argue that it acts to justify inequality, helping to keep the poor satisfied by giving them hope of better times to come and preventing social unrest and revolution. Feminists see religion as a force for subordination and patriarchal oppression. This view is supported by evidence such as the differential treatment of women in religious congregations. Other sociologists argue that such evidence is out of date and that women are no longer the victims of religious oppression. Introduction Briefly explain the feminist view of religion– negative – patriarchy – conservative force. Briefly compare to the Marxist view as it is similar. Feminists show us the negative elements of religion but fail to see the good elements as argued by FUNC, NR and NM. Paragraph 1: FEMINISM vs FUNCTIONALISM Point: religion is patriarchal.-Oppression, making them invisible, controlling what they ca nand cant wear, form of social control.Prevents them from being sexualised, liberates women. Explain: concepts, key thinkers and examples Armstrong – Social construction, decline of...
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...Capitalism vs. Communism Throughout history, there have been many systems developed in order to have a better society. Two of the most analyzed, and debated systems that have tired to change an economy for the best are communism, and capitalism. Communism, and capitalism have been compared on many levels, such as why they will or will not work, and which one works better. Throughout this essay I will concentrate on the differences, and similarities of how each operates, along with the benefits, and problems that each of them produces. Both of these economic systems theories came about around the same time, in the late 17th to mid18th centuries. One of the main contributor for capitalism was Adam Smith, writing The Wealth of a Nation in 1776, and Karl Marx for communism publishing the Communist Manifesto in 1848. These both were looked as a manual or guide for achieving such advancements. Communism called for the people to not be selfish and work for the benefits of the community rather for their well being. It asks them to see that what benefits the whole, benefits themselves. Capitalism on the other hand is focused on working for individual growth, and personal ownership to provide wealth for one's self. Communism plans to have a higher power or government control the economy to create a better way of living, by which all goods are equally distributed. As capitalism wants the government to not play a big role in the system, but instead wants it to be up to private ownership...
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...In a way, communism is an extreme form of socialism. Many countries have dominant socialist political parties but very few are truly communist. In fact, most countries - including staunch capitalist bastions like the U.S. and U.K. - have government programs that borrow from socialist principles. "Socialism" is sometimes used interchangeably with "communism" but the two philosophies have some stark differences. Most notably, while communism is a political system, socialism is primarily an economic system that can exist in various forms under a wide range of political systems. Comparison chart | |Communism |Socialism | |Philosophy |From each according to his ability, to each according to |From each according to his ability, to each according to| | |his needs. Free-access to the articles of consumption is |his contribution. Emphasis on profit being distributed | | |made possible by advances in technology that allow for |among the society or workforce to complement individual | | |super-abundance. |wages/salaries. | |Economic System |The means of production are held in common, negating the |The means of production are owned by public enterprises | | |concept of ownership in...
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...What are Business Ethics? Meaning Ethics is a branch of social science. It deals with moral principles and social values. It helps us to classify, what is good and what is bad? It tells us to do good things and avoid doing bad things. So, ethics separate, good and bad, right and wrong, fair and unfair, moral and immoral and proper and improper human action. In short, ethics means a code of conduct. So, the businessmen must give a regular supply of good quality goods and services at reasonable prices to their consumers. They must avoid indulging in unfair trade practices like adulteration, promoting misleading advertisements, cheating in weights and measures, black marketing, etc. They must give fair wages and provide good working conditions to their workers. They must not exploit the workers. They must encourage competition in the market. They must protect the interest of small businessmen. They must avoid unfair competition. They must avoid monopolies. They must pay all their taxes regularly to the government. In short, business ethics means to conduct business with a human touch in order to give welfare to the society. Need or Importance of Business Ethics Stop business malpractices : Some unscrupulous businessmen do business malpractices by indulging in unfair trade practices like black-marketing, artificial high pricing, adulteration, cheating in weights and measures, selling of duplicate and harmful products, hoarding, etc. These business malpractices are harmful to...
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...Liberals Believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all. It is the duty of the government to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties and individual and human rights. Believe the role of the government should be to guarantee that no one is in need. Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for the government to solve problems. Liberal. There is injustice still. But look at how much we've accomplished in the last 50 years. We just have to keep working at it. Both the liberal and the radical positions seek to make the infrastructure more effective in the equality of access to resources and rights. For Jeanne, the liberal sees many of the problems with the system and the injustice it produces. She wants to change the system to make it more just, more equal. She does not want to examine deeply those aspects of our culture that have not changed: such as "economic growth achieved by corporate politics." But she also fears that radical change brings chaos, and has a vested interest in the system that exists. Thus, she is less critical than a revolutionary, and more pleased with results that make the system just a little better. The liberal is more likely to see improvements in race, class, and gender issues, while still recognizing that much more needs to be done. Libertarianism view • Variation of conservatism that believes government should be small and should play only the most minimal possible role in social life • ...
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...Sociological perspectives Sociological perspectives is a perspective on human behaviour and its connection to society as a whole. It invites us to look for the connections between the behaviour of individual people and the structures of the society in which they live. The structures are functionalism, Marxism, Feminist, Interactionism, Collectivism, Postmodernism and New right. Functionalism Functionalism is a perspective created by Emile Durkheim. He believed society was made up of inter-connected institutions for an example education, family and government which depended on each other to function. Functionalists see society as being similar to the human body. In the same way the body relies on the heart to pump blood round to other vital organs like the lungs and brain. Functionalists see society as being constructed of different inter-dependent components like the family and education system. So in the same way the human body would fail if the heart stopped, functionalists’ argue society would stop working properly if the family stopped functioning properly. Functionalists say this would happen because the family is an institution in which primary socialisation occurs. Primary socialisation is where younger members of a family are taught societies norms, values, roles and beliefs, By having the same values which we all share, a value consensus is establish. Therefore we can see the family has a function in the social system. This perspective of society differed...
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...ideologies, capitalism vs. communism and both wanted to spread their power and control in the world. Their incompatible ideologies from the start together with their troubled relationship since 1918 when the west intervened on the Russian civil war on behalf of the White Army, created an uneasy alliance in 1941 that that was most certainly ‘bound to fall apart’ when the common enemy was defeated in 1945. In order to come to a conclusion on the extent to which “An unnatural alliance that was bound to fall apart after the defeat of the common enemy” explains the origin of the cold war the essay will be divided into four parts: the opposed ideologies, events from 1919 to 1945, the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, and events subsequent to the conferences until 1949. The Bolsheviks seized power in 1917 leading to the establishment of the world’s first socialist state whose guiding ideas were those of communism. For the leaders of the western countries these ideas threatened the very basis of their societies, economically and politically, as they followed an ideology of Capitalism. For the USSR, capitalism which revolves around private enterprise was seen as creating divisions between rich and poor and thus the communists believed that all goods should be taken over by the government and distributed to individuals accordingly. (Phillips P4-5). Furthermore, a communist state was a one-party state, with the Communist Party representing the people whereas the West embraced liberal democracies...
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...SOCIOLOGY – AQA – UNIT 4 - CRIME AND DEVIANCE The exam is split into 3 questions: • Q.1 is a pure methods section which contains two parts a) 12 marks and b) 21 marks. You should spend 45 minuets on this question. • Q.2 is a method in context question. Part a) is for 9 marks [could also be a 3 and 6 mark question] and part b) is for 15 marks. You should spend 30 minuets on this question. • Q.3 is a theories essay for 33 marks. THIS QUESTION IS SYNOPTIC! You should spend 45 minuets on this question. Below is a list of all the areas and studies you need to know for each section of the exam. Don’t worry if you don’t know all the studies, each college/school are likely to teach slightly different ones, just make sure you know about that amount for each section. Q.1 For the first two pure crime parts you need to know: Functionalist theories of crime and deviance Durkheim – Social control, social regulation including suicide Merton-Strain theory, blocked aspirations Cohen – Status frustration Cloward and Ohlin – Deviant subcultures New Right/Right Realism James Wilson – Strict law enforcement needed Wilson and Kelling – Broken windows, zero tolerance Murray – Cultural deprivation, single parents and ineffective, the underclass Erdos – Families without fathers Subcultural theories Cohen – Delinquent subcultures Cloward and Ohlin – Delinquency and opportunity, criminal, conflict and retreatist...
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...Sociological Theories A sociological theory is a set of ideas that provides an explanation for human society. Theories are selective in terms of their priorities and perspectives and the data they define as significant. As a result they provide a particular and partial view of reality. Sociological theories can be grouped together according to a variety of criteria. The most important of these is the distinction between Structural and Social action theories. Structural or macro perspectives analyses the way society as a whole fits together. Structural theory sees society as a system of relationships that creates the structure of the society in which we live. It is this structure that determines our lives and characters. Structured sets of social relationships are the 'reality' that lie below the appearance of 'the free individual' of western individualism. Structuralism focuses on the particular set of 'structural laws' that apply in any one society. Despite their differences, both functionalism and Marxism use a model of how society as a whole works. Many functionalists base their model of society around the assumption of basic needs and go to explain how different parts of society help to meet those needs. Marxists, on the other hand, see society as resting upon an economic base or infrastructure, with a superstructure above it. They see society as divided into social classes which have the potential to be in conflict with each other. However, the main differences...
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...Presently, this course does not supply any discussions about nationalism in the Americas with exception to Haiti. Nicaragua offers an opportunity to visualize how many Central American countries were operated and ran politically throughout the transitions from the Mexican Empire to the United Providences of Central America, then finally to the independent states they are today. The case of Nicaraguan nationalism would require students to think critically about where nationalism resides in the near constant conflict outside the sphere of classic European imperialism, instead focusing more on inner turmoil of its people and US interests and involvement in the socioeconomic and political events that arguably effected the course of the countries development for its own “imperial” interests rather than the development of Nicaragua. The shadow that is Nicaragua has been largely ignored by scholiasts and journalist alike throughout its development and serves as a representation of what happens when ridicule drowns out the heroes and success of a nation once in turmoil; having foreign...
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...INTRODUCTION The participation of the state in enterprises in Nigeria dates back to the colonial era. The task of providing infrastructural facilities such as railway, road, bridges, water, electricity and port facilities fell on the colonial government due to the absence of indigenous companies with the required capital as well as the inability or unwillingness of foreign trading companies to embark on these capital-intensive projects(Iheme 1997).This involvement was expended and consolidated by the colonial welfare development plan (1946 – 56) that was formulated when the labour party came to power in the United Kingdom. This trend continued after independence such that by 1999, it was estimated that successive Nigeria Governments have invested up to 800 billion Naira in public owned enterprises (Obasanjo, 1999). THE CONCEPT OF PRIVATIZATION Although the concept of privatization is an is an emotive, ideological and controversial one evoking sharp political reactions, its political origins, meaning and objectives are not ambiguous. Iheme (1997).defines privatizations as: …any of a variety of measurers adopted by government to expose a public enterprise to competition or to bring in private ownership or control or management into a public enterprise and accordingly to reduce the usual weight of public ownership or control or management. However, in a strict sense, privatization means the transfer of the ownership (and all the incidence of ownership, including...
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...Conservative vs. Liberal Beliefs Copyright 2005 (revised 2010) StudentNewsDaily.com We all want the same things in life. We want freedom; we want the chance for prosperity; we want as few people suffering as possible; we want healthy children; we want to have crime-free streets. The argument is how to achieve them… Liberals believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all. It is the duty of the government to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties and individual and human rights. Believe the role of the government should be to guarantee that no one is in need. Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for the government to solve problems. Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strong national defense. Believe the role of government should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals. Conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of the individual to solve problems. NOTE: The terms “left” and “right” define opposite ends of the political spectrum. In the United States, liberals are referred to as the left or left-wing and conservatives are referred to as the right or right-wing. On the U.S. political map, blue represents the Democratic Party (which generally upholds liberal principles) and red represents the Republican party (which generally upholds conservative principles). THE ISSUES: ...
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