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Summary IMAGINING SOCIOLOGY Chapter 12: Change Through Policy and the Law CA$14.66   Add to cart
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  3. University Of British Columbia (UBC )
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  5. Sociology
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  7. SOCI 102 (SOCI102)

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Summary IMAGINING SOCIOLOGY Chapter 12: Change Through Policy and the Law

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CLEAR and CONCISE assimilation of notes from lectures (SOCI 102 with Catherine Corrigall-Brown), the textbook (Imagining Sociology written by Catherine Corrigall-Brown), and discussions. These notes include a COMPLETE BREAKDOWN of each important concept (with examples) and key terms highlighted. If...

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  • January 23, 2018
  • 5
  • 2017/2018
  • Summary

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C12: CHANGE THROUGH POLICY AND THE LAW


C12: CHANGE THROUGH POLICY AND THE LAW
Learning Objectives
1. Discuss social change as a process and outline the four major routes to social change.
2. Outline the major theories used to explain the rise of the modern state; describe the role of the
welfare state and its functions.
3. Assess the utility of universal and means tested programs for dealing with social problems and
social inequality.
4. Describe reparation programs and how they can be used in the process of social change and to
address issues of inequality.
5. Critically assess how the state engages the public and problems with this relationship over time,
including the decline in voting.
6. Define social capital and understand its importance for governance.


KEY CONCEPTS

Social Change
● Social Change: the transformation of culture and social institutions over time.
● Can occur quickly (e.g; invention of new computer technology) or slowly (e.g; shifting gender
norms)
● Can be intentional (e.g; law legalising abortion) or unintentional (e.g; printing press not invented to
create social change but still altered many aspects of society and social interaction)
● Contentious - controversial (e.g; women’s suffrage movement)
● Can happen through institutionalised channels (state) OR outside of state (e.g; cultural change or
work of social movements)

State
● State: set of institutions that includes four components - political decision making, administrative
units or bureaucracies, judiciary or legal system, security services
● Attached to geographic territory
● Maintain a monopoly and autonomy on rule-making, coercion, violence within that territory
● The state is powerful because…
○ Legal right to tax you, use violence against you to maintain social order, permit or force you
to kill via wars, legally hold you in prison, kill you as capital punishment
○ Able to set policies and laws governing your behaviour
● Changes over time
● Function of States:
○ Managerial Perspective (manages increasingly large territories)
○ Militaristic Perspective (enacting war)
○ Economic Perspective (controlling the economy)

→ Managerial Perspective
● Managerial Perspective: state is instituted to better manage and control territories that grew in
geographic size and population.
● The evolving practices relating to the recruitment, training, and employment of administrators
needed to manage new bureaucracies




→ Militaristic Perspective
● Militaristic Perspective: state is instituted to create a monopoly on the acceptable use of violence,
particularly in relation to the ability to wage war.
● Related to Weber’s earlier claim that the state is the only legitimate user of violence within a territory

, C12: CHANGE THROUGH POLICY AND THE LAW


● Modern state was intended for war-making and was concerned in established and maintaining
military strength that is achieved by:
○ War-making → eliminating rivals outside territories
○ State-making → eliminating rivals inside territories
○ Protection → eliminating client’s rivals
○ Extraction → acquiring the means to carry out the first three activities
● Charles Tilly argued “war made the state, and the state made war”.
○ Claimed that state is a “protection racket” (trades security for revenues)

→ Economic Perspective
● Economic Perspective: state is instituted as a result of class struggle in capitalism and works to
regulate economic relations.
● Related to Marx’s theories
○ Argued that state “resolves” conflicts by siding w/ capitalists
○ Referred to state as “executive committee of the bourgeoisie”
○ Saw state as an extension of the dominant capitalist class
● State manages economic relations to facilitate work of capitalists → forms “power centre”
○ Able to standardise
○ Secure relations b/w individuals across wide spaces (easier to exchange goods)
○ Imposes rules about property (helps exchange goods b/w partners)

Welfare State
● Welfare State: type of state that performs three basic functions:
○ Provide a minimum income for individuals
○ Reduce the potential economic insecurity (can occur from illness, old age, unemployment
etc)
○ Give the public a range of social services
● Government plays primary role in promoting citizen’s economic and social well-being
● Welfare states expand bureaucracies to provide programs and reduce economic inequality
● Canadian welfare state is weaker than European countries (only 17% of GDP)
● Social programs in welfare states can be categorised as:
○ Universal Programs
○ Means-Tested Programs

→ Universal Programs
● Universal Programs: available to all citizens, regardless of wealth or income.
● Popular → everyone benefits equally
● Examples: CPP, access to public education, healthcare
● BUT is not efficient (e.g; some money from those who do not need CCP can be directed elsewhere)

→ Means-Tested Programs
● Means-Tested Programs: relies on a determination of whether an individual or family needs
government assistance.
● More efficient way to address inequality → able to reduce gap b/w rich and poor
● Less popular → only benefits small group of people & carry stigma & difficult to access
● Example: Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)

→ → Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)
● Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS): pension benefit for seniors but is only for those who make
below a certain income level.
● Can decrease inequality

Reparation Programs

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