The Sociology of Politics and Democracy

SOCI 101

November 17, 2011

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 1 / 27

The Sociology of Democracy

Political Sociology: Sociology and the State

The American Political Character

American Voting in Comparative Perspective

Civil Society, Social Capital, and Democracy

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 2 / 27

Political Sociology

The relationship between the State (government) and society

Big questions:

When do people participate in politics and when not?When and why do social movements form, people protest, andmovements make a social difference?Where do people’s political beliefs come from? How do they change?How do different countries organize social policies such as health careand welfare?How and when can citizens discuss and deliberate over importantpolitical questions?How do important social institutions (the media, organizations, etc.)contribute to, or detract from, democracy?

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 3 / 27

Society and the State: Classical Theory

State

Society/

Economy

Culture

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 4 / 27

Society and the State: Parsons

Society

State Economy Religion Third SectorLeisure etc.SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 5 / 27

Society and the State: Contemporary Visions

State Economy

Society/Culture

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 6 / 27

Important Concepts in Political Sociology

Social networks

Social capital

Civil society

Civic skills

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 7 / 27

Important Concepts in Political Sociology (cont.)

Political cognition and political psychology

Efficacy

Political culture

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 8 / 27

Important Concepts in Social Movements Research

Collective Psychology

Resource Mobilization

Political Process Model

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 9 / 27

Important Works in Political Sociology: Tilly

Popular Contention in Great Britain, 1758–1834

How do disaffected groups make their needs known?

The study of social movements begs the question: are socialmovements themselves really only one kind of “contentious behavior?”

Contentious Repertoires: In different social, historical, andnational contexts, similar kinds of grievances are approacheddifferently.

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 10 / 27

Important Works in Political Sociology: Skocpol (1992)

Protecting Soldiers and Mothers

Against the myth of American exceptionalism

The U.S. had a strong, significant welfare state for many years priorto the New Deal.

Social policies in the U.S. tend to be stronger when they are:

Universal; andAssociated with “categories of honor”

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 11 / 27

Important Works in Political Sociology: Eliasoph

Avoiding Politics: How Americans Produce Apathy in Everyday Life

The importance of deliberation and political talk

What kinds of social circles are amenable to political talk andengagement?

Often: none.The phrases “close to home” and “for the children”

worked hard; they were pivotal in allowing volunteers to

maintain that feeling that the world made sense.

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 12 / 27

The American Political Character

Strange combination of individualism and collectivism

Mistrust in government, trust in “private” institutions

Avoids discussion of things “political”

Political deliberation is seen as a means to an ideal end

Opinion holding as a form of identity

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 13 / 27

American Voting in Comparative Perspective

Americans vote much less than citizens of comparative democracies.Why?

Demographic theories:

Education Age

Race Sex

etc . . . .

=⇒ Voting

Structural theories: Registration; Complexity; Frequency

Ideological theories:

People are satisfied People are dissatisfied

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 14 / 27

Social Explanations for Political Participation

Tocqueville: “a nation of joiners”

Rosenstone and Hansen, 1993: organizational effects on voting

Putnam, 1995: social capital as a citizenship resource

Does democracy rest on a base of private interaction?

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 15 / 27

Social Bases for Politics

Americans participate in nonpolitical organizations far more thancitizens of other countries

Churches and unions are the real outliers

Verba et al. (1995): churches and unions as mobilizers

Is civil society declining?

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 16 / 27

Social Bases for Politics: Perrin, 2001

Participation in almost any kind of nonpolitical civic association isassociated with citizenship behavior

Some kinds of civic associations are more associated

Some provide civic skills or political efficacy

The key variable: access to political discourse

Political culture is the key to citizenship

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 17 / 27

The Meaning of the VoteZambia, 1991

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 18 / 27

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 19 / 27

Jurgen Habermas: Origins of the Public18th Century French Salons

Development of the modern bourgeoisie

Development of the modern public

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 20 / 27

Origins of the PublicKey points

The “public” has a history

Our vision of democracy emerged from that history

Louis Hartz: “fragment theory”

Tocqueville and American deliberative democracy

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 21 / 27

The Contemporary Public Sphere

Benjamin Page, Who Deliberates?

Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone

Frank Bryan, Real Democracy

Ackerman and Fishkin, Deliberation Day

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 22 / 27

The Contemporary Public SpherePerrin, Citizen Speak

The Democratic Imagination emerges from everyday life

Deliberation happens all the time

A rich democratic discourse enriches deliberation

Real deliberation is an interactional, creative process

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 23 / 27

Democracy as a Representative SystemPerrin and McFarland 2008, 2011

Citizens’ Preferences

Public Policy

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 24 / 27

Democracy as a Representative SystemPerrin and McFarland 2008, 2011

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 25 / 27

Shifting gears...

Sociology in the Public Sphere

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 26 / 27

Sociology in the Public Sphere

Public problems often have empirical dimensions

Sociology can address:

What’s really going on?Who’s affected by it?How do policies, institutions, and decisions tend to affect people andgroups?How do policies, institutions, and decisions tend to form and change?Why are people’s perceptions sometimes so wrong?

SOCI 101 () The Sociology of Politics and Democracy November 17, 2011 27 / 27