Government Creates Social Order?

Inside the family unit, people can interact without a government. This is because the family unit is small and simple. In families, interactions take place face-to-face. Each family member, typically, has a strong stake in keeping the family going as well as in getting along. The members spend much of their development time in the family unit. Outside of family, individuals often have much less stake in any social interaction and the interactions are usually more limited.

Larger social units are too complex for rules and order to arise spontaneously. Some of these social units have come into existence outside or in spite of government. Trade relations that predate government are a case of the former. Churches that cross national boundaries and are actually oppressed by some governments are instances of the latter. Further examples are languages, money, and social conventions such as when to have meals or when to sleep. There's no way to insure that they will be maintained or that they’re as stable as the family.

Government is necessary to overcome this problem of complexity by insuring a context in which people can be assured of certain social regularities. Governments, after all, produce some even if not all social regularity. For example, governments can mandate traffic rules. Noise ordinances can insure quiet times when most people are at rest. A host of other laws guide people in their lives. In other words, without government, there would be no social order above the family level.

Reading for Cross-cultural Associations

Britain was once a class-ridden society. Today, multiculturalism and a changing economy are gradually eroding the British class system. But some features of the system still remain.

What is class? Sociologists define social class as the grouping of people by occupations. Doctors and lawyers and university teachers are given more status than unskilled workers. The different positions represent different levels of power, influence and money. In days gone by your class would affect your chances of getting an education, a job, etc. And it would also affect the people who you could socialise with and marry. Today this type of getting of the thing is all-but-gone with the high- profile exception of the Royal family.

The British Social Class System The British society has often been considered to be divided into three main groups:

- Upper Class (Often people with inherited wealth. It includes some of the oldest families, with many of them being titles aristocrats.)

- Middle Class (The majority of the population of Britain. They include industrialists, professionals, business people and shop owners.)

- Lower or Working class (People who are agricultural, mine and factory workers.)

The British Class System Today Although some people in the UK refer to themselves as ‘working- class’, ‘lower-middle’ or ‘upper-middle’ (and of course there are those who think of themselves as the ‘elite’ class), to the majority of the British the meanings don’t seem to matter much these days.

Role-Play

Political System, State and Government

Situation

Social science refers to the academic disciplines concerned with society and human behavior. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to anthropology, archaeology, economics, communication studies, political science, sociology, and includes elements of other fields of knowledge. The terms ‘political system’, ‘state’ and ‘government’ are the key elements of social science categorizations. They are closely interrelated and very often students have difficulty differentiating between them, which distorts the understanding of the basic questions of social sciences.

 

What you must decide:

Brainstorm the issue of the overlapping terms and draw a distinction between them. Work in groups (students A, B, C).

Student A

You are in your first year at the University of Finance. You are doing a course on Political Science. You are seeking advice on differentiating between the basic terms of ‘political system’, ‘state’ and ‘government’. They are uncharted territory for you. You ask your fellow students to clarify these things to you.

 

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• Let me explain the situation to you ….
• As far as I know ….
• As things stand, ….
• It’s beyond me ….
• I must admit ….
• My own view is ….

Student B

You see what your interlocutor means, but you want to know which of the terms is the most confusing. You explain that a state is a formal group that is sovereign over its members and occupies a well defined territory. You add that it is the formal apparatus of authoritative roles and law norms through which that sovereignty is exercised.You also emphasize that ‘state’, however, should not be confused with a specific balance of powers a particular status quo, a government. Governments may make massive changes in laws and roles while the state remains the same.

Make use of the helpful phrases:

§ At first... seemed completely out of the question....

§ One of the things is ….

§ You will realize of course ….

§ Well, that’s another matter.

§ In my opinion ….

 

Student A

You thank your friend for the explanation but you are mostly concerned about the difference between the terms ‘political system’ and ‘state’. You suggest mentioning so called political structures and ask your friends to clarify it to you.

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• In my opinion ….
• It makes sense for us to ….
• As things stand, ….
• I totally agree ….

Student C

You think it might be a good idea to give the extended definition of the terms. You remember that a political system consists of the formal and informal structures which manifest the state's sovereignty over a territory and people. It is the civil aspect of statehood. But a state through its lifetime may have many different political systems, as have China, Russia, and France. As the political elite exercise more or less coercive power, we can call a state more or less powerful.

 

Make use of the helpful phrases:

§ What do you think of …?

§ Well, that’s another matter.

§ I am inclined to think ….

§ As an alternative ….

§ Let me doubt....

Student B

You continue the discussion and suggest that you should focus on the types of political systems. Although there is a tendency in modern American political science to treat the political system as an abstract one of inputs and outputs, or of functions and institutions (Easton, 1965), you should not forget that a political system constitutes a balance among competing interests, capabilities, and wills, a specific status quo.

 

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• If you ask me ….
• I mean to say ….
• I dare say ….
• I want to make it clear that ….

Student C

Politely, you interrupt student B to say that this is a balance among individuals. A specific political system is a particular definition of authoritative roles and law norms and an allocation of rights and duties historically determined through conflict and balancing of powers. Those who fill these roles, who have the right to command others, are the political elite.

Make use of the helpful phrases:

• It’s beyond doubt that
• And we can hardly ignore it.
• This is the way I look at it.
• In conclusion I'd like to say that ….

Student A

You thank your fellow students for the discussion. You appreciate their knowledge of the essentials which are so important to understand because they lay the basis for professionalism.

 

Make use of the helpful phrases:

§ One of the things is ….

§ You will realize of course ….

§ In my opinion …

§ In conclusion I would like to say …..

 

Your decision