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What is an economy? An economy is the social institution that organizes a society's production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
The way in which an economy is organized is connected through its political organization and the way of life of its societal members.

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What are the different economic systems? There are two major systems to organize an economy:

Capitalism: Which is an economic system that raw materials and the means of producing and distributing goods and services are privately owned.

Socialism : An economic system in which raw materials and the means of producing and distributing goods and services are collectively owned. (Most likely by the government)

But we also have,

Welfare Capitalism: An economic system that is a hybrid of capitalism and socialism.

- In this system the government assumes a key role in providing social and economic benefits.

Within these systems we also have sectors to better identify and track how we get our goods.

Primary Sector: the part of the economy that draws raw materials from that natural environment

Secondary sector: the part of the economy that transforms raw materials into manufactured goods

Tertiary sector: the part of the economy that involves services rather than goods

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Today, Corporations are possibly one of the most dominant and important features of an economy. Corporations are organizations, that legally possess rights of an individual but are separate from its owners. They are allowed to sign contracts, loan, sue and be sued, hire employees, etc... With that being said, corporations are also a controversial feature of capitalism today.

Post Civil War, corporations grew rapidly and became popular throughout America; many of these organizations participated in activities that were ethically questionable and  illegal in order to take control of their market. It has become popular for many multinational corporations to operate in poor nations, where they pay below minimum wage to workers (some who aren’t even of legal age to work) in order to save money.

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1. The Economy in Perspective

2. The Worlds Economic Systems

3. The Dominance of Big Corporations

4. Work in the United States & Social Diversity in the U.S.

5. Power and Authority

6. The World of U.S. Politics

7. How to Stop Terrorists from Killing Us

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Work in the United States & Social Diversity in the U.S. Economy

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Work in the United States & Social Diversity in the U.S. Economy

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Throughout U.S. history, work and labor has changed very much, as the nation has moved from being an agricultural to industrial to postindustrial society. A major development of the postindustrial era was the rise of labor unions. As workers began to strike because of unfair wages and working conditions, congress passed several laws that benefited workers across the nation. These laws gave workers a minimum wage, the right to join unions, a maximum amount of hour work weeks and many other rights that Americans may take for granted. In response many corporations moved their business to developing countries in Asia and other parts of the world. This is known as capital flight, this has hurt millions of job opportunities in America.

Social diversity and discrimination is another problem that many Americans face. It doesn’t matter whether unemployment rates are high or low, it typically varies by ethnicity, race, and even gender.  African Americans and Latinos unemployment rates are higher than the average white unemployment rate. Women are also a victim of this, when compared to men. Compared to older folks, younger people’s unemployment rates are also higher. When it comes to hiring employees for a low level entry job, research has shown that many minorities, including women are victims of discrimination. These people are highered less often even if they are of equal or better on paper, compared to a white man or woman.

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War and terrorism has been around for many years now but, the development and manifestation of it today has grown daunting with such technological advances in weapons. There is no way to stop terrorism nor is there an absolute way to diminish it all but there are ways to possibly prevent or stop some attacks. The first way to stop it is through the military approach, where we capture known terrorist, and destroy their camps and facilities. But there is a lot of controversy surrounding this method, as some say it is counter productive. The second way to stop it is through the structural-reform approach, which involves identifying the structural roots of terrorism.

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What can we take away from this chapter?

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What can we take away from this chapter?

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From this chapter on economics and politics, we can take away a couple things that will improve our lives. Economics and politics in its entirety is society as a whole. Without society there are is no economy and there is no politics, we make up these two concepts based on our views and work. Going off of this, we learned that it is important to have a balanced and flourishing democracy. And in order to achieve this, it is important that we as citizens participate in as much as we can to support those with similar views as ours. We also learned that it is important to fight for what is right and in what you believe is fair. As we saw, many minorities and women are being discriminated against in the workplace, it is important that we continue to push for those who feel they do not have a voice, so that we may get treated and paid equally.

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Functionalism - The government and economy serve several functions for society. The economy makes society possible by providing the goods and services it needs. The government has four main purposes: planning and directing society, meeting social needs, maintaining law and order, and managing international relations.
Conflict theory - Control of the economy enables those at the top of society in their positions and to keep those at the bottom in their place. Conflict theory focuses on the social inequalities and power difference within a group, analyzing society through this lens.
Symbolic interactionism - This perspective focuses on social interaction in the workplace, on how employees respond to problems in their workplaces, and on how they perceive the work they do. Symbolic interactionism, as it pertains to government, focuses its attention on figures, emblems, or individuals that represent power and authority.

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There are two main factors of political systems today, the first has to do with the views that people hold of social, economic, and political issues. The second factor has to do with the political organization that you correspond to and how one elects candidates based off of those views.  The main political parties in the U.S. are the democrats and republicans. In order to have a balanced and flourishing democracy, it is important that citizens take part in voting for officials that stand by their views and needs.

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What is power? Power is defined as being able to have one’s own desires carried out, despite resistance of others

Max Weber once described legitimate authority as a special kind of power. It is considered to be special because if a society approves of the exercise of power then that power is considered to be legitimate. Mr. Weber also finds that as a society becomes more complex different types of authorities emerge as well depending on the society. These three types of societies are known as:

traditional authority: power legitimized by respect for long-established cultural patterns

rational-legal authority: power legitimized by legally enacted rules and regulations

charismatic authority: power legitimized by extraordinary personal abilities that inspire devotion and obedience