Social Problems & Political Regimes PDF

Here's a further expanded version with **detailed works attributed to scholars** to ensure thorough preparation: **1. Social Problems** - **Key Scholars and Works**: - **Malcolm Spector & John Kitsuse**: *Constructing Social Problems* (1977) introduced the **social constructionist...

Here's a further expanded version with **detailed works attributed to scholars** to ensure thorough preparation: **1. Social Problems** - **Key Scholars and Works**: - **Malcolm Spector & John Kitsuse**: *Constructing Social Problems* (1977) introduced the **social constructionist approach**, emphasizing how problems are defined by societal claims-makers rather than objective conditions. - **Key Concepts**: - **Claims-Makers**: Individuals or groups that shape societal understanding of issues (e.g., media framing of homelessness). - **Objectivist Approach**: Focuses on measurable data (e.g., poverty rates, crime statistics). - **Constructionist Approach**: Studies how public perception and framing influence problem recognition. - **Applications**: - Example: Climate change. Objectivists focus on rising temperatures, while constructionists examine how political and cultural narratives shape its urgency. **2. Social Stratification, Poverty, and Inequality** - **Key Scholars and Works**: - **Peter Townsend**: *Poverty in the United Kingdom* (1979) defined **relative poverty** as lacking resources needed for societal participation. - **John Goldthorpe**: Co-developed the **Erikson-Goldthorpe-Portocarero (EGP) schema** in studies of occupational class categories. - **Wilkinson & Pickett**: *The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone* (2009) demonstrated how income inequality harms health, education, and social cohesion. - **Key Terms**: - **Social Mobility**: Upward or downward movement in social class. - **Absolute Poverty**: Inability to meet basic needs like food and shelter. - **Relative Poverty**: Deprivation relative to societal standards. - **Social Exclusion**: Marginalization from social, economic, and political participation. - **Empirical Findings**: - Post-1945: Economic policies led to middle-class expansion in many industrialized nations, improving social mobility. - **Measures of Inequality**: - **Gini Coefficient**: Measures income inequality numerically. - **Lorenz Curve**: Visualizes inequality. - **Income Quintile Ratio**: Compares earnings of the richest 20% to the poorest 20%. **3. Domestic Violence and Child Abuse** - **Key Scholars and Works**: - **Albert Bandura**: *Social Learning Theory* (1977) described how violent behaviors are learned through observation, particularly in families. - **Key Concepts**: - **Coercive Control**: Non-physical abuse, such as isolating victims or restricting finances. - **Types of Abuse**: - Physical (e.g., assault). - Emotional (e.g., gaslighting). - Sexual (e.g., coercion). - Financial (e.g., withholding resources). - **Barriers to Seeking Help**: - Stigma, fear, financial dependence, isolation. - **Cultural Influence**: - Patriarchal societies may normalize abuse, making it harder for victims to seek help. - **Prevention**: - Education campaigns, legal protections (e.g., the UK's Domestic Abuse Act 2021). **4. Political Regimes** - **Key Scholars and Works**: - **Juan José Linz**: *Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes* (2000) provided a typology of regimes, distinguishing between democracies, authoritarian, and totalitarian systems. - **Steven Levitsky & Lucan Way**: *Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War* (2010) analyzed regimes that blend democratic institutions with authoritarian practices. - **Key Concepts**: - **Democracy**: Free and fair elections, civil liberties, accountability. - **Authoritarianism**: Centralized power, restricted freedoms. - **Totalitarianism**: Comprehensive control over life and ideology. - **Hybrid Regimes**: Democratic structures (e.g., elections) combined with authoritarian practices (e.g., media suppression). - **Applications**: - Venezuela transitioned from democracy to authoritarianism due to erosion of checks and balances. **5. Liberal Democracy and Civil Liberties** - **Key Scholars and Works**: - **Francis Fukuyama**: *The End of History and the Last Man* (1992) argued that liberal democracy is the ultimate form of governance. - Real-World Example: The Watergate Scandal (1972-1974) illustrated the importance of **rule of law** and **press freedom**. - **Key Concepts**: - **Rule of Law**: Ensures no one is above the law, including political leaders. - **Separation of Powers**: Divides authority among executive, legislative, and judicial branches. - **Civil Liberties**: Freedom of speech, press, and religion protected by law. **6. Corruption** - **Key Scholars and Works**: - **Alena Ledeneva**: *How Russia Really Works* (2006) critiqued oversimplified corruption indices and revealed systemic corruption practices. - **Key Concepts**: - **Petty Corruption**: Small bribes for services (e.g., speeding up bureaucracy). - **Grand Corruption**: Large-scale scandals (e.g., political embezzlement). - **Systemic Corruption**: Embedded in institutions, normalized within systems. - **Measurement**: - **Corruption Perception Index (CPI)**: Ranks perceived corruption but is subjective and often biased. - **Example**: - Brazil's Lava Jato (\"Car Wash\") scandal exposed widespread corruption among politicians and business leaders. **7. Nation and National Identity** - **Key Scholars and Works**: - **Ernest Gellner**: *Nations and Nationalism* (1983) argued that nations emerged during industrialization to meet economic and political needs. - **Benedict Anderson**: *Imagined Communities* (1983) described nations as socially constructed communities bound by shared narratives and symbols. - **Key Concepts**: - **Ethnic Nations**: Based on ancestry and culture (e.g., Japan). - **Civic Nations**: Based on shared values and legal citizenship (e.g., the USA). - **Nation-Building**: - **Top-Down**: Governments promote identity via flags, anthems, and education. - **Bottom-Up**: Citizens foster identity through grassroots traditions. - **Applications**: - Soviet Union's **korenizatsiya** policy promoted local ethnic identities but later created tensions that contributed to its collapse. **8. Sovereignty** - **Key Scholars and Works**: - **Roland Grigor Suny**: *The Revenge of the Past* (1993) explored the rise of ethnic nationalism after the Soviet Union's collapse. - **Key Concepts**: - **Internal Sovereignty**: Authority over domestic laws and governance. - **External Sovereignty**: Recognition by other states. - **Challenges**: - Globalization: International organizations like the EU challenge traditional notions of sovereignty. - Separatist Movements: Catalonia's independence movement highlights struggles with internal sovereignty. **9. Additional Key Theories** - **Primordialism vs. Constructionism**: - **Primordialism**: Nations are natural and ancient (e.g., Irish nationalism). - **Constructionism**: Nations are modern constructs for political or economic purposes. - **Fukuyama's \"End of History\"**: - Argues that liberal democracy is the endpoint of ideological evolution. - **Measuring Democracy**: - Global democracy indices reveal both advances and declines in democratic governance (e.g., Sub-Saharan Africa improving, Central Asia declining).