Study Guide: State

Readings:

An Essay on Bureaucratization

An Essay on the Rationalization of Politics

Glossary:

Essays:

On your next exam you will be asked to demonstrate that you have read and mastered the course material.  You should take the time now to answer the following essay questions to create your study guide for that exam. Address the questions fully and completely in your own words and voice. Prepare your answers now. 

  1. According to Nesbit, what is the attractions of the centralization and enlargement of state and corporate power?

  2. What factors have contributed to government growth in the last 100 years?

Short Answers:

The following short answer questions are from your readings and may well appear on your next exam. Each can be answered with a short paragraph of three or four sentences; please use your own words and voice. You are encouraged to answer these questions now to create your study guide for that exam.
  1. What is the essence of politics?
  2. Characterize government growth in terms of GDP.
  3. Characterize government growth in terms of employment.
  4. What agencies employ the most government workers in the U.S.?
  5. How does the U.S. compare to other industrial nations in terms of personal income taxes?
  6. What are the major obstacles to a truly representative democracy?
  7. What is the relationship between wealth and voting?
  8. According to your professor the popular press has an agenda. What is it?
  9. What is pluralism? What are the major obstacles to a truly pluralist society?
  10. What are the major factors that determine the power and influence of an interest group?
  11. How do interest groups influence legislators?
  12. Why have factions grown in American politics?
  13. How have the rise of factions contributed toward the irrationality factor?
  14. Who are the power elite in American society?
  15. What is the role of the masses in elite theory?
  16. What are the sources of unity for the elite?
  17. What is the relationship of bureaucracy to elite power?
  18. Some have argued that except in rare instances (defense) the "national interest" is a myth. Explain.
  19. What is "Hypotenuse"?
  20. How have American political campaigns become "rationalized"?

 Demonstrations, Illustrations, & Examples:

The machine is (changing) us:

 

Names to Know:

Max Weber

Robert Nisbet

Neil Postman

Practice Quiz

Bibliography:

Anderson, B. 1991.  Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso. 
Badie, B. and Birnbaum, P. 1983.  The Sociology or the State.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 
Burnham, David.  1980.  The Rise of the Computer State.  New York: Vinatage. 
Domhoff, G. William.  1967.  Who Rules America?  Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 
Dye, Thomas R.  1983. Who's Running America?  The Reagan Years. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 
Frobel, F., Heinrichs, J. and Kreye, O.  1991. The New International Division of Labor.  New York: Cambridge University Press. 
Gutmann, Myron P.  1988.  Toward the Modern Economy:  Early Industry in Europe 1500-1800. Philadelphia:  Temple University Press. 
Habermas, J. 1975.  Legitimation Crisis.  Boston: Beacon Press. 
Harrington, Michael.  1976.  The Twilight of Capitalism.  New York: Touchstone. 
Hudson, Pat.  1992.  The Industrial Revolution.  London:  Edward Arnold. 
Kumar, Krishan.  1978. Prophecy and Progress.  New York: Penguin. 
Landis, David S.  1969.  The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present. London: Cambridge University Press. 
Linz, J. and Stepan, A. (eds) 1978. The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 
Lipset, Seymore M.  1960.  Political Man: The Social Basis of Politics. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. 
Mannheim, Karl.  1955.  Ideology and Utopia.  New York: Harvest Books. 
Mayo, E.  1946.  The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilization. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 
Michels, Robert. [1915] 1962.  Political Parties.  Translated by Eden Paul and Cedar Paul. New York: The Free Press. 
Mills, C. Wright. 1956. The Power Elite.  New York: Oxford University Press. 
Parenti, Michael.  1978. Power and the Powerless.  New York: St. Martin's. 
Strange, S.  1988.  States and Markets.  London: Printer. 
Tilly, C. (ed). 1974.  The Formation of Nation States in Western Europe. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. 
Wallerstein, Immanuel.  1974-88.  The Modern World System.  3 vols. New York: Academic Press.

 

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