1. Politics, Education, and Religion
Chapter 11

2. Outline
 Politics and Government
 Pluralism and the Power Elite Perspective
 Other sources of Money in Politics
 Education and its functions
 Studies of education
 Trends in education
 Religion and its functions
 Trends in religion
 Secular?

3. Politics
 Politics-methods and tactics intended to influence
government policy; attitudes and activities related
 Originated in ancient Greece
 Government-formal, organized agency that exercises
power and control in modern society through the
creation and enforcement of laws
 Power-ability to impose one’s will on others
 Authority-legitimate, non-coercive exercise of power

4. Politics
 Authoritarianism-system of government by and for a
small number of elites that doesn’t include representation
of regular citizens
 Dictatorship or totalitarian rule (control every aspect)
 Monarchy-government by a king or queen, with
succession of rulers kept within the family
 Absolute-complete authority over subjects
 Constitutional-powers limited by parliament or other
governing body
 Democracy-political system in which all citizens have the
right to participate
 Majority rule, civil liberties, human rights, equality

5. American Political System
 Voter turnout varies over time, but the U.S. has
comparatively low voter turnout rates…why?
 Top answer: too busy
 Some voters don’t vote because they are disenfranchised
 Disenfranchised-stripped of voting rights
temporarily or permanently
 Felons
 Regular citizens-Florida 2000
 Solutions-increase access to disabled, make absentee voting
easier, keeping the polls open longer

6. Who Rules America?
 Pluralism-system of political
power in which many
individuals and groups have
equal access to resources and the
mechanisms of power
 Power elite-(C. Wright Mills)
relatively small number of
people who control the
economic, political, and military
institutions of a society
 Know each other
 .0026% of population-tend
to be white, upper-class
males
 “Bohemian Grove”

7. Who Rules America?
 Special interest groups-organizations that raise and
spend money to influence elected officials and/or
public opinion
 Corporate organizations, lobbies, PACs, 527s
 Money wins elections: 95% of House races went to
candidate who spent most on race
 Political Action Committees (PACs)-raises money
to support the interests of a select group
 Over 4,000 PACs
 Primary source of campaign contributions

8. Who Rules America?
 527 Committees-organizations used by supporters of
candidates and special interests to avoid campaign finance
laws
 there are no limits on contributions donors can make to 527s
 $550 million spent in the 2004 election
 The role of the media in politics increased with the
inventions of the TV in 1948 and the internet
 Candidates must spend money on the media: gain coverage
on an issue or buy advertisements
 “Sound bytes”
 Opinion leaders-high-profile people whose interpretation
of events influences the public
 Oprah Winfrey

9. Education
 Education-process by which a society transmits
knowledge, values, and expectations to its members so
they can function
 Formal education began in ancient Greece
 Modern mass education traced back to Enlightenment
 Current public high school graduation rate about 70%
 Georgia: 54%
 Iowa: 93%
 Functions of education include transmission of
knowledge, obedience to rules, and respect for authority

10. Education and Inequality
 Tracking-placement of students in educational
programs of study (ex. college prep or remedial) that
determine the types of classes students take
 Happens early in educational career
 Education benefits everyone, but not everyone
equally-inequality in education mirrors inequality in
society
 Hidden curriculum-values or behaviors students
learn indirectly over the course of their schooling
 “Rules, routines, regulations”
 Can create a submissive and obedient workforce

11. Studies of Education
 Symbolic Interactionist-Pygmalion in the Classroom:
teacher Expectation and Pupils’ Intellectual
Development-conclusion-teachers’ attitudes about
students unintentionally influenced their academic
performance
 Conflict-Savage Inequalities-Kozol-because schools
are funded by property taxes, kids in poor
neighborhoods are trapped in poor schools, which
reinforces inequality
 Functionalist-The Credential Society-Collins-
educational inequality is preparation for occupational
inequality later in life

12. Present and Future of Education
 Charter schools-public schools run by private
entities to give parents greater control over their kids’
education
 More flexible than public schools-free from district
governance
 Students have comparable or slightly lower test scores
than conventional schools
 Homeschooling-education of children by their
parents at home
 academic achievement above that of public school
students-can be customized to needs

13. Present and Future of Education
 School vouchers-payments from the government to
parents whose kids attend failing public schools
 Pay 75-90% of tuition generally
 Take funds away from public schools to be used at
private schools
 May blur line between church and state
 Distance learning-any educational course or
program in which the teacher and the students do not
meet together in the classroom; increasingly available
over the internet

14. Religion
 Religion-any institutionalized system of shared
beliefs and rituals that identify a relationship between
the sacred and the profane
 Belief-a proposition or idea held on the basis of faith
 Ritual-a practice based on religious beliefs
 Sacred-the holy, divine, or supernatural
 Profane-the ordinary, mundane, or everyday

15. Functions/Dysfunctions of Religion
 1. Shapes behavior by providing morals, values, norms
 10 Commandments, fasting, confessing sins, etc…
 2.Gives meaning to our lives
 Each religion answers the fundamental questions (Ex. What
is the meaning of life) according to a larger plan
 3. Provides the opportunity to come together with others
 Religions can also be divisive-sexist, anti-homosexual, etc…
 Can also be agents for social justice:
 Liberation theology-movement within the Catholic church
to understand Christianity from the perspective of the poor
and oppressed, with a focus on fighting injustice

16. Religion in America
 Religiosity-regular practice of religious beliefs,
measured in terms of frequency of attendance at
worship services and the importance of religious
beliefs to an individual
 Extrinsic religiosity-public display of commitment
 Church attendance
 Intrinsic religiousity-personal relationship to divine
 More religiosity among women, older Americans, in the
South

17. Religious Affiliation Trends
 Fundamentalism-the practice of emphasizing literal
interpretation of texts and a “return” to a time of
greater religious purity
 Provides a return to tradition
 1990-2001-those identifying as fundamentalist tripled
 Evangelical-term describing conservative Christians
who emphasize converting others to their faith
 1990-2001-those identifying as evangelicals quadrupled
 Unchurched spirituality-spiritual but not religious
 May adopt different aspects of different religions
 Expressed individually-not through organized group

18. Are we Secular?
 Secular-nonreligious; separating church and state and
not endorsing any religion
 Government and business form holiday schedules
around Christian holidays-even though 15% of
Americans don’t observe them
 Every president has been Christian
 Every president since Eisenhower has been advised by
Reverend Billy Graham