Analyze a power relationship between two different social actors. using Weber’s “Class, Status, and Party,” Weber’s “Types of Authority,” Emerson’s “Power Dependence Relations
Drawing from Weber’s “Class, Status, and Party,” Weber’s “Types of Authority,” Emerson’s “Power Dependence Relations,” and whatever other materials you would like to use, I would like you to analyze a power relationship between two different social actors.
This will require you to do four things in your essay:
explain what power is
explain the sources of power in social relationships
explain the ways in which power can become legitimated
use the theory of power you have outlined to analyze a relationship between two different social actors. Your analysis should:
identity who has the power advantage in the relationship
explain the resources, attributes, or conditions that give the dominant actor its power advantage (i.e., that enable it to overcome resistance from the subordinate actor)
explain the economic, social, and/or political benefits the dominant actor obtains from its power advantage
evaluate the long-term consequences of the power imbalance. In other words, how will the power imbalance affect the life chances of each actor in the long-run? How could the subordinate actor balance the relationship? Over time, do you expect the relationship to become more imbalanced, more equalized, or stay the same? Why?
Please keep in mind these three things when writing your essay:
By “actor,” I mean an individual or group. As long as the individuals or groups are in a relationship with each other, you can choose any two actors that interest you. For example, you could analyze the relationship between a parent and child; a teacher and student; an employer and an employee; a powerful country and relatively powerless country; men and women; police officers and citizens; two people who are married; etc.
I encourage you to analyze a real relationship rather than a hypothetical relationship. For example, analyzing the relationship between Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford would be superior to analyzing the relationship between a hypothetical man and a hypothetical woman. Similarly, analyzing the relationship between members of the United Auto Workers Union and General Motors (Links to an external site.) would be superior to analyzing the relationship between a hypothetical employer and its hypothetical employees. Or, as a final example, analyzing the relationship between you and your landlord would be superior to analyzing the relationship between a hypothetical tenant and landlord.
If you are having trouble selecting a relationship to analyze, please don’t hesitate to seek my advice.
Tips and Guidelines
I will use the following rubric to grade your papers: click here. Preview the document
In general, strong essays will:
Incorporate the advice and suggestions I provided after grading Essay #1
Fully address each part of the essay prompt
Devote the majority of its content to analysis (i.e., part #4 of the prompt)
Draw liberally from the course readings
Support their claims with convincing evidence and logical reasoning
Be well-written, logically organized, and free of spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, awkward syntax, confusing sentences, and typos
You will not earn a passing grade on this essay if:
Your essay ignores or gives only cursory attention to any part of the prompt
Your essay shows little or no engagement with the course readings
Your essay fails to present evidence, contains no logical analysis, or consists merely of opinion
Your essay is difficult to understand due to spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, poor organization, and/or awkward writing style
Your essay falls considerably short of the length guidelines
You do not properly cite your sources
Citing Your Sources
You must cite ALL the sources you use to write your essay. This means using parenthetical citations when paraphrasing or including direct quotes, and it also means including a bibliographical entry for each source used. Your bibliography should be alphabetized. Please use the guidelines of the American Sociological Association (Links to an external site.) when citing your sources and constructing your bibliography.
Please note that if any part of your essay is plagiarized, you will receive a grade of zero on your paper, and you will be reported to the Chair of the Sociology Department and the Dean of the College of Arts and Letters for academic dishonesty. Plagiarism involves:
The presentation of words from any other source or another person as one’s own without proper quotation and citation.
Putting someone else’s ideas or facts into your own words (paraphrasing) without proper citation.
Turning in someone else’s work as one’s own, including the buying and selling of term papers or assignments.