To find my home page just type "Ted
Goertzel" in Google and click on "I'm feeling lucky"
Schedule
and Assignments Page
Political sociologists
study socio-political phenomena such as:
- the political
activities of social classes, racial and ethnic groups, genders,
generations, elites, masses, gays, religious, and other groups
- the ideologies and
utopian visions that sometimes motivate political action
- how politics is
influenced by trends such as the growth of the internet and the global
economy
- how social forces
shape policy on issues such as welfare, health care, international
trade, information policy, education, abortion, criminal justice,
defense, foreign policy,
and so on.
Much of our focus will be on
the United States and on the fall elections, but we will also look at
developments in other countries and in the global system.
The textbook for the class will be Introduction
to Political Sociology by Anthony Orum. The textbook will be
supplemented with reading from journals, magazines and newspapers, much
of which will be current. This reading will be accessible online
or at the library.
Chapters in the Textbook are:
1. Introduction
2. On the Economy and Politics: Karl Marx and the
Neo-Marxists
3. On States and Societies: Max Weber and the Neo-Weberians
4. On Civil Society and Politics: Emile Durkheim and Alexis
de Tocqueville
5. Basic Forms of Political Rule: Democratic, Totalitarian
and Authoritarian.
6. Power and Equality in Modern America
7. Power and Politics in the Modern Metropolis
8. Political Parties and Political Partisanship.
9. Citizen Participation in Politics: Conventional and
Contentious Forms
10. Building Nation-States in the Modern World