These are the Slides for MA (Final year) Students of the Department of Social Work, University of Peshawar. Course Title: Social Institutions and Social System of Pakistani Society Dr. Imran Ahmad Sajid

1. Social Institutions:
Politics
IMRAN AHMAD SAJID

2. Definition
J.J. Macionis
• Politics is the social institution that distributes
power, sets a society’s goals, and makes
decisions.
Politics:
the interrelationships between the people,
groups, or organizations in a particular area of
life especially insofar as they involve power
and influence or conflict.

3. • Max Weber,
– Every society is based on power.
– Power is the ability to achieve desired ends
despite resistance from others.
– The use of power is the business of government.

4. • Government is a formal organization that
directs the political life of a society.
• Government demands compliance on the part
of population; yet Weber noted that most
governments do not openly threaten their
people.
• Most of the time, people respect or at least
accept their society’s political system.

5. • No government is likely to keep its power for
long if compliance comes only from the threat
of brute force.
• Even the most brutal dictator must wonder if
there can ever be enough police to watch
everyone—and who would watch the police?

6. • Every government, therefore, tries to make itself
seem legitimate in the eyes of the people. This
fact brings us to Weber’s concept of Authority.
• Authority is the power that people perceive as
legitimate rather than coercive.
• Howe do governments transform raw power into
more stable authority? Weber pointed to three
ways:
1. Traditional authority,
2. Rational-legal authority,
3. Charismatic authority.

7. 1. Traditional Authority
• Traditional Authority is the power legitimized by
respect for long-established cultural patterns.
• People accept a system simply because it has always
been that way. It is woven into a population’s collective
memory.
• It is usually hereditary leadership.
– E.g. Chinese emperors in ancient time
– Aristocratic rulers in medieval Europe
– Mughal emperors in India
• The power of tradition can be so strong that people
typically come to view traditional rulers as almost
godlike.

8. 2. Rational-Legal Authority
• Rational-legal authority (also called bureaucratic authority) is
power legitimized by legally enacted rules and regulations.
• Bureaucracy is the type of organization that dominates in rational-
thinking, modern societies.
• Instead of looking to the past, members of today’s high-income
societies seek justice through the operation of a political system
that follows formally enacted rules of law.
– E.g. powers of deans and classroom teachers.
– Police
• RLA comes not from family background but from a position in
government organization.
• A traditional monarch rules for life, but a modern president or PM
accepts and gives up power according to law, which shows that
presidential authority lies in the office, not in the person.

9. 3. Charismatic Authority
• Charismatic authority is power legitimized by
extraordinary personal abilities that inspire
devotion and obedience.
• Unlike traditional and rational-legal authority,
charismatic authority depends less on a person’s
ancestry or office and more on personality.
• CLs have surfaced throughout history, using their
personal skills to turn an audience into followers.
Often they make their own rules and challenge
the status quo. Jesus Christ & Hitler.

10. Types of Political Systems
1. Monarchy
2. Democracy
3. Authoritarianism
4. Totalitarianism

11. 1. Monarchy
• Monarchy (one ruler) is a political system in
which a single family rules from generation to
generation.
• Monarchy is commonly found in the ancient
agrarian societies.
• In the world today, 26 nations have royal
families*.
• Monarchy is legitimized by tradition (Weber).*in Europe, Sweden, Denmark, GB, Netherlands, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg,
Belgium, Spain and Monaco; in Middle East: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar,
Bahrain, and Kuwait; in Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Morocco; in Asian: Brunei,
Tonga, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Japan.

12. 2. Democracy
• Democracy is a political system that gives
power to the people as a whole.
• Representative democracy: a form of
democracy that puts authority in the hands of
leaders chosen by the people in elections.
• Democracy and rational-legal authority go
together.

13. • Most High Income Nations are not TRULY
DEMOCRATIC for Two reasons
– First, there is the problem of bureaucracy.
Bureaucrats and all other government employees
have powers and run the affairs of government but
they are never elected by anyone and do not have to
answer directly to the people.
– Second, there is the problem of economic inequality.
The rich people have far more political power than
poor people. All of the most visible voices in today’s
political debates—from Sharif to Bhutto to
Makhdoom to Bilour—are among the country’s
richest people. And in the game of politics “Money
Talks”.

14. 3. Authoritarianism
• Authoritarianism is a political system that denies
the people participation in government.
• An authoritarian government is indifferent to
people’s needs, offers them no voice in selecting
leaders, and uses force in response to dissent or
opposition.
• The absolute monarchies in Saudi Arabia and
Oman are authoritarian, as is the military junta in
Ethiopia.

15. 4. Totalitarianism
• Totalitarianism is a highly centralized political
system that extensively regulates people’s
lives.
• Such governments have a “total”
concentration of power, allowing no organized
opposition.
• North Korea and former USSR

16. Functions of Politics
• To regulate relationship
• Welfare works
• Defence against foreign danger
• To create social control
• The institutionalization of norms
• The decision of conflict
• The enforcement of norms

17. Crime Reported in Selected Cities -
2010
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Peshawar Charsadda Nowshera Mardan Swabi
22830
8481
7786
10197
6422
Source: Office of the Additional Inspector General Police (Investigation), CPO, Peshawar

18. Functions of Government
1. Birth Registration
2. Sanitation
3. Education
4. Housing
5. Taxation
6. Market Price of Food,
clothing and fuel
7. Recreational function
Source: William F. Ogburn and Meyer F. Nimkoff. (1964). A Handbook of Sociology. London:
Routledge.p.409
8. Medical care
9. Unemployment
benefits
10.Protection from
enemies
11.Protection from
hazards
12.Old-age benefits
13.Death registration
14.Burial services
0. Policing

19. Functions of Government by UN
1. General public services
2. Defence
3. Public order and safety
4. Economic affairs
5. Environmental protection
6. Housing and community amenities
7. Health
8. Recreation, culture and religion
9. Education
10. Social protection
Source: UN Statistics Division. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cr/registry/regcst.asp?Cl=4&Top=1&Lg=1

20. Recent Trends in Government/State
• The Social Service State
• The Production State
• The War State

21. Thank You