The American “Voter”

As a result of more than sixty years of election surveys, we now know a great deal about the American voter. For example, the wealthier and more educated they are, the more likely people are to support Republican candidates. Men are a bit more likely to vote for Republicans, while women slightly favor Democrats. African Amer­icans vote for Democrats by a margin of more than four to one. For generations, Catholics voted for Democrats and Protestants (outside the South) favored Republicans, but today Catholics and Protestants have similar party preferences and Southern voters have swung from the Dem­ocrats to the Republicans. But perhaps the most significant facts have to do with the general lack of interest in politics. Recall from Table 15-4 that most Americans said politics wasn't an im­portant part of their lives. In Table 15-6 we see that they were telling the truth.

Table 15-6 The American “Voter”

PERCENT WHO:	(%)
Voted in 1996 presidential election	55
Displayed a campaign button or bumper sticker	10
Made a campaign contribution	9
Could name her or his member of Congress	23
Recognized name of the chief justice of the Supreme Court	8
Recognized name of the Speaker of the House	51
Read a newspaper daily	31
Watch TV news daily: National Local	29 33

Concepts and theories of stratification

Stratification – the organization of society resulting in some members having more and others having less – has been a constant theme in moral, political, and philosophical writing through the ages. Millions of words have been written to denounce inequalities in wealth and power, as well as to justify these inequalities. From the point of view of modern sociology, this is an irresolvable conflict based on two inescapable facts. First, stratification has many undesir­able consequences: People at the bottom of stratifica­tion systems often suffer greatly, both physically and emotionally. Second, some degree of stratification seems to be an unavoidable feature of social structure.

Chapter Preview

This chapter examines the basic concepts and theories sociologists use to describe and explain stratification. It begins by examining various concepts of social class. In Chapter 2 social classes were defined as groups of people who share a similar position, or level, within a stratification system. Now we shall pursue this definition in greater depth and explore differences in how leading sociologists have conceived of classes. We will also analyze the phenomenon of social mobility: upward or downward movement by individuals or groups within a stratification system. Armed with these conceptual tools, we shall then explore theories of stratification. Why are societies? To what extent can stratification be minimized? In Chapter 10 we shall apply these principles by examining stratification and mobility in different kinds of societies.