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14 - Public Policy and Social Stratification

from II - Applications

Lisa A. Keister  and
Darby E. Southgate
Lisa A. Keister
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
Darby E. Southgate
Affiliation:
Los Angeles Valley College
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Summary

Who makes the rules that others must follow? We recall from previous chapters in which the distribution of power was the outcome of interest that this question is perhaps the most pivotal in stratification. Although we have seen different theoretical approaches to finding the answer to “Who rules and why?,” the fact remains that a small group of people has immense power over a much larger group.

In the United States, the process by which some are allocated the power to rule over others is found in a democratic system. That is, people are given the power to vote for candidates to fill various official offices from local to federal levels. Although not everyone may vote and many choose not to, this chapter discusses the fact that the process involved in official decision making is complex and driven by previously established relationships among social class, gender, and race.

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Chapter
Information
Inequality
A Contemporary Approach to Race, Class, and Gender
 , pp. 546 - 582
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

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