[W8.1] Introduction to Sociology/Politics - Shim ChaeYeon(심채연)

 1) Summary

Politics refers to the process of exercising and managing power and authority within society. This is typically done within governments or political organizations, but it also appears in interactions between various groups in society, such as businesses, academics, and religious institutions. Politics consists of coordinating social relations through power and authority, regulating political units, and establishing and applying social policies.

Power is defined as the ability to influence the behavior of others, and authority refers to the legitimacy and right to exercise power. These authorities are divided into three types: rational-legal, traditional, and charismatic.

Politics comes from various forms of government. There are types such as monarchy, democracy, totalitarianism, oligarchy, communist state, and neoclassical politics.

Various social factors affect political participation and political power.

For women, turnout was high, but political power participation was still found to be insufficient. Elderly people participate in voting more than young people, resulting in political power and influence. Ethnic minorities and ethnicities also have lower turnout and less political standing. People with higher incomes and educational levels are more likely to participate in voting and have more political power.

Recent studies show that the polarization of political ideology is intensifying, which can lead to complex problems for democracy. It is also noteworthy that biased media consumption can affect the outcome of the presidential election and increase distrust of democracy.

2) Something interesting or new that I learned

It was interesting to see what Max Weber classified as authority. Personally, I tend to be interested in learning to organize what I originally knew in formal terms, but this was the case in this part. Previous presidents can serve as examples of rational-legal authority, the Joseon Dynasty can serve as examples of traditional authority, and charismatic authority may include the cardinals of Myeongdong Cathedral, who are credited with helping the Korean democratization movement. I was able to understand more by substituting it into Korea in this way.

3) Questions & Discussions

What do you think about politicians being old? Not only in Korea, but also in documents, the turnout of the elderly is higher, and the older politicians occupy the higher power. Is this valid? There are opinions that it is correct because politics needs to be done with experience, experience, career, and politics, but because the majority are old, the problem solving of young people is handled only by tabletop theory. Do you think there is a need to increase the number of young politicians in the political arena? Also, do you think social minority politicians are needed to make the opinions of social minorities into realistic policies? (The document says that white people hold more seats than black people, but it can be considered as disabled people, women, etc.)