Politics and Public Policy in the United States

Teacher Resources

If planning on discussing sociological theories as part of the unit, each of the three theories mentioned in the American Sociological Association Standards for High School Sociology are described in brief detail here.

Functionalist Perspective

The functionalist perspective explains that each part of a society has a specific role to fulfill. Emile Durkheim compared society to a living organism, like a cell, in which each part functions to make a working whole. For many parts of the society, an institution has formed to aid in the completion of necessary tasks. If an institution fails to meet the needs of the society then it will fade with time, as with all unnecessary parts of society. Italian philosopher, Antonio Gramsci, critiqued this perspective as simply a way to support the maintenance of the status quo.⁶¹ Although I am citing a short article from the ThoughtCo website that gives a good foundational summary of this perspective, Khan Academy also has a quick video that can be helpful for students as well.

Conflict Theory

Heavily based on the works of Karl Marx, Conflict Theory, as its name suggests, states that social tension arises when “resources, status, and power are unevenly distributed between groups in society and that these conflicts become the engine for social change.”

Many theorists have built on Marx’s conflict theory, including Antonio Gramsci, who explained that ideologies must be overcome and more work would be needed to overcome cultural hegemony, while Max Horkheimer, and Theodor Adorno focused on the rise of mass culture and how mass production, music, and media have helped to maintain cultural hegemony. Feminist theory, critical race theory, postmodern and postcolonial theory, queer theory, post-structural theory, and theories of globalization and world systems have also been drawn to conflict theory, as well as C. Wright Mills who described a “tiny, power elite” who ruled America from the mid-20^th century.⁶²  Again, Khan Academy also has a good, short video to help explains the foundations of conflict theory.

Symbolic Interaction

Unlike the Functionalist perspective and Conflict Theory that focus on large, grand schematics of society, Social Interaction focuses on the individual interactions that happen on a daily basis. “The central principle of the interactionist perspective is that the meaning we derive from and attribute to the world around us is a social construction produced by everyday social interaction.” The theory begins in the work of Max Weber, but is built upon by George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer.⁶³

According to this theory, people do not form meaning based solely on what they observe, but also on subjective beliefs, “thus, society is thought to be socially constructed through human interpretation.” Critics of this theory highlight that by focusing on such an individual level that the grand scheme is missed.⁶⁴

Other Thinkers and Writings

Throughout this unit many other sociologists, philosophers, and researchers of all kinds can help students further analyze why our society is structured in the way that it is, how we allow inequalities to exist, and to further think about how we create change.

For example, the field work and sociological research of W.E.B. DuBois is also foundational to the study of sociology and critical to early understanding of the psychological effects of racism. The critical thought of bell hooks and her contributions to critical race theory and feminist theory can also help students to further their critiques of modern society and the effects that it has on individuals.