The Sociological View of Power in Egypt Research Paper

The Sociological View of Power in Egypt - Research Paper Example † The Sociological View of Power in Egypt   According to Pip (2008), the main theoretical issue in political sociology is enabling the nature of power. Social politics focuses on coercion, political correctness and influence. These have been applied to come up with the various forms of leadership. Resistance, limitation and resistance that may be encountered must be overcome for power to affect social activities. People may however rebel by forming political movement to protest against state power. This occurs when people feel that there is abuse of power and that this abuse of power deprived of their rights. Political influence entails persuading and convincing others to accept one’s views. The main types are propaganda, genocide, political correctness and manipulation of public opinion. Coercion on the other hand entails the use of force and threat. There has been abuse of political power, through dictatorship, in Egypt. This is contrasting with the sociological view of power among the citizens. Sociological view requires that state power should be decentralized and democratic. The government is expected to protect democracy in the society. If any political influence is to be made, then it has to be within the range of individual freedom and choice. However, the Egyptian government has used coercion instead of ethical influence in governing the people. The Egyptians have been forced to take in whatever the government decides for them. This opposes the sociological view of politics in which power is vested on few individuals to act on behave of the rest. At the same time, they must put into consideration the interests of the people they represent. Dictatorship has led to the deprivation of basic human rights among many citizens. For a long time, the citizens of Egypt have wanted an end of political dictatorship and come up with a political institution governed by a democratic type of leadership. Political sociology identifies three types of lead ership styles that are developed by utilizing influence, coercion or political correctness. These are charismatic, bureaucratic and traditional (Farganis, 1996). The three types of sociological powers have become a base for social movements. Citizens protest as a way of airing their views concerning them. The people want political reforms that would address their basic needs for example standards of living and unemployment. This will be achieved if the leaders have political correctness. Leaders are expected to play their roles of giving guidance and direction to the people and not oppress them. When political leaders are on the right, they must overcome resistance for them to be fully able to exercise power. This is because the society consists of people with varied interests and views. Those with extreme ideas must be forced to agree with the majority (Merton, 1968). There is lack of political correctness in Egypt. Corruption is still present in the government yet the people are a lready impatient about it. The social movements mainly emerge from marginalized youth who are trying to express their rejection of the government’s present social and political system. During the recent protests, protestors were expressing their frustrations to the government. They were complaining that the government has not heeded to their cry for the country to have some democratic reforms. The country has been ruled though oppressive

Write your own Opinion Page Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Write your own Opinion Page - Essay Example It was certainly a dark chapter in the age of enlightenment and for America itself since it was supposed to be the new world where hope and equality could exist. However, as the historical record shows us, the first individuals to be accused of practicing witchcraft were the socially and economically excluded classes of beggars, poor individuals and African American persons. Further, it seems that it was not a few people who engaged in the mass hysteria of witchcraft but the whole village of Salem, neighboring towns and even the larger cities around Salem were caught up in it (Linder, 2008). Of course even at the time there were many who thought the trials to be a farce and could not condone the use of spectral evidence in court to sent individuals to their deaths. However, just because the people were afraid and because many of them had personal motivations to hurt the individuals accused of witchcraft; the process went on unchecked. Perhaps the ones who died were better off since many more had to suffer being put in prison as their families languished for months waiting for their release (Linder, 2008). Over the years, the impact of the sense of shame, the sense of wonder and even a sense of dread associated with the trials has remained strong in American culture. While the trials have been lampooned and even used as the basis of satire by some artists, many have also taken a more serious look at them to understand what can happen when mass hysteria and fear takes over a group of people who have little or no understanding of such matters (Linder, 2008). In fact, even today such problems remain present in society since today we have a new specter to deal with. The colonial Americans had witches, the Americans in the 50s had to deal with communists and we today have to deal with terrorists. Undoubtedly, terrorism and the safety of America are much more real in terms of security concerns as compared to witchcraft but we have to be careful when