Power, Politics, and Society

Your essay should be about 1,500 words and should be submitted through Canvas by 11:59pm on Monday, April 30th.  Please include a word count at the top of your paper.

We often hear that the US president is “the most powerful person in the world,” or that the office of the presidency is “the most powerful position in the world.”  Yet, election after election, as drastically different individuals from drastically different parties replace one another – Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden – many argue that the consequences, while significant, are far from deep and sweeping.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Political scientists often attribute this stability to features of the political system: separation of powers; checks and balances; bicameralism; federalism.  Political sociologists tend to focus rather on structures and cultures that order society and limit both the efficacy of events and the agency of individuals.
Drawing on a close, careful textual analysis of the works of both Karl Marx and Max Weber, explain this perspective of political sociology in its two original formulations.  Why, according to Marx and Weber, is the effective power of the presidency likely to be limited?  What are the similarities and differences between the theories of Marx and Weber?   In what ways, if any, might human agency destabilize or transform the social order according to Marx and Weber?

FAQ’s and Writing Tips
* You don’t need to do any outside research.  All content can be drawn from the course materials – readings, lectures, videos – from the modules.
* You do not need a bibliography, works cited, footnotes, etc.  You DO need to cite the quotes you use, but can do this with in-text parenthetical citations (Author p. x).  If no page number is provided, you can leave this info out.
* The word count is not absolutely strict, but you need to adhere to it within a hundred words or so.  Going way over is unfair to other students who stick to it.
* Get right to the point in your introduction.  Don’t waste half a page on big, broad, sweeping statements that you cannot possibly demonstrate (“In all the history of humanity, there is but one fundamental truth …”).  Please don’t restate the essay prompt in your introduction; this is a big waste of space and kind of a pet peeve of mine.  This is a short paper, so it needs little to no conclusion.  Just tie everything you’ve developed together for a final, full restatement of your thesis.
* The essay is largely concerned with textual analysis, so you need key quotes to support your central points – these are evidence, like data in a scientific paper.  At the same time, you don’t want long, text-block quotes that take up half a page.
* Be specific, clear, precise, and provide examples.
* Writing is communication, so clarity, focus, and organization are key.  An unrevised paper is unlikely to be a quality paper.  A stream of consciousness paper (“And then this” “And also that” “And here’s another thing”) is unlikely to be a quality paper.  If you can cut your paper into paragraphs, and tape back together in any random order without losing anything, it’s unlikely to be a quality paper.  Paragraphs are the building blocks of your argument, and each should be a coherent whole in their own right, logically follow from the previous one, and into the next one.  When in doubt, use simple sentences and small words, cut adjectives and adverbs, and reconnect to your thesis.
* Writing this paper is an opportunity to stop and think about important ideas and issues that go beyond the routine concerns and distractions of daily life, and which are still relevant to politics, society, and ethics today.  And it is an opportunity to exercise your capacity to grapple with difficult texts and topics – to understand and analyze and critically examine and really think and write.  Please take the time and care to produce something you are proud of, beyond any concern with the eventual grade.