Week 14 — Readings & Resources · Economy, Work & Politics

Course: Introduction to Sociology (SOC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Adeyemi
Objective covered: Objective 7 — Analyze the major social institutions (here the economy and the polity) using the sociological perspectives.

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded, and there is nothing to buy.

This week's load is a short video + a brief reading per group, grouped by the ideas from the lecture. Read or watch one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 45–55 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Reading order that matches the lecture: ① the economy, capitalism vs. socialism & work → ② power & authority (Weber's three types) → ③ models of power (pluralist vs. power-elite) → ④ the labor data we'll read in the Workshop.

A habit to start now: before you trust any claim about the economy or power — in these readings, in the news, or from a chatbot — ask the sociologist's questions from class: What's the evidence? Is this a pattern or just an anecdote? Correlation or causation? Whose interests does this serve? Which perspective is this?

① The Economy, Capitalism vs. Socialism & Work

Maps to Lecture Segments 3–7. The economy's sectors; capitalism and socialism presented fairly; the changing nature of work and the gig economy; Marx's alienation.

Video — "Economic Systems & the Labor Market: Crash Course Sociology #29"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wslCc0Di978
Why it earns the click: a clear ~10-minute tour of the primary / secondary / tertiary sectors, the move to a post-industrial economy, and the two big economic models — capitalism and socialism — exactly Segments 3–7. Hosted by Nicole Sweeney.
⏱ ~10 min

Reading — "Economic Systems" (OpenStax, Introduction to Sociology 3e, §18.1)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/18-1-economic-systems
Why it's assigned: the cleanest plain-language version of capitalism vs. socialism (and mixed economies) we drew on the board — presented evenhandedly, with the real trade-offs. Free to read online in your browser.
⏱ ~12 min

② Power & Authority — Weber's Three Types

Maps to Lecture Segments 8–9. The power vs. authority distinction, and Weber's three types of legitimate authority: traditional, charismatic, rational-legal.

Reading — "Power and Authority" (OpenStax, Introduction to Sociology 3e, §17.1)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/17-1-power-and-authority
Why it's assigned: defines power (Weber) and walks through the three types of authority one at a time with examples — the exact factual content from the founders' move in class. (Note: the text uses "legal-rational," the same type we call "rational-legal.")
⏱ ~12 min

③ Models of Power — Pluralist vs. Power-Elite

Maps to Lecture Segment 11. Who really holds power — power dispersed among many groups (pluralist) vs. concentrated in a few at the top (power elite, C. Wright Mills, factual).

Reading — "Theoretical Perspectives on Government and Power" (OpenStax, Introduction to Sociology 3e, §17.4)
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/17-4-theoretical-perspectives-on-government-and-power
Why it's assigned: lays out the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist views of government — and states Mills's "power elite" (1956) factually, the same way we framed the pluralist-vs-power-elite debate in class. Present the models evenhandedly.
⏱ ~10 min

Video — "Politics: Crash Course Sociology #30"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCs_hyI15R8
Why it earns the click: a ~10-minute sociological tour of types of authority, political systems, and theories of power — ties Segments 8–11 together. Hosted by Nicole Sweeney.
⏱ ~10 min

④ The Labor Data (for the Workshop)

Maps to the Workshop. Read the real union-membership rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — what it measures, what it shows, and what it doesn't.

Data — "Union Members — 2025" (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics news release)
🔗 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm
Why it's here: the authoritative source for the figure we'll read in the Workshop — the union membership rate was 10.0% in 2025, down from 20.1% in 1983 (the first comparable year). This is the page you verify the number on. (Note: BLS flags that 2025 estimates use 11-month averages and are "not strictly comparable" with other years — a real lesson in reading the fine print.)

Data (historical) — "Household data series: Union Membership Tables" (BLS)
🔗 https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpslutabs.htm
Why it's here: the BLS landing page for union-membership data over time — useful if you want to see the long-run trend behind the two numbers. (BLS home: https://www.bls.gov/.)

Pick-one quick path (≈22 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Watch Crash Course Sociology #29 — Economic Systems & the Labor Market (groups ①).
2. Read Power and Authority (group ②) for Weber's three authority types, and skim Theoretical Perspectives on Government and Power (group ③) for the pluralist-vs-power-elite contrast.

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages, and government data pages update (the BLS union release is reissued each year). If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Adeyemi and use the OpenStax chapter and the BLS home page (https://www.bls.gov/) in the meantime. These links are provided for access only — no claim is made about their licensing or reuse terms.