SymbolicInteraction theory and Government

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Symbolic/Interaction theory and Government

• Jim Hensler

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How about this Ill buy you some beer, but only
if you write me a five page paper on the
infeasibility of Anarchy as a legitimate form of
government.
Something tells me this kid didnt get his beer.
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Symbolic/Interaction Theory

• Herein lies a sociological view of society, using
  a paradigm that deals with the role, causes,
  effects and concepts of government on a smaller,
  more personal scale. I am to view government on a
  street level. How government interacts with the
  individual, how the individual interacts with
  government, and how government can effect how
  individuals interact with other individuals.

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Governments effect on daily life

• Regulations
• including but not limited to
• Food safety
• Drug/Rx requirements
• Job safety/laws/minimum wage
• Pollution/Emissions
• But how does this pertain to society?

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Laws and Taxes

• The interactions between people and police and
  the far reaching effects of police upon how
  people conduct their lives.
• Traffic laws.
• Those dreaded Taxes and their effects on how we
  choose jobs, housing, what we can afford to do
  with our time and money.
• Taxes pay for a wide range of social (and
  possibly anti-social) services and programs.

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Side effects of Government

• Political Satire
• Political debate and analysis
• The media in general, and the topics that we are
  exposed to through news media
• The way our own and other countries governments
  act can have a huge effect on how your daily
  interactions with people are conducted (see war
  zones, ethnic cleansings, fear of attack, memory
  of attack etc.)

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So, This all has to do with sociology somehow?

• The government of ones country will have a
  profound effect upon how one conducts ones life
  and the environment one is raised and therefore
  the sort of person one becomes.
• If government effects how one acts, then it shall
  effect how you act towards others and how others
  act towards you.
• Government will also affect the products you buy,
  how you buy them, what you buy, the money you use
  to buy it, and what you can do with those
  products.

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Informal Example

• Im Joe Shmoe of Feudal Japan. Im hawking my
  wares at a roadside market when Mr. Samurai rides
  by on his fancy horse. Im sick of the haughty
  way Samurais in general carry themselves, and
  that sanctimonious air of entitlement they all
  have, so in order to express my distaste, I give
  him the 1100s Japanese version of the finger.
  Mr. Samurai stops his ride to educate me on why
  one doesnt do that sort of thing in the
  political climate of the time, this education
  comes in the form of me being decapitated in a
  grand manner in front of my roadside kiosk of
  commerce. The authorities learn of this
  educational beheading. Said authorities applaud
  Mr. Samurai for enforcing proper respect for
  those that serve the Emperor.

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Example continued

• Many sociological effects can be seen in this
  short example.
• Joe Shmoe, feeling marginalized and resentful
  of/by the mandatory, and in his mind undue,
  respect and privilege given to Mr. Samurai,
  decided to hold a one man political demonstration
  of his feelings.
• Mr. Samurai, empowered by the government, feared
  no reprisals, social or legal, for killing the
  offending Joe Shmoe and felt it was his duty to
  uphold the ideals of the Emperor and the culture.
  In Mr. Samurais mind, an insult to Mr. Samurai
  is an insult to his position, a position given to
  him by the Emperor and his government, so any
  insult leveled against Mr. Samurai is an insult
  to the Emperor, who the Samurai is sworn to serve.

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Symbolic/Interaction theory Where did government
come from?

• Imagine if there were no one to set or enforce
  the rules. People did what they wanted, when they
  wanted, how they wanted, limited only by their
  natural ability to do so. This would be a world
  without government, for government forms the laws
  (one could argue that common sense and fear of
  reprisal would dictate actions in this
  anarchistic idea, but I figure that is all
  covered under wanted but if you want to take up
  the semantic debate over this, see me after class)

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Symbolic/Interaction the rise of government
through individual choices?

• Even the earliest human societies had a loose
  form of government, the eldest male or female
  dictated some things based upon their wisdom, or
  the most skilled hunter would lay some ground
  rules, seeing as he/she would know best about the
  aforementioned hunt. This form of government was
  aided in no small part by nature and it imposing
  hardships and creating a common need among these
  groups.

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Starting to sound a bit like functional theory,
but this is just my interpretation, I could be
way off.

• As civilization led into agriculture and the
  specialization of work, there was less of a sense
  of interdependence, which probably led to more
  crime and disputes. There needed to be a way for
  folks to have an impartial judge, or some
  incentive not to steal each others wheat.
  Perhaps this was what led to the rise of
  government. People, once they were on the
  receiving end of corruption/lawlessness/unfair
  play, began to buy into the idea of having
  someone to enforce the rules and decide what was
  best for everyone.

Whether the method of choosing this decider was
by prophecy, gods will, money, heritage,
accomplishment, or a vote by the masses on who
would be best at it, is a matter for history to
untangle.
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Functional or Conflict

• It seems that Symbolic/Interaction Theory isnt
  well suited for analyzing the rise of government.
  For even though I just outlined one way in which
  government may have arisen, it would be just as
  easy to say that those who craved power began to
  make this system of government in order to push
  around all those below them, and so on.

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Effects upon Society

• The stresses of impending taxes, The call to the
  police when you find a human body floating in
  your pool, The headache you get when the FDA says
  your product isnt fit for human consumption, The
  political debate show that helps you formulate
  your opinions, The subversive psuedo-socialist
  literature littered about my room, The sinking
  feeling in your stomach when you see those red
  and blue lights in the rear-view mirror, Trying
  to force your kid out of bed so he or she can get
  to 8th grade on time because if he or she misses
  any more class its your ass on the line, Pat
  Bagely, Heated discussions at cheap diners or in
  fine dining rooms, The US made collateral damage
  that destroyed your business, Interest rates,
  Homeless shelters, Rallies
• et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseum, ad nausuem.

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• All of these things and so much more are not only
  roles, functions, and products of a government
  (and me being so ethnocentric, most of this is
  obviously about western government, but it could
  be said about any government, or most government,
  if only I was more familiar with it) but are
  things that effect our interactions with others
  and our socialization from the youngest of ages,
  which in turn effect almost every other aspect of
  our life and society.

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