Distribution of political power can be categorized in three forms, where an individuals’ power takes the form of social order through their status. It can also be shown through the economic order of their class, while the political order entails the party. These aspects largely affect individual areas as well as other perspectives such as wealth, prestige and power. Power can be grouped into two dimensions; where one includes the possession aspect and the other is the exercising part (Staples, et al. 2004). The possession of power involves the ability to have authority within your jurisdiction that allows people to control various social resources. The mode of distribution allocates the haves or rather entrepreneurs the mandate to share capital returns directly or indirectly. These resources consist of land, capital, social respect, physical strength or intellectual knowledge (World Bank 2001).. Exercising of power is the act of putting power into practice which takes several forms that all entail getting ones way with others. It does not consider any kind of resistance.
The distribution of power affects the life chances of people who are under-represented in terms of race, ethnicity, class and gender in that, the class power determines their economic concepts. It defines the position of these under-represented people according to class and the value of possession they have. Their situation in the marketplace affects their chances of life in that the majority groups have wealth and property that the minority need. This makes them powerful or rather superior than the minority groups (Weir, 2007). The majorities acquire the dominance that helps them control access to the social resources the minorities needed. The minorities get limited chances of life as they lack the resources they need and thus have to oblige with the rules set in place by the majorities. This brings about discrimination as the under-represented do not get the chance in life to make any laws or orders in this field.
The other form of distribution of political power that affects the life chances of under-represented people is the social power. It deals with the status of the minority or majority groups. It draws the line between how status groups share food and other benefits as well as their traditions and culture (World Bank 2001). Similarly, it shows how the status groups acquire various economic opportunities or even how they evade being involved with them. The majority groups in the society have over the years exercised their power over the minority or rather under-represented simply because they are respected by the minority groups. This occurs due to the fact that the minority groups will always give in to the commands with positivity (Staples, et al. 2004).
The majority groups possess social status which in this case is regarded to as a social resource and thus the minority end up respecting them and complying with their commands. The minority groups lack this form of resource and therefore have to obey the majority or rather the haves in order to get it. This affects their life chances in that they will be discriminated against race/ ethnicity, class and gender simply because they do not possess the ability to make any judgments on the economic trends or share other benefits with other groups of the same caliber. The African Americans or the Hispanic Americans are good examples of such minority groups who get discriminated against race, ethnicity since they are associated with poverty and low class (World Bank 2001).
Political power or parties help the majority groups acquire power within a state or organization with the aim of gaining materialistic or idealistic advantages for the members of the group. This brings about the ability of states or organizations to form modern social systems that are involved in making laws. It entails the ability of majority groups to enact the process of creating laws (Weir & EBSCOhost , 2007).. This gives them the high stature of authority as they are able to influence the process of making decisions. It also gives them power regardless whether they will be directly involved in implementing the power themselves.
Majority groups are organized in a way that allows them to acquire power from the state and are involved in the implementation and exercise of this power. This gives them the mandate to rule over minority groups as they have more say within the state than the minority groups (Weir & EBSCOhost , 2007). There are instances where minority groups have brought up a leader who would represent their views in the state but since the majority groups are directly involved in the decision making process, these leaders get turned down. This brings about discrimination as the minority groups get discriminated against class and ethnicity. Distribution of political power denies them the opportunity to have an input on matters involving the state (Staples, et al. 2004).
A good example that depicts the effects of the distribution of political power is where during elections in the United States, small states get fewer say on the proposed leaders while big states give the mandate to propose the candidate they want which in most cases ends up being elected president. Their input is much valued than that of minorities (Staples, et al. 2004).
Special interest groups such as lobbies and grass-root organizations may promote social change in that they involve the general public in decision making processes and well as impacting change. It reaches out to the legislators, government official as well law enforcers and policy makers regarding the issues that need to be addressed (Weir & EBSCOhost , 2007). It at times takes the form of media coverage where campaigns are launched through all media technologies such as the internet, TVs just to mention but a few to reach out to the policy makers and leaders to give more insight on the issues that need to be addressed. This promotes social change as the people get connected with their leaders and the influence on decision making counts (Staples, 2004).
References
Staples, L., Cloward, R. A., Piven, F. F., & EBSCOhost (2004). Roots to Power: A Manual for Grassroots Organizing. Portsmouth: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated.
Weir, R. E., & EBSCOhost (2007). Class in America: An Encyclopedia. Portsmouth: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated.
World Bank (2001). Engendering development: Through gender equality in rights, resources, and voice. Washington, D.C: World Bank.
