Social Stratification In Austin Texas

In the United States, for the last four decades, from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan through the two Bush Presidencies, the Republican Party won the White House by amassing large margins among white voters (Lizza.) The state of Texas has been reliably Republican since the 1970s and there are various elements to Texas political culture that can be narrowed down to three essential ideological trends: economic liberalism, or faith in the free market economy, social conservatism, or favoring traditional values and moralism, and populism, or promoting the rights and worthiness of ordinary people (Texas Political Culture.) As a result, the dominant political mood in Texas favors low taxes, minimal government services, and policies that are

Social inequality is a problematic phenomenon that occurs all around the world and affects both the developed and developing nations. It is defined as “the unequal distribution of social, political and economic resources within a social collective” (van Krieken et al. 2013, p. 205). Inequality is closely connected with social stratification, a system of social hierarchy that positions individuals and groups into categories according to social variables such as class or ethnicity (van Krieken et al. 2013, p. 485). This stratification has a significant impact on the opportunity that an individual may have to move up the hierarchy of inequality (Gill 2017a).

The social indicators can be used to identify stratification and inequalities within a social structure.  Stratification is the ranking of groups using a systematic hierarchical system (Durkin & Carrothers, 2015).  Stratification is the preference of a certain group with privileges to greater opportunities on success than others.  The preference and privileges form inequalities within the social structure.  Social inequality is the unequal distribution of power that often results in conditions of differing wealth, prestige, and status (Durkin & Carrothers, 2015).  The relationship between stratification and inequalities can be evaluated by social indicators.  Social indicators are measurable data within a social structure.

One million people moved into Harris County between 1970-1982. This was the greatest boom anyone had ever seen; this was brought about by the increasing value of oil. In 1980 Houston was a one company town with eighty-two percent of its primary sector jobs tied into the oil industry. Oil was in demand at the price of three dollars and twenty cents in 1972 increased to thirty-two and fifty cents by 1980 Houston was booming, however in 1983 the oil industry collapsed causing one hundred thousand jobs to be lost. This would change the world as Houston and Texans knew it, where as in the past people relied on natural resources from the land such as cotton, timber, cattle and oil, they would now have to rely on their knowledge and skills. The

Social Stratification in the African American community has changed over the years. Social stratification is defined as a rigid subdivision of a society into a hierarchy of layers, differentiated on the basis of power, prestige, and wealth according to Webster’s dictionary. David Newman in Sociology Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life describes stratification as a ranking system for groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society. From slavery to the present, the African American community has been seen to have lower status compared to white people. Today, the stratification or hierarchy difference between whites and black are not really noticeable, but it is still present. However, during

According to the 2010’s census the racial composition of Texas is: 70.4% people are White American, 11.8% are African-American, 3.8% are Asian-American, 0.7% American Indian, 0.1% native Hawaiian or Pacific islander,

Today in our society, we prefer to consider social status as stratified rank of income amount.

People from all over the world come to the United States in pursuit of the American Dream, or the belief that anyone can move upwards in society with hard work. The belief that an individual can change their status is termed social mobility (Southworth, 22). However, it is clear that simply being American does not mean everyone has equal social mobility, social stratification exists. Social stratification refers to a hierarchy where people are ranked based on factors such as their class, race, family they were born into, and gender (Southworth, 21). These factors affect an individual's life chances, or the ability to obtain education, health, and income. Better life chances are more conducive to social mobility. Historically, class, or one’s

This chapter discusses the topic of class and stratification in the United States. Highlighting the impacts and importance of prestige, wealth and power in regards to social class. Social stratification is the order of social groups depending on what they have. Within social classes there is social mobility, intergenerational mobility and intergenerational mobility. Social mobility happens when people move from one social system to another. Intragenerational mobility is when social changes occur within an individual's lifetime. Intergenerational mobility is social changes from generation to generation of a family. An example of social stratisfaction is slavery, which is when individuals are owned by other individuals.

The egalitarian level is when there is rough equality between families in access to necessities, possessions and wealth objects; wide access to and sharing of productive resources; influence and prestige based on age and personal qualities and achievements. The ranked level is when there is a limited number of formal social roles or positions the confer some authority; access to prestige titles and offices determined largely by heredity, family/kinship ties; rights to resources allocated by those of higher risk. The stratified level is sharply unequal distribution of material resources and wealth; large inequalities in access to power and social rewards.

Social inequality is best described as an unconsciously evolved device by which societies insure that the most important positions are conscientiously filled by the most qualified person (Davis and Moore 1945: page 244). In that case, social inequality is necessary for people looking for jobs. Obviously, those who have the skills to fill a higher position will take it over someone who lacks those necessary tools. Most Americans do not like the idea that social classes exist (Domhoff 1998:page 253). What isn 't so clear is why social inequality, or stratification, exists, and how you can move up in the classes.

Socioeconomic status is one way individuals are socially stratified. In Western society, we’ve created a social hierarchy surrounding wealth, occupational prestige, and education. Although there are multiple ways of hashing out social categories based on SES, it is clear that residing in lower strata of this particular social hierarchy is deleterious for health.

In our world, social stratification has had a very large influence on every person’s life since the dawn of civilization. All societies are stratified, the only thing setting them apart is the differing criteria that society uses to separate individuals or families. From Europeans using kings, queens, knights, and clergymen, ancient Egyptians’ pharaohs, scribes, and merchants, and today’s most common system of upper, middle, and lower classes, social stratification has had a large role in the way society runs.

When people who differ in their ascribed and achieved characteristics are evaluated differently; a social hierarchy is formed. A hierarchy is a set of ranked statuses from highest to lowest. Because both the most- and least valued traits are likely to be relatively rare, status hierarchies tend to be diamond shaped, narrow at the very top and bottom. Within the hierarchy, people at different levels or strata, can claim different amounts of power, prestige and property. In this way, a set of ranked statuses based on evaluations of social worth is transformed into a hierarchy of control over societal resources. Stratification systems thus, are both a cause and consequences of inequality. Although in a hunting and gathering society all members are equally valued and rewarded, but it is a rare phenomenon. Once the division of labour expands beyond gathering some tasks will be considered more important than others, and the people who perform such tasks are rewarded with power, respect and material goods. At the very least, labour is divided on the basis of sex and age, so that all societies have gender and age stratification systems. The more

Society has determined one of the means in which we are ranked through income. It is also easiest to explain stratification in this form. There are three main classes, upper, middle and lower classes. These classes can be divided even further such as lower middle class and upper lower class. We are stratified this way so that the world may see how our economy is doing financially.