Essay Example on Government: A Powerful Social Institution Powering Society

Introduction

The government as a whole is an institution that has been entrusted with enforcing and making rules in society. The government also, as a social institution, is responsible for the regulation of relations conducted with other varying societies. A government has also to be recognized by the people it claims to govern. The powers of the government are gained from the society it governs. This makes the government one of the most powerful social institutions to date. This social institution has however not been shy of social problems that have not only affected the effectiveness of the said institution but affected more social institutions. Social institutions are fundamentally connected with one another and any social changes experienced by one is felt all through by the other.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Social Issues

One of the most common social problems in our world today is unemployment. When we have a lot of people being unemployed in a given city, then it is safe to classify that as a social issue or a social problem. The social problem of unemployment cannot be simply solved by personal solutions. The ordinary person is consequently unable to overcome the challenges of uneven industrialization (Wright 5). The ordinary person, in a bid to solve this problem, adopts a personal solution in marriage. It is socially accepted that marriage is a social institution. Due to the problems imposed by unemployment, the marriage institution consequently turns men, women, and children to chief providers, little slaves and unweaned dependents respectively (Wright 5). To properly solve this problem, we cannot do this through personal wealth and personal ingenuity but rather by understanding the various links that exist between various milieux.

Power and democracy is also a social issue that is deeply rooted in the government as a social institution. According to Mills, the decisions that are made by men about the setting in which they live has everything to do with power (30). The problem lies in who gets to make the decisions that other people follow. This is the real problem of power. There also lies a problem if a decision was not made, who failed to make the decision? It is a big mistake to assume that the government governs the people merely out of their own consent. The government has now the power to manipulate the independent consent of men. Labor movements and organizations are essentially social institutions. Labor organizations have one primary goal of protecting their members at any cost. This means that they are always at logger's heads with the government and are affected by the power struggles of government. These social institutions can be categorized as middle-powers but their influence certainly has an influence on national policies and decisions. The general idea that the government is a balance of power requires the general assumption that institutions present in this balance of power are independent of each other.

Racism and human identity are also entrenched in government. The race has become a powerful source of human identity over the years. According to Smedley, the race is primarily a cultural invention that has no bearing on the physical variations brought about by race but rather is used to define social meanings associated with these variations (690). In the government of the United States, the structuring of race as a way to structure inequality can be traced back to colonization. The government then made 'race' a way of social stratification and identification. Inventions were then made of the white race which was consequently used to enslave people and classify the status that the people who would possess in the society. This led to much higher rates of slavery in the country and the formation of the now perceived social identity (Smedley 695). The issue of racism has been more prominent in some social institutions which include the youth, Native Americans and African Americans. These subtle forms of racial repressions have had a negative effect on this social institution. Denying them the most basic of rights that they are entitled to. The social problem, Racism, means that these social institutions are subjected to suffering and may find themselves broken both physically and in spirit. Race, being nothing but a social invention, should be dealt with for the success of the delivery of service for the government. The adoption of the universal being will be essential in the elimination of these social problems and issues that have no place in our society today.

Conclusion

The government is a social institution that encompasses every member of the society that is governed and ruled. It is quite clear that social issues that affect the social institution consequently follows up to smaller institutions. The effects affect the most basic of social institutions such as the family institutional. Eradication of social issues in the institution of government will be essential in handling social issues that affect other social institutions. The direct link is undeniable and there is a need for more research on this topic.

Works Cited

Mills, C. Wright. "The structure of power in American society." The British Journal of Sociology 9.1 (1958): 29-41.

Mills, C. Wright. The sociological imagination. Oxford University Press, 2000.

Smedley, Audrey. "Race" and the construction of human identity." American Anthropologist 100.3 (1998): 690-702.