Reading for Cross-cultural associations

Read the excerpts below about the history and development of political science. Make use of the given information in the role-play.

The British Class System

Britain was once a class-ridden society. Today, multiculturalism and a changing economy are gradually eroding the British class system. But some features of the system still remain.

What is class? Sociologists define social class as the grouping of people by occupations. Doctors and lawyers and university teachers are given more status than unskilled workers. The different positions represent different levels of power, influence and money. In days gone by your class would affect your chances of getting an education, a job, etc. And it would also affect the people who you could socialise with and marry. Today this type of getting of the thing is all-but-gone with the high- profile exception of the Royal family.

The British Social Class System The British society has often been considered to be divided into three main groups:

- Upper Class (Often people with inherited wealth. It includes some of the oldest families, with many of them being titles aristocrats.)

- Middle Class (The majority of the population of Britain. They include industrialists, professionals, business people and shop owners.)

- Lower or Working class (People who are agricultural, mine and factory

workers.)

The British Class System Today Although some people in the UK refer to themselves as ‘working- class’, ‘lower-middle’ or ‘upper-middle’ (and of course there are those who think of themselves as the ‘elite’ class), to the majority of the British the meanings don’t seem to matter much these days.

ROLE PLAY

Political System, State and Government

Situation

Social science refers to the academic disciplines concerned with society and human behavior. " Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to anthropology, archaeology, economics, communication studies, political science, sociology, and includes elements of other fields of knowledge. The terms ‘political system’, ‘state’ and ‘government’ are the key elements of social science categorizations. They are closely interrelated and very often students have difficulty differentiating between them, which distorts the understanding of the basic questions of social sciences.

What you must discuss:

Brainstorm the issue of the overlapping terms and draw a distinction between them.

Work in groups (students A, B, C).