Chapter+12+Economics+and+Politics

Politics - The social institution that distributes power, sets a society's goals, and makes decisions. Secondary sector - The part of the economy that transforms raw materials into manufactured goods. Profession - A prestigious white-collar occupation that requires extensive formal education. Postindustrial economy - A productive system based on service work and computer technology. Power- The ability to achieve desired ends despite resistance from others. Authority- Power that people perceive as legitimate rather than coercive. Government- A formal organization that directs the political life of a society Power - elite model- An analysis of politics that sees power as concentrated among the rich.
 * Claire Dunphy finds herself wanting to get involved in politics when her city councilman fails to meet her desire to have a stop sign put in at a busy intersection in her neighborhood. The city council is a part of politics in that it makes decisions for the city as a whole, and it is where problems are to be addressed
 * Jay Pritchett works under the secondary sector of the economy. He sells building materials to contractors and land developers. This can be seen in the episode where he is trying to pitch a big closet system to the builder of a large condominium complex that is going up in his city.
 * Mitchell holds the profession of a lawyer in the show. This would be considered a profession because he had to go through extensive schooling in order to fulfill this occupation.
 * A postindustrial economy can be seen throughout the occupations of the characters that make up Modern Family. All of their jobs serve as service work, rather than factory work or anything of that sort. Jay is a business man, Mitchell is a lawyer, and Phil works as a realtor. All of these professions provide services.
 * Gloria has a lot of power in her household. Whatever she says, goes. Manny and Jay both listen to her whenever she speaks.
 * Claire and Phil Dunphy have authority over their children. Most of the time when the make a rule or tell their children to do something, it gets done.
 * The government had the power to say no to claire's proposal of installing a stop sign. She went and asked but because the government directs society, it could not be installed.