The three-component theory of stratification, more widely known as Weberian stratification or the three class system, was developed by German sociologist Max Weber with class, status and party as distinct ideal types. Weber developed a multidimensional approach to social stratification that reflects the interplay among wealth, prestige and power.
Weber argued that power can take a variety of forms. A person's power can be shown in the social order through their status, in the economic order through their class, and in the political order through their party. Thus, class, status and party are each aspects of the distribution of power within a community. Class, status and power have not only a great deal of effect within their individual areas but also a great deal of influence over the other areas.
Wealth: includes property such as buildings, lands, farms, houses, factories and other assets – economic situation Prestige: the respect with which a person or status position is regarded by others – status situation Power: the ability of people or groups to achieve their goals despite opposition from others – parties According to Weber, there are two basic dimensions of power: the possession of power and the exercising of power. This essay was written shortly before World War I and was published posthumously in 1922 as part of Weber's Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. It was translated into English in the 1940s as "Class, Status, Party"; reproduced with modifications in Weber 1978:926–939. and has been re-translated as "The distribution of power within the community: Classes, Stände, Parties".
Possession of power According to Weber, the ability to possess power derives from the individual's ability to control various "social resources". "The mode of distribution gives to the propertied a monopoly on the possibility of transferring property from the sphere of use as 'wealth' to the sphere of 'capital,' that is, it gives them the entrepreneurial function and all chances to share directly or indirectly in returns on capital". These resources can be anything and everything: they might include land, capital, social respect, physical strength, and intellectual knowledge.
Exercising of power The ability to exercise power takes a number of different forms, but all involve the idea that it means the ability to get your own way with others, regardless of their ability to resist you. "For example, if we think about an individual's chances of realizing their own will against someone else, it is reasonable to believe that the person's social prestige, class position, and membership in a political group will have an effect on these chances". In terms of understanding the relationship between power and social stratification, Weber theorized the various ways in which societies are organized in hierarchical systems of domination and subordination using several major concepts.
Class and power "Class, at its core, is an economic concept; it is the position of individuals in the market that determines their class position. And it is how one is situated in the marketplace that directly affects one's life chances". This was theorized by Weber on the basis of "unequal access to material resources". For example, if someone possesses something that you want or need, then this makes him potentially more powerful than you. He is in a dominant position and you are in a subordinate position because he controls access to a desired social resource. A classic illustration here is the relationship between an employer and employee.
Social power (status or Stände) "The existence of status groups most often shows itself in the form of
endogamy or the restricted pattern of social intercourse, sharing of food and other benefits within groups, status conventions or traditions, and monopolistic acquisition of certain economic opportunities or the avoidance of certain kinds of acquisitions. If you respect someone or view him as your social superior, then he will potentially be able to exercise power over you (since you will respond positively to his instructions / commands). In this respect, social status is a social resource simply because he may have it while you may not. "Not all power, however entails social honor: The Typical American Boss, as well as the typical big speculator, deliberately relinquishes social honor. Quite generally, 'mere economic' power, and especially 'naked' money power, is by no means a recognized basis or social honor". Note: The German word Stand, plural Stände (English, "status" or "status group") is sometimes left untranslated in Weber, in order to keep in view the origins of this concept in medieval guilds, professions, ethnic identities, and feudal classifications.
Political power (party)
Parties are associations that aim at securing "power within an organization [or the state] for its leaders in order to attain ideal or material advantages for its active members". This form of power can be related to the way in which the State is organized in modern social systems (involving the ability to make laws, for example). If you can influence this process of law creation, then you will be in a potentially powerful position. Thus, by your ability to influence a decision-making process, you possess power, even though you may not directly exercise that power personally. Political parties are the organizational means to possess power through the mechanism of the State and they include not just formally organized parties, but any group that is organized to influence the way in which power is exercised legitimately through the machinery of the State. "Since parties aim at such goals as getting their programs developed or accepted and getting positions of influence within organizations, it is clear that they operate only within a rational order within which these goals are possible to attain and only when there is a struggle for power".
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