How does gender affect power relationships in the UK?

Men hold most senior positions in business, politics and the judiciary. Women made up 40% of the MPs elected in 2024, a record high (House of Commons Library).

How has sexuality affected power relationships in the UK?

Section 28, which banned local councils from promoting homosexuality, was not repealed in England and Wales until 2003. LGBT people have since gained greater legal equality, including same-sex marriage in 2014.

How do race and ethnicity affect power relationships?

Ethnic minority groups remain under-represented in senior roles in the police, the judiciary and business. Racism and discrimination can keep power concentrated in the hands of the white majority.

How does age affect power relationships?

Adults hold legal authority over children, at home and at school. Older people are more likely to vote, so politicians pay close attention to their interests.

AQA GCSE Sociology 8192

The Sociological Approach

Topic overview Key sociological concepts Sociological perspectives: consensus and conflict Durkheim, Marx and Weber How sociological knowledge develops

Families

Topic overview Functions of families Family forms and diversity Conjugal roles and the domestic division of labour Changing relationships within families Criticisms of families Divorce in Britain since 1945

Education

Topic overview Roles and functions of education Education, capitalism and the correspondence principle Class and gender differences in achievement Ethnicity, parental choice and school markets Processes within schools

Crime and Deviance

Topic overview Social construction of crime and deviance Formal and informal social control Explanations of criminal behaviour Patterns of crime and public debates Crime statistics and the dark figure

Social Stratification

Topic overview Functionalist theory of stratification Marx, Weber and socio-economic class Factors affecting life chances Poverty as a social issue Forms of power and authority Power relationships

Research Methods

Topic overview Research design, hypotheses and data analysis Sampling methods Questionnaires and interviews Observation and mixed methods Types of data and official statistics Reliability, validity, ethics and practical issues

Social Stratification

Power relationships

3 things to know
Paper 2

Overview

Power at work and trade unions, class dealignment, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, disability and religion, and Walby's six structures of private and public patriarchy.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Process

How does social class shape power relationships at work?

Who and when

How do sexuality, male violence and culture maintain patriarchy, according to Walby?

Key term

What are class alignment and class dealignment?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
How does social class shape power relationships at work?
Model answer
Owners and senior managers control workers' jobs, pay and conditions. A trade union is an organisation of workers that bargains collectively with employers. Unions can take industrial action, such as strikes, in an industrial dispute.
2
What are class alignment and class dealignment?
Model answer
Class alignment is the tendency for working-class voters to support Labour and middle-class voters to support the Conservatives. Class dealignment is the weakening of that link since the 1970s.
3
How does gender affect power relationships in the UK?
Model answer
Men hold most senior positions in business, politics and the judiciary. Women made up 40% of the MPs elected in 2024, a record high (House of Commons Library).
4
How has sexuality affected power relationships in the UK?
Model answer
Section 28, which banned local councils from promoting homosexuality, was not repealed in England and Wales until 2003. LGBT people have since gained greater legal equality, including same-sex marriage in 2014.
5
How do race and ethnicity affect power relationships?
Model answer
Ethnic minority groups remain under-represented in senior roles in the police, the judiciary and business. Racism and discrimination can keep power concentrated in the hands of the white majority.
6
How does age affect power relationships?
Model answer
Adults hold legal authority over children, at home and at school. Older people are more likely to vote, so politicians pay close attention to their interests.

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The Sociological Approach

Families

Education

Crime and Deviance

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A communist society would follow.

classlesscapitalistfeudal

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AONS figures show that divorces rose briefly after the Second World War.

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Monogamy means marriage to only one partner at a time.

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