Structural Determinism
The U.S. is not divided, neither is it broken, it is performing exactly how it is structured to. Organizations perform how they are structured. The performance of U.S. institutions determine the outcomes of the people effected by U.S. policy. Structural determinism is the concept that outcomes and events are predetermined by the structure of and structures within a society.
Session Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
Define "structural determinism"
Explain why the U.S. is a republic and not a democracy
Describe how the structure of the U.S. prevents poor people and minorities from making large-scale change
Explain how agenda-setting controls what changes people in the U.S. are able to make
Analyze the impact that second-class legal status has on poor and minority people
Evaluate how the system continues to perpetuate the structural and systemic discrimination that motivated its creation
Watch Lecture
Watch the content lecture below. The purpose of the lecture is to tie in all of the session’s content and to align the content with the session’s learning objectives.
Review Content
There are multiple ways to access the information for this session. There are films, writings, and reflection questions. You get out of this course what you put into it.
Complete Reflections
These course sessions are tailored to your time and effort capacity. Completing the reflections based on whatever information you are able to access is important.
Session Lecture
Watch this lecture from “the Professor,” Dr. Thomas D. Allison, Esq., on the theory of Structural Determinism. Dr. Allison is a professor, an attorney in five states, a nonprofit executive, and has a doctorate in public administration.
Suggested Text: Faces At The Bottom Of The Well: The Permanence Of Racism, by Derrick Bell
Amend
The Amend series does a fantastic covering history, law, and public policy as it relates to race relations in the United States. This particular episode discusses citizenship and how our rights have been historically guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution through citizenship.
Reflection Questions
In a journal, write a reflection of what you have learned from this material, covering at least the following elements:
How is the U.S. government structured?
Why is the U.S. government structured the way that it is?
How is racism, sexism, and classism built into the structure of the U.S. government?
Why is it near impossible to make widespread change in the U.S. government?
Explain Structural Determinism with a definition, explanation, and examples.
