Written by Fabio Rojas (Indiana University) as part of A Sociology Experiment. To read this chapter, add it to your cart, complete the checkout process, return to this page, and select “Read Now” to open the Bookshelf reader.

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to: define the concept of politics from a sociological perspective; describe how people use state power to create rules; and analyze the relationship between people and the states that govern them.