According to the functionalist perspective, the government plays the role of maintaining law and order in the society. It manages the society as a single unit. It ensures that all groups within the society are able to function in harmony with each other towards the achievement of a collective good. As such, the functionalist perspective is committed to societal order and methods of maintaining the status quo. Social change can only be achieved via consensus.
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According to the functionalist perspective, the government plays the role of maintaining law and order in the society. It manages the society as a single unit. It ensures that all groups within the society are able to function in harmony with each other towards the achievement of a collective good. As such, the functionalist perspective is committed to societal order and methods of maintaining the status quo. Social change can only be achieved via consensus.
The conflict perspective, on the other hand, focuses on conflict as a means towards societal change. It states that various groups within a society, be they economic groups, religious groups, ethnic groups etc, are always in competition with each other for the limited resources. The dominant group that often forms the government then has to look for ways of controlling other groups so as to maintain their power. For instance, the ruling class can push for policies that only benefit them, while exploiting the rest. Order in the society is based on the manipulation and control of the people by the dominant groups. The conflict theorists look at the conflicts of interests that exist among different groups of people in a society.
It would appear that both of these viewpoints are important in explaining the role of government in society. This is because a government needs unity among its people for it to be stable. However, in order for it to achieve unity, it must be willing to first address the conflicts that exist among the different groups within the society.
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