How The Critical Approach Is Like The U.S Government

By: Alex Latimer

First, lets show how an organization is like the 3 branches of the government.

We first start off with the Executive Branch. This is where the President and Vice President of the United States are represented or in the case, the CEO or President of the Company.

Second, we look at the Legislative Branch. This is where Congress is represented. Or again in this case, it is where the small managers and supervisors are represented. Half love the President or CEO, the other half hate him or her and want to see them gone. But they still have power over you.

The last branch of the U.S government or of an organization is the Judicial Branch. This is where the Supreme Court is represented. In a business, this is where the Board of Trustees are represented. Both have the power to fire the CEO or The President of the United States. They are both the only ones that have that power.

Now lets talk about the critical Approach

The concept that is most important for the critical theorist is POWER!!!

Just like in the government, there are many ways or sources of power including:

Formal Authority

Control of Scarce resources

Use of org. structure, rules, and regulations

Control of decision processes

Control of knowledge and information

Control of boundaries

Ability to cope with uncertainty

Control of technology

Interpersonal alliances,networks, and control of "informal organization"

Control of technology

Interpersonal alliances, networks, and control of "informal organization"

Control of counterorganizations

Symbolism and the management of meaning

Gender and the management of gender relationships

Structural factors that define the stage of action

The power one already has

Ideology

When it comes to ideology, it refers to the "taken-for-granted- assumptions about reality that influence perceptions of situations and events." It also involves assumptions that are rarely questioned or scrutinized. This is just like the government and an organization. For an organization, you have to obey many rules and take pay cuts and we just take it because we think that is normal. For the government, the U.S citizens are taxed and penalized for things we never do or caused, just like employees in the work place.

Hegemony

Hegemony is similar to Ideology. instead hegemony refers to a process in which a dominant group leads another group to accept subordination. Obviously you can see the connection from the U.S government and an organization. The U.S government makes the American people feel not as important as they are want to show simple domination. That can and does happen in a business. Your managers can make you feel that way and some people actually like to be treated that way.

Emancipation

The ultimate goal of the critical model is emancipation, or the "liberations of people from unnecessarily restrictive traditions, ideologies, assumptions, power relations, and so forth. Obviously the business or the government doesn't want its employees or citizen to get up and revolt, so they take time to listen to them. In a business it can be sitting them down at a table or sending them an email asking how the feel about certain things. For the government, it is like town hall discussions where they let the smaller people have a voice. Both the government and business know that they are outnumbered and realize that they can shift the balance of power at anytime, so they try and prevent it.

Resistance

Workers can exert counter pressure on this exercise of power and control. Resistance is sometimes seen in collective and organized processes such as unionization, strike, boycotts, and large social movements. Just like the government, people strike all the time for unfair things. In a business, like government, it will be hard to prevent that. Sometimes you have to just let them do it to make themselves feel better. Then maybe both sides can agree on something where both parties benefit.

Two Critical Approaches in Communication

A theory of concertive control is the first. The 3 concepts that are important to an understanding of this theory is control, identification, and discipline. To sum up, people tend to believe a certain way in an organization. They believe certain rules are more important than other. They follow and look up to others in a group in the organization. But they also have discipline and know what rules to follow. This is just like political parties in the U.S government. People usually pick either Republican party or the Democratic party. Obviously some go Independent and you have sub groups off of those. Each party feels like that have the control and power but each party knows to follow the rules because it will only benefit them in the long run, just like an organization.

Feminist Theories

Some women feel like they are being harassed. Some find it funny and just ignore. Some say things have to change for a better work environment. While others claim that they will just adapt. You have women in both organizations and in the government that act like this. You have the sweet innocent ones that no one really respects and others that people think are just a plain B****. Radical feminists believe that the workplace needs to change so women can feel more comfortable. Liberal feminist feel like they need to work to gain their fair share of control. The radical reminds me of female politicians like Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin. The liberal feminists remind me of Hilary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi. Two claim that there needs to be a change to allow women to have more power and say in the government, while the other two have worked a long way up to the House Speaker and probably a future presidential candidate. It is whether you spend your time trying to change the system to gain more power or work your way up. It's up to you.