Max Weber

"for Weber, social groups and classes are in the sphere of power and are connected to the distribution of power. Given that there are various ways that power can be exercised, for Weber it is not possible to reduce the organization of all these groups to a single dimension or factor such as ownership or non-ownership of the means of production. Rather, for Weber there is a pluralism associated with class structure in that people attempt to achieve ends using various means – each of these may create a grouping such as a class, status group, or party. Social stratification has multiple and overlapping dimensions and groups that involve a complex set of social relationships."

1. Classes
   1. Class Situation: Class situation is "the relationship of a person or number of people to a particular market that has an important effect on the lives of these people."
      1. Life chance
      2. Economic interest
      3. Market
   2. Class: "The term ‘class’ refers to any group of people that is found in the same class situation" (Gerth and Mills, p. 181).
   3. Types of Classes:
      1. Ownership classes
      2. Commercial classes
      3. Acquisition classes
      4. Major classes
   4. Groups: “Social groups are collectivities of individuals who interact and form social relationships. ... They have their own norms of conduct and are solidaristic. Within this category may be included the family, groups of friends and many work groups.” (Theodorson, pp. 97-98).
2. Status and Status Goups
   1. Definition: “In contrast to classes, status groups are normally communities. They are, however, often of an amorphous kind. In contrast to the purely economically determined ‘class situation’ we wish to designate as ‘status situation’ every typical component of the life fate of men … is determined by a specific, positive or negative, social estimation of honor.” (Gerth and Mills, pp. 186-7).
   2. Forms of Status Groups: “A status group could be formed on the basis of any characteristic that is socially recognized by others, and which becomes the object of social honour. ... There is a multiplicity of status groups, but in terms of the major types of social honour that can form the basis for power, affecting the life chances of individuals and groups, Weber identifies three.”
      1. Property
      2. Styles of Life
      3. Groups unrelated to property
   3. Features of Status Groups: “Status groups may cut across class lines.”
3. Parties: “Parties are organizations, rather than communities or groups, and they involve striving for a goal in a planned manner.” “Whereas the genuine place of ‘classes’ is within the economic order, the place of ‘status groups’ is within the social order, that is, within the sphere of the distribution of ‘honour.’ From within these spheres, classes and status groups influence one another and they influence the legal order and are in turn influenced by it. But ‘parties’ live in a hose of ‘power.’ Their action is oriented toward the acquisition of social ‘power,’ that is to say, toward influencing a communal action no matter what its content may be.” (Gerth and Mills, p. 194). “That is, classes are in the economic order, status groups in the social order, and parties in the sphere of power.”

*Notes and quotes from: "http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/318n2202.htm"