Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer
Using Merton’s concepts of ‘manifest’ and ‘latent’ functions, explain the persistence of corruption in Indian society.
- UPSC 2014
- Sociological Thinkers
For Robert K. Merton (Social Theory and Social Structure, 1949; 1957), manifest functions are consequences that participants intend and recognise, while latent functions are neither intended nor recognised. A practice condemned as immoral, he showed, persists when it quietly meets needs the official structure leaves unmet. It scored 39/100 and ranked 91st of 182 in…
You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions.
What the full answer covers
- Merton's model: the political machine
- Latent functions of corruption in India
- Dysfunctions: the net balance
- Why it persists, and what follows
- Conclusion
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