Which concept encompasses wealth, power, and prestige as its dimensions?

• A. Class systems
• B. Social stratification
• C. Estate
• D. Caste

Answer: (B)

Weber’s framework for understanding social hierarchy emphasizes three dimensions: wealth (economic resources), power (ability to influence or control others), and prestige (social honor). When a concept aims to describe a system that organizes people along these three axes, the broad idea is social stratification. It captures how societies rank and distribute resources, influence, and social esteem across different groups.

Among the other options, a class system is one way to organize based largely on economic position and mobility within the stratification, but it doesn’t by itself name the full triad of wealth, power, and prestige. Estate refers to a historical, legally defined social order with specific privileges, while caste denotes a closed, birth-based system with limited mobility. The comprehensive term that encompasses all three dimensions is social stratification.