Chapter 1: The Study of American Government Introduction Politics runs our country o Politics exists because people differ

r on two things Who should run our government The ends toward with the government should work Asks the question why does it matter who runs the government; what is one group going to do vs. the other group Just because a certain type of person (white, Protestant male) is often found in government doesnt mean they only enact policies to advance their type

What is Political Power? Power: the ability of one person to get another person to act in accordance with the first persons intentions o The Exercise of power can be obvious and subtle Ordering troops to battle (Power to the General) A speech writer skewing the presidents speech which he then gives in public (Power to the Speech Writer) o Through exertion of power, the government can make matters that were once thought to be private into public ones Authority: the right to use power o We accept decisions made by people with the authority to make them o We are less likely to accept decision with people without the authority to make them o Formal Authority: the right to exercise power is vested in a governmental office Legitimacy: political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution o Today the Constitution is widely accepted as a legitimate source of authority o American political history has been a struggle over what constitutes legitimate authority o Americans generally agree that no exercise of political power by government is legitimate if it is not in some sense democratic

What is Democracy? Democracy: the rule of the many (Aristotle) o A democratic government is one in which all, or most, of its citizens participate directly in either holding office or making policy o Two definitions of democracy:

Direct or Participatory Democracy: a government in which all or most citizens participate directly Such a government was possible in the small city-states of Ancient Greece, but not so much in areas of large populations Representative Democracy: a government in which leaders make decisions by winning a competitive struggle for the popular vote Justified under two arguments o First, it is impractical for the people to decide on public policy, but not impractical to expect them to choose competing leadership groups o Second, some people believe that direct democracy is likely to lead to bad decisions

Is Representative Democracy Best? Not everybody supports Representative Democracy o In some European democracies, candidates are only elected for national and local legislatures o Other proponents of direct democracy argue that it is the only way to ensure the will of the people prevails Framers of the Constitution did not believe the will of the people was synonymous with public good o They favored representative democracy Believed the government should mediate, not mirror, popular views o Weighed the pros and cons of representative government which prevents a government from doing great good to quickly Believed that a government that could do great good too quickly could also do great harm quickly o Believed that representative democracy minimized the chance that power could be abused Are the decisions our founding fathers made correct for our time? o We live in an internet based society and today people can easily contact their leaders in congress o With more contact, it is less likely that congress will actually pay attention to what Americans are saying o In general, the people still feel distanced from their government

How is Political Power Distributed? Majoritarian Politics: leader follows the preferences of the citizens very closely o In this case elected officials represent the people

Issues handled by such a political power must be important to command attention of people, clear to elicit an opinion from the people, and feasible so that action can be taken o If majoritarian decision making is not possible, leaders make decisions without clear opinion of the majority Only those active politically get their views into the decision Usually a minority group In such a case, power goes to political elites who struggle over policy Elite: persons who possess a disproportionate share of some valued resource, like money or power Four schools of thought on political elites and how power has actually been distributed in Americas representative government o Marxist View: View that the government is dominated by capitalists (Karl Marx [1818-1883]) Whoever controls the economy controls the government Marxists explain two classes compete for power: the capitalists (business owners or bourgeoise) and workers (laborers or the proletariat) In the US, the capitalists have dominated the economy and therefore the government o Power Elite View: View that the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside of the government (C. Wright Mills [1950s]) Corporate leaders, top military officers, a handful of elected officials, top media chiefs, etc. dominate politics and government o Bureaucratic View: View that the government is dominated by appointed officials (Max Weber [1864-1920]) In both the Marxist View and the Power Elite View, the government and laws they make will be dominated by bureaucrats who staff and operate the government on a daily basis Essentially the invisible workers (who are unknown to the elite) who interpret and fulfill the laws made by the government have the power Power falls to government bureaucrats who, on top of implementing public policy, make it as suits their own ideas and interests o Pluralist View: The belief that competition among all affected interests shapes public policy (No Single Intellectual Parent) Acknowledges that big business, upper class, or career bureaucrats have power but argue that access to money, expertise, and media are so widely varied that no single elite has a monopoly over them Also argue there are so many political institutions in the US (state, federal, county) that no one elite can have complete dominance

Is Democracy Driven by Self-Interest? Self-interest exists in politics, but so do ideas about the common good and public-spirited behavior

What Explains Political Change? Throughout US history, politics has continued to change o The political scheme changes with the changing times o Different people, claiming to represent the elites, define public interest o As public interest changes, so does public policy

The Nature of Politics Judgments about institutions and interests can be made only after one has seen how they behave on a variety of important issues or potential issues o Who Governs? o To what end?