Welcome back! Get you’re your “Why Civics is About More than Citizenship” Article Should students be required, for graduation, to take and pass a Civics test? Why do you think so many states have decided to create and pass these types of laws? After reading the article, do you believe states should continue this pattern?

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Unit One: Constitutional Underpinnings

Bell ringer What is a government?

Answers The formal and informal institutions, people, and processes used to create and conduct public policy In the broadest sense: Any institution or process that involves power, rule, and authority

The Basics of Government Government: A formal institutions that make policy or law on behalf of the people Government’s Purpose: Maintain national defense and provide public order Provide public goods Collect taxes Linkage institutions: how people are able to link with public policies Political parties/elections/media/interest groups These are needed for democracy to survive!

Public policy Definition: action taken by government Institutions that make public policy: Legislative/executive/judicial Bureaucracies/gov’t corporations/ regulatory agencies/ cabinet Policy and law are not the same EX: Speed Limit and marijuana

Two basic Questions Who governs? How is political power actually distributed in America? What explains major political change? To what ends?

What is Political Power? http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to- understand-power-eric-liu Power: the ability of one person to get another person to do what you want them to! Our discussion of power: Who will hold government office How government will behave

Who exercises Power? Those who exercise political power may or may not have the authority to do so Authority: the right to use power Legitimacy: Political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution

Politics: Who, What & How Aristotle “Political” – Greek politikos = ‘of, or pertaining to, the polis’ Polis = city-state http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-did- democracy-really-mean-in-athens- melissa-schwartzberg 2 Major Flaws Suitable for smaller city-states only Exclusive with extension of rights

All/Most citizens participate What is Democracy? direct All/Most citizens participate The Founders had a basic distrust of direct democracy Impractical & mob mentality Some people still argue for direct democracy Neighborhoods/cities should govern themselves Many states measure of direct democracy exists through referendums Only way “will of the people” truly ensured

Indirect (representative) What is Democracy? Indirect (representative) Leaders make decisions by winning competitive struggle for the popular vote The Framers of Constitution decided on a “representative democracy” Way of minimizing the chances that power would be abused by Tyrant! Tyrannical popular majority Self-serving officers

Theories of representative democracy Theories are… Pluralist view Elitism Hyper-pluralism Bureaucratic Theory Majoritarian Politics: elected officials are the delegates of the people, acting as a majority of them would if they themselves were voting. Issues handled in a majoritarian fashion can be only those that are sufficiently clear to elicit an informed opinion from citizens. What citizens want done, can in fact be done (has to be realistic) Elite Politics: when the issue does not have a clear opinion or even if it does, only those citizens motivated enough to go the the trouble to become active participants in policy making are involved. Marxist view on Elites: Government, even if democratic in form, is a reflection of underlying economic forces. Two forces are battling: the bourgeois (business owners) and the proletariat (laborers). Which class dominates the economy also controls the government. Capitalists (big business and corporations) generally dominate the economy, thus the government (according to Marx). C. Wright Mills: (sociologist) A coalition of three groups (listed above) dominate politics and government. the Power Elite View: the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of when are outside of the government and are quite wealthy (special interest groups). Max Weber: (sociologist) all institutions, governmental and nongovernmental, have fallen under the control of large bureaucracies whose expertise and competence are essential to the management of contemporary affairs. Power is mainly in the hands of appointed officials, career government workers, not the elected representatives. Government bureaucrats make public policy to fit their own ideas and interests.

Pluralist View Most popular view! People naturally are social and form associations Politics is about a struggle among many groups to get and hold power Politics is the art of compromise – not just the majority People will be protected by groups that share that person’s interests Majoritarian Politics: elected officials are the delegates of the people, acting as a majority of them would if they themselves were voting. Issues handled in a majoritarian fashion can be only those that are sufficiently clear to elicit an informed opinion from citizens. What citizens want done, can in fact be done (has to be realistic) Elite Politics: when the issue does not have a clear opinion or even if it does, only those citizens motivated enough to go the the trouble to become active participants in policy making are involved. Marxist view on Elites: Government, even if democratic in form, is a reflection of underlying economic forces. Two forces are battling: the bourgeois (business owners) and the proletariat (laborers). Which class dominates the economy also controls the government. Capitalists (big business and corporations) generally dominate the economy, thus the government (according to Marx). C. Wright Mills: (sociologist) A coalition of three groups (listed above) dominate politics and government. the Power Elite View: the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of when are outside of the government and are quite wealthy (special interest groups). Max Weber: (sociologist) all institutions, governmental and nongovernmental, have fallen under the control of large bureaucracies whose expertise and competence are essential to the management of contemporary affairs. Power is mainly in the hands of appointed officials, career government workers, not the elected representatives. Government bureaucrats make public policy to fit their own ideas and interests.

Elitisim Wealth is basis for all power American’s left out of political decision making Power rests with small group of leaders who hold resources to power – hold POTENTIAL to lead and rule Power is not so much the ACT of control as the POTENTIAL to act Marxist – influence of economic elites C. Wright Mills (Power Elite) – important public policies were determined by “institutional elites” (military, corporate, and a small group of military leaders) Majoritarian Politics: elected officials are the delegates of the people, acting as a majority of them would if they themselves were voting. Issues handled in a majoritarian fashion can be only those that are sufficiently clear to elicit an informed opinion from citizens. What citizens want done, can in fact be done (has to be realistic) Elite Politics: when the issue does not have a clear opinion or even if it does, only those citizens motivated enough to go the the trouble to become active participants in policy making are involved. Marxist view on Elites: Government, even if democratic in form, is a reflection of underlying economic forces. Two forces are battling: the bourgeois (business owners) and the proletariat (laborers). Which class dominates the economy also controls the government. Capitalists (big business and corporations) generally dominate the economy, thus the government (according to Marx). C. Wright Mills: (sociologist) A coalition of three groups (listed above) dominate politics and government. the Power Elite View: the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of when are outside of the government and are quite wealthy (special interest groups). Max Weber: (sociologist) all institutions, governmental and nongovernmental, have fallen under the control of large bureaucracies whose expertise and competence are essential to the management of contemporary affairs. Power is mainly in the hands of appointed officials, career government workers, not the elected representatives. Government bureaucrats make public policy to fit their own ideas and interests.

Once interest groups are too powerful democracy and government are threatened Situation that arises when too many interest groups become so powerful they dominate political decision making Hyper-Pluralism

Max Weber – all institutions, government and non-government, have fallen under control of ever-growing bureaucracy (hierarchical departments) Bureaucratic agencies able to dictate policies based on decisions they make in implementing policy Bureaucrats could become powerful and take over roles of other politicians Bureaucratic Theory

Two basic Questions To what ends? Who governs? How is political power actually distributed in America? What explains major political change? To what ends? What value or values matter most in American democracy? Are trade-offs among political purposes inevitable?

Fundamental Democratic…Values processes structure Popular Sovereignty Respect for the Individual Liberty Equality of Opportunity Free and Fair Elections with competing political parties Majority Rule w/Minority Rights Freedom of expression Right to assemble and protest Federalism Separation of powers Checks and balances Constitutionalism

End of Chapter 1 Power Point!