Chapter 1 The Study of American Government

WHO GOVERNS? TO WHAT ENDS? 1. How is political power actually distributed in America? 2. What explains major political change? TO WHAT ENDS? 1. What value or values matter most in American democracy? 2. Are trade-offs among political purposes inevitable? Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Copyright © 2011 Cengage

What Is Political Power? II:A-F Power–the ability of one person to get another person to act in accordance with the first person’s intentions Authority–the right to use power Legitimacy–political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Pick the illegitimate leader Of the following, who is legit and why or why not? Was he elected in free and fair elections? Does he represent the will of the people? A.) Bush B.) Ortega C.) Ahmedinejad D.) Putin

What Is Democracy? III:A-B Democracy–the rule of many Direct or participatory democracy–government in which all or most citizens participate directly Representative democracy–a government in which leaders make decisions by winning a competitive struggle for the popular vote. Copyright © 2011 Cengage

AFP/Getty Images An Iraqi woman shows her purple finger indicating that she has voted in 2005, that country’s first free election in half a century.

Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Is Representative Democracy Best? IV:A-D Aristotle defined democracy as rule ordinary people, most of whom would be poor John Locke argued against powerful kings and in favor of popular consent Thomas Hobbes argued that an absolute, supreme ruler was essential to prevent civil war Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Copyright © 2011 Cengage

How Is Political Power Distributed? V:A-C Majoritarian politics – elected officials are the delegates of the people, acting as the people Political elite – 4 descriptions elites reflect a dominant social class a group of business, military, labor union, and elected officials control all decisions appointed bureaucrats run everything representatives of a large number of interest groups are in charge Copyright © 2011 Cengage

How Is Political Power Distributed? Class view–the government is dominated by capitalists Power elite view–the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside of government Bureaucratic view–the government is dominated by appointed officials Pluralist view–the belief that competition among all affected interests shapes public policy Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Pluralism Modern society consists of many groups (ex. Economic, religious, cultural, ethnic.) that compete with each other to achieve goals Groups that influence gov’t, work hard, and have largest membership get what they want Even if the average citizen does not keep up with politics, their interests will be protected by their group. Groups must COMPROMISE to achieve goals

Arguments for and against the Pluralist view Relatively low numbers of people join interest groups. Poor citizens have less opportunity to join interest groups or contribute to them. One can’t assume that group decisions are always in the best interest of the nation. There is no unified majority in the US that always acts together. Gov’t leaders must please groups to gain votes and money to be reelected. Groups must compete for gov’t services and favorable laws.

Elite Theory Control the economic system = control the political system. Politicians require massive funding to win elections, and rely on corporations to supply them.

Which theory is correct??? These are only theories. They are people’s perception of our democracy and the way it functions. Which theory is correct??? Pluralist – most popular today Majoritarian – popular pre-1950’s Elite – rising since the 80’s (Michael Moore) Bureaucratic – gov’t spending more than ever before just to run itself

CHECKPOINT! What theory is supported by the fact that… The US holds mainly elections where the person who receives the most votes wins. Majorative Most US representatives are upper class people. Elitist The President appoints hundreds of people for gov’t jobs or judgeships, all have special powers. Bureaucratic Interest groups spend millions of dollars toward campaigns of favored candidates. Pluralist Gov’t can call for referendums, or votes by the people to pass or strike down potential laws. The candidate who raises the most money for an election almost always wins. Elitism

Is Democracy Driven by Self-Interest? VI:A-C A policy may be good or bad independent of the motives of the person who decided it. The self-interest of individuals often is an incomplete guide to their actions. Many of the most important political happenings in U.S. were led against long odds by people who risked much knowing that they might not succeed and suspecting that, even if they did succeed, generations might pass before their efforts truly benefited anyone. Copyright © 2011 Cengage

What Explains Political Change? VII:A-C Government and its policies are shaped by Economic interests Powerful elites Competing pressure groups Morally impassioned individuals Enigma/Alamy Copyright © 2011 Cengage

What Explains Political Change? The dominant political problem of the time shapes the nature of day-to-day political conflict through Deep-seated beliefs Major economic developments Widely shared (or competing) opinions Copyright © 2011 Cengage

The Nature of Politics VIII:A-D 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, such as economic policy the regulation of business social welfare civil rights and liberties foreign and military affairs Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Copyright © 2011 Cengage