Chapter One The Foundations of American Government

What is politics? Chapter One David Easton – “ the authoritative allocation of values ” Harold Lasswell – “ who gets what, when and how. ” most definitions refer to the struggle over the distribution of benefits

What is Government? a permanent structure of decision makers who make society ’ s rules about conflict resolution and who make rules about the allocation of resources and who possess the power to enforce those rule

Why Do We Need Government? to provide structure for conflict resolution to provide public services to establish and implement public policies

Who Governs? totalitarian regime – rule by a small group or an individual dictator. oligarchy—rule by a few elites, who make decisions to benefit their own group aristocracy – rule by the best suited, through virtue, talent or education (now means rule by the upper class) anarchy – having no government or laws democracy – political power is vested in the people

Principles of American Democracy universal suffrage majority rule limited government popular sovereignty

Do we have a democracy? elite theory – the idea that society is ruled by a small group who exercise power in their self-interest pluralism – a theory that views politics as conflict among interest groups, where decisions are made through bargaining and compromise hyperpluralism – when interest groups are so powerful that they dominate decision-making, making individual input impossible

What is Political Culture? the collection of a beliefs and attitudes toward government and the political process held by a community or nation individuals learn political culture through political socialization political socialization occurs in many settings, including the family and schools

The Fundamental Values of American political culture liberty –the greatest freedom of individuals that is consistent with the freedom of other individuals in society equality – all people are of equal worth property – anything that can be subject to ownership

Political Ideology A set of beliefs about the goal of politics and the most desirable political order. Ideologue: A person who believes strongly about how government should operate. They can be placed on a continuum…

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