American Government: An Introduction

Compose a list of at least 5 items for the following question: – What should should be the function of government?

Freedom (LIBERTY): – Freedom of: the absence of constraints on behavior - freedom to do something (liberty) – Freedom from: immunity from fear and want; the fight against exploitation and oppression Order: – Preserving life and protecting property – Social Order refers to the established patterns of authority in society and to traditional modes of behavior Equality: – Equality of opportunity: Each person has the same chance to succeed in life – Equality of outcome: Government must design policies that redistribute wealth and status so that economic and social equality are actually achieved

Government & politics Government vs. Politics Government = institutions/people create public policy Politics = process – The authoritative allocation of values for a society Power struggle: issues manage to become objects of governmental action Government + politics = public policy

STATE V. NATION State: political power exercised over a defined geographic territory through a set of public institutions Nation: a human community with a shared culture and history

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS In US FEDERAL system = local, state, and national Bureaucracies: agencies – FEMA, FCC, DEA, FDA, SEC Opposing interpretations & role – Healthcare – Welfare – Military – Moral Issues

Policy-making institutions Executive – Presidential system Legislative Judiciary Bureaucracy Policy agenda consists of issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at a given time – determined by public at large, policymaking institutions, linkage institutions – disagreements over the agenda arise do to political issues

ARE WE A DEMOCRACY? What are the five basic concepts of democracy?

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3. 1) What is the supreme law of the land? 2) What are the 2 houses of Congress? 3) What is the name of the current Speaker of the House of Representatives? 4) What is the name of the current President of the Senate? 5) Name 3 current cabinet departments. 6) Who is the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? 7) How many amendments deal with voting rights? What are they? 8) What party holds a majority of seats in the HOR? 9) What is the title of the annual address the President delivers to the nation?

4. Democracy requires the active participation of citizens in making public policy The election pathway The lobbying pathway The court-centered pathway The cultural change pathway The grassroots mobilization pathway

Competition among multiple groups who are on a level playing field – Open access = organized groups can compete with one another for control over policy, and yet no one group or set of groups dominates. – Given that power is dispersed, groups that fail in one arena, can move on to the next. majority rule = in choosing alternatives, the will of over half the voters should be followed. – restraints on the majority must also be placed because we don’t want the majority to have free reign over everything they want. Minority rights = guarantees rights to those who do not belong to the majority

Groups are so strong that government is weakened Too many groups competing, groups become stronger than government = POLICY GRIDLOCK

Policy created by and for the benefit of elite A few powerful Americans not only influence policymaking, they are the policymakers.

5. the government must include and extend rights to all those subject to its law

Direct (participatory) democracy All citizens participate in decisions Aristotle’s “rule of the many” RULE BY THE PEOPLE Indirect (representative) democracy Citizens ELECT representatives DELEGATE authority Representatives serve limited terms Representatives have limited powers DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC or REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

Fear of mob rule (tyranny of the majority) Size of the country Elitism/didn’t trust the public To counter the influence of factions

REPUBLICANISM ADVANTAGES – Government is accountable under the Constitution – Policy-making is slow, allowing for thorough examination DISADVANTAGES – Law making is SLOW AF – Representatives may not represent their constituents