Government Study and Foundation Of

Two Questions Who governs? To what ends should they work? From this basis springs the world we know as politics.

Roots Government, and our perspective on what it should do has changed over time. Ex: Income tax, civil rights, safety laws, bailouts, etc. To understand “who governs” you must also look at the policies they create.

Power Government power has expanded over time Current political arguments Republicans “Shrink gov’t except military” Democrats “Gov’t umbrella helps protect rights and needy” Basis of legitimacy of authority and power: The US Constitution Many of our historical political struggles have been based on issues of legitimacy, ie Revolutionary War, Civil War, New Deal, etc. Revolutionary war fought under the guise of legitimacy

Democracy “The rule of many” says Aristotle Most people’s understanding of democracy but is it actually accurate? Representative democracy Leaders compete for people’s votes and thereby acquire power Elitist? Founders did not trust the masses

Who Has Power? The elite (elitism) Those who hold a disproportionate share of political power Four Schools of Thought Marxist view-economic power struggle power elite view-a few top leaders outside of gov’t have disproportionate influence bureaucratic view-red tape runs our lives! Bureaucrats effectively set policy by enacting it each day. pluralist view- no single group can dominate government. Through compromise and alliance, everyone gets a say. (pluralism)

The Cynics We’re all just out to get ours! Really? Can you think of counter-examples?

Historical Context Government policies cannot be understood without looking at the historical context in which they were made. We are a product of our times, or at least our government tends to be. Exceptions? Supreme Court