1. Political Geography Day 1 Political Science
AP HG
Mr. Hensley
SRMHS
Goal 2 Day 2

2. Political Science vs. Sociology
Political scientists look at politics from an applied perspective
Sociologists take a more theoretical approach
How did Trump get elected? (coalitions, compromises etc.)
Versus what does Trump represent?

3. Power vs. Authority
Power means getting people to follow your directions
Authority means your power is accepted and respected
Can have power with no authority (crime, force)
Cannot have authority without power

4. Traditional Authority
Authority has been made legitimate by long-standing custom
History is on their side
“Do what I say, not (necessarily) what I do”
Examples: Royalty, hereditary rulers
Everyday: mother or father
Respect given not earned
Only death ends it

5. Charismatic Authority
Authority based on personal attributes and personal qualities
Respect is earned, not given
Conditional: authority is lost if personal qualities are discredited
Can be good (Gandhi) or bad (Hitler)

6. Legal-Rational Authority
Authority lies with the position, not with the person
Authority is given by written document (Constitution or Employee Handbook)
Can only be withdrawn if the person violates the rules of the position
Ex: most government officials

7. Forms: Anarchy Anarchy is the absence of any government or authority
Everyone is free to do whatever they want
Modern anarchists want a very small gov’t limited to a civil court system
Extreme libertarianism

8. Forms: Monarchy
Power and authority are hereditary and belong to one family
Rule can be unbounded (absolute) or bounded (constitutional monarchy)
Trade-offs? Stability versus regression towards the mean
Historically, the most common type of gov’t

9. Oligarchy Rule by a small elite
Elite status not (necessarily) hereditary
May occur because of military or economic success
Russia is controlled by a small group of elites
Is the US an “elected oligarchy”?

10. Democracy Goal is to give every citizen an equal share of power
Pure democracies are those where (almost) all decisions are voted on
Representative democracies elect leaders who then make decisions for us

11. Meet Hobbes
English philosopher, his book is called Leviathan – it is about what made for the best government
He believed all men were selfish (evil) and that without a strong government to keep them in line, life would be “nasty, brutish and short”
Monarchy was best
Born in 1588, Hobbes is influenced by the early empiricist Francis Bacon. Hobbes rejects the Aristotelian belief that man is naturally made to live cooperatively in a government. Hobbes believes that man is naturally solitary and predatory and that in a state of nature, there is a “war of every man against every man”. The only way to maintain peace is for a powerful sovereign to take over and enforce peace through threat of force. The king says: “If you submit, I will not kill you.” These ideas, set forth in his book Leviathan (1651), advocate for a strong monarchy as the best form of government. Hobbes supported Charles I but then switched to Cromwell, when Cromwell proved himself more powerful. When Charles II was restored, Hobbes stayed out of favor until his death.

12. Hobbes Quotes
“The condition of man... is a condition of war of everyone against everyone. “
“During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man. “
No arts; no letters; no society… continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."

13. Meet Locke
Locke was also a philosopher – he believed people were born with natural rights
Examples: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
People gave their consent to be governed in exchange for the governments promise to protect those rights
In 1689 and 1690, Locke releases two Treatises on Government. In the first, he argues against the Divine Right of Kings, seen by many as a normal, reasonable position on the nature of government. The argument put forward was that monarchs were like fathers, who had the same power over their subjects as a father would have over his children. It was connected to religion by pointing out that such patriarchal power was first given by God to Adam. Locke attacked the hereditary aspect of monarchy, which again, is something we find repugnant today. But - are we being hypocrites?. We find hereditary power in government to be wrong-headed - but have no problem with hereditary power in business. Politically, we don’t let children inherit their parent’s power - but economically, we not only let it happen, we encourage it and think it normal.

14. Consent of the Governed
Locke believed a representative government was best (elect representatives who make the decisions)
He believed that if your government failed to protect your natural rights, then you could withdraw your consent
Replace your government if it doesn’t do its job!
Locke carries on the idea of the social contract from Hobbes. This is the belief that government exists because people have banded together and given up some of their own power and self-control to a government to improve their condition. For Hobbes, the people were giving up that power to a sovereign who had not taken part in this negotiation. So the king owed the people nothing and was not part of the contract. For Locke, the people gave their consent to be governed - and that consent could be withdrawn if the government failed to respect the rights of the people it governed. For Locke, this usually meant confiscation of property without permission. Locke believed that people were born with inherent natural rights that, contrasted with legal rights, could never be taken from them. The phrase “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence is taken from Locke’s ideas about natural rights.

15. Locke Quotes
“The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom.”
“All mankind... being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions. “
“The reason why men enter into society is the preservation of their property. “

16. Philosophers: Rousseau
In a state of nature, men are good – the noble savage
Inequality comes from private property
Government must reflect the general will of the people
The type of gov’t always depends on size of state

17. Functionalist Perspective
Government has 4 functions:
Planning and directing society
Providing for social welfare
Maintaining internal law and order
Managing relations with other countries
How is gov’t similar to religion?

18. Conflict Perspective
Power elites use gov’t to maintain their control over limited resources
Marx: struggle between proletarian and bourgeoisie; between labor and capital
Marx: over time, the proletarians are winning
Huxley versus Orwell