Chapter 1: The Study of
American Government
AP U.S. GoPo
August 17, 2016
Warm-up
Write down a problem.
Do we need a government to solve it?
2
Asked another way, do we need
government at all?
Waddya think?
One possible answer:
Yes, if there’s —
1. a societal need, and
2. the private sector either
a. won’t meet the need or
b. can’t meet it efficiently.
If you agree that we need a
government…
…then the next issue is how does the government
decide what to do. For that, we have politics.
• Yes, “politics” is the mudwrestling between parties and
candidates, and the talking heads, and bills getting
enacted into law, and all that shtuff.
• But at its core, politics is really just the process by
which we decide what our government should do
and who should pay for it.
So … Where you start when you
want to build a new government?
How about with Hobbes (and your first cheap
site gag of the year):
No, not that Hobbes:
5
THIS Hobbes:
• Famous book: Leviathan
• Or, as it was known around 18th-century cocktail parties,
Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common
Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil [sic, sic, sic].
• In the state of nature, life’s “nasty, brutish and
short.”
• We need a strong leader — ideally, a monarch
— to help us avoid a “war of all against all.”
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John Locke thought Hobbes
needed to lighten up.
1. Get into
four groups
and read
your
excerpt from
Locke.
2. Talk with
your group about
your excerpt.
4. Teach your
new group
3. Get into new
about the
groups, with an expert
part that
on each excerpt
you read.
in each group.
7
So what you now know after opening the
locke:
(sorry)
• In a state of nature, we’re all equal but a
tad insecure.
• Self-preservation leads to a social
contract.
• Gov’t needs consent of the governed
to be legitimate.
• Gov’t breaks the contract? Throw the
bums out.
• Or, as Jefferson quipped, “…a little
rebellion now and then is a good thing.”
A bonus for you
Good thing
for TJ that
he wrote the
DOI before
turnitin.com
was
invented.
Just sayin’…
More shoulders
And there was Jean Jacques Rousseau.
• Famous book: The Social Contract.
• Or, as it was known around 18th-century cocktail
parties, Of the Social Contract, or Principles of
Political Right.
• We must “be forced to be free.” Huh?
• Translation: We must collectively decide
what’s good for the whole and insist
that all comply.
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All three: We have a social
contract.
• The differences are in the details
Monarch controls
• Hobbes
• Locke
Individuals control
Control thru collective
• Rousseau
action (albeit on a small scale; Madison refutes
that later on, by the way)
• But remember the point they all have in common:
Government is the way to avoid the problems of a
state of nature.
• When gov’t fails to protect us, we should get a new
gov’t.
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The key (again):
Consent of the
governed.
Lest you think this is all just dusty
theory, check out “New guys
thinking old thoughts” in your ch.
1 materials.
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We implement “consent of the governed”
through a “democracy.”
Yeah, so what is it?
•Government by “the people,” with free and frequent
elections.
•Your text (with a nod to Aristotle): the rule of the many.
•Churchill: it’s “the worst form of government except all
those other forms that have been tried from time to
time.”
So the majority always wins?
Nope. The Constitution protects individual rights in a lot of ways, including :
•no suspension of habeas corpus
•no bills of attainder
•no ex post facto laws
•all the rights in the Bill of Rights (speech, religion, bearing arms,
criminal protections, etc.)
•14th Amendment rights to due process and equal protection
•the structure of our gov’t and its checks and balances.
Why the checks?
Because of Ben Franklin’s insight:
If the majority made all the
laws…
…that would be called a “direct democracy.”
And good luck with that.
Why is it so troublesome? How about…
•
Too many issues
•
Tyranny of the majority
•
Demagoguery (“using arguments based on emotion rather than
reason;” using “popular prejudices and false claims and promises
in order to gain power.” merriam-webster.com)
But there are some examples of direct
democracy
(courtesy of the Progressive Era of late 19th and early 20th centuries)
•
Initiative
•
•
Referendum
•
•
To address sins of omission
To address sins of commission
Recall
•
To address sins of all sorts
•
(Gray Davis, the governor of CA before
Ahnold, was recalled, thus creating an
opportunity for another stupid joke.)
Alabama has none of these, BTW.
But we do vote on proposed
changes to state constitution.
This has led to the world’s
longest constitution, with over
340,000 words and 892
amendments.
• By way of comparison, the US
constitution has around 7,600 words
and 27 amendments.
To get around problems of direct
democracy, America has…
…a representative democracy.
This also is called a “republican” form of government.
“We the people” elect politicians who make laws for the
collective good.
On a good dry day…
…our elected officials
mediate popular views.
“Politics is the art of the
possible.”
Otto Von Bismarck, at right, looking
extra dashing in his pointy helmet.
Class experiment: Finite goods.
In a republican (or
representative — same thing)
form of gov’t…
… the people give power to elected officials who
are to govern according to the rule of law.
BTW, this is NOT “republican” in the sense of
republicans vs. democrats. We’ll talk about them
boys later.
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We also have a gov’t of laws
• We are a
constitutional
democracy.
• All public officials
swear to uphold and
defend the Constitution.
– Recent presidents have been
accused of ignoring this little
detail, which we’ll also talk about
later. We have lots to talk about.
Your owner’s manual:
Underlying our particular flavor of
democracy are…
...the following theoretical
underpinnings of democratic theory:
1.Equality in voting
– One person, one vote.
– Most people over 18 can vote in America
(exceptions for certain felons, mentally
incompetent, etc.).
– May be an issue about effectiveness of
vote, but each person has the same vote.
– Disenfranchisement undermines this
pillar.
Theoretical underpinnings (cont.)
2. Effective participation
– Citizens need to be able to
express preferences.
– Includes voting and much
more.
– It’s the basis for the direct
democracy efforts but is
crucial for all policymaking.
– Can be complicated by
mismatches in resources.
Theoretical underpinnings (cont.)
3. Enlightened understanding
– Hard to participate meaningfully w/o this.
– Need a marketplace of ideas. Let the best idea win.
– Free and responsible press is key.
Theoretical underpinnings (cont.)
4. Citizen control of the agenda
– How does the Owner’s Manual begin?
– Gov’t ultimately is responsible to the people.
– It comes down to that whole “social contract” thing that
we’ve talked about.
– JFK’s “ask not” line was memorable but it kinda gets the
social contract backwards.
Theoretical underpinnings (cont.)
5. Inclusion
– Gov’t must extend rights to all who are subject to its laws.
– Excluding leads to unrest, perhaps violence.
– Here’s another question for you: what “rights” are to be
extended?
There are alternatives out there to
democracy. For instance:
Monarchies
• State ruled by one person for life;
usually hereditary and usually
constitutional; can be ceremonial
monarchies (as with UK). (The Pope,
BTW, is the monarch for Vatican City.)
Dictatorships
• State ruled by one person for life;
usually result of coup; dictators don’t
need no stinkin’ constitution.
Communist/“statist” gov’ts
• State plans and controls the economy;
single party rules; totalitarian.
There are several theories for how a “state”
emerges. For instance:
Evolutionary Theory
Force Theory
How did governments
come into existence?
Divine Right Theory
Social Contract Theory
Theories on the Origins of Government
Evolutionary Theory
As the extended family grew in size, the elders
became the governing body of that society.
Force Theory
How did governments
come into existence?
Divine Right Theory
Social Contract Theory
Theories on the Origins of Government
Evolutionary Theory
As the extended family grew in size, the elders
became the governing body of that society.
Force Theory
How did governments
come into existence?
Those who were stronger and/or had the backing of a
military brought areas under their control by force and
thus became the government.
Divine Right Theory
Social Contract Theory
Theories on the Origins of Government
Evolutionary Theory
As the extended family grew in size, the elders
became the governing body of that society.
Force Theory
How did governments
come into existence?
Those who were stronger and/or had the backing of a
military brought areas under their control by force and
thus became the government.
Divine Right Theory
The people in some societies believed that their
leaders (Kings, Emperors, etc.) were chosen by God
so by obeying these leaders they were obeying God.
Social Contract Theory
Theories on the Origins of Government
Evolutionary Theory
As the extended family grew in size, the elders
became the governing body of that society.
Force Theory
How did governments
come into existence?
Those who were stronger and/or had the backing of a
military brought areas under their control by force and
thus became the government.
Divine Right Theory
The people in some societies believed that their
leaders (Kings, Emperors, etc.) were chosen by God
so by obeying these leaders they were obeying God.
Social Contract Theory
The people saw the brutality of life w/out laws, so they
agreed to create a government and accepted the
government’s authority over them. In exchange, the
people expected the government to protect them.
The last of those 4 theories
us.
So how do you decide who wields power in a gov’t formed by
social contract?
In some cases, it really is “we the people.” In these cases, the
policies reflect majoritarian politics — i.e., the majority controls.
But this works only on some issues. Need an issue that:
– is sufficiently important to command the attention of the majority;
– is clear enough to elicit an informed opinion; and
– solvable in a way that responds to what the majority wants.
In other cases…
• …some group of “elites”
may control.
BTW, this is what you get
when you google “elites.”
• For our purposes, an “elite”
is just someone who has a
disproportionate share of
something others want, like
money, prestige, etc.
Who are the political elites? Five views:
1. Class view.
–Traditional: The bourgeoisie
(b’ness owners) dominate until
proletariats (laborers) take over.
–Today: This is couched more as
the haves vs. the have-nots.
Political elites (cont.)
2. Power elite view
–Societies are divided along class
lines. A handful of elites will rule.
Recognize these guys? You will.
–Policies benefit those with money
and power.
–Big business, top military officials,
unions, media, etc. are at the heart
of power. All outside of gov’t.
Theories (cont.)
3. Bureaucratic view
–Max Weber is da man.
–Modern states must put power in
hands of appointed bureaucrats.
–We’ll study the bureaucracy in
ch. 15.
Max Weber, looking very serious.
Theories (cont.)
4. Pluralist view
–Politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one
pressing for its own preferred policies.
–Power is decentralized.
–Groups must bargain and compromise to get policies.
–Lose in one arena? Try in another.
–Critics: IGs have too much power; can lead to hyperpluralism.
Theories (cont.)
5. The “creedal passion” view.
• Sure, in normal times one of the first 4
wins (so the theory goes) and self-interest
prevails.
• But there are some times, or some issues,
where self-interest takes a back seat.
• Some group of elites gets fired up.
• Examples: Civil rights; environmental
issues; etc.
Missing from the theories:
Any sense that power is distributed evenly. It ain’t.
•Power is fluid and unevenly distributed.
•Power may shift in times of crises as people look to the
gov’t to solve big problems.
•The widely disbursed power leads to slow government
and lots of compromises.
•And that’s exactly how the Founding Fathers
intended it.
So how do issues make it on the
“political agenda”?
• First, what’s a “political agenda”? It’s just a term describing those
issues that people want action on. There is no official political
agenda in DC. Each group will have its own agenda.
• The trick is to get your issue on a policymaker’s agenda and then
hopefully into law.
• How does this work? Through “linkage institutions” – the media,
interest groups, and political parties (+ elections (maybe)).
• It’s a never-ending cycle, as illustrated by the next slide.
Behold: Linkage institutions!
Check out graphic
in ch. 1 materials
The agenda just seems to keep
growing…
…regardless of which party controls the
government.
Why the continued growth?
• The government’s role tends to increase
during crises. Think Great Depression
and Great Recession.
• But the government also grows during
good times – a feeling of “relative
deprivation” motivates many.
Who is trying to set the agenda?
Lots of actors, including:
Private groups
–May be highly organized (think labor unions) or not
(think Occupy Wall Street).
–Organized groups often use quiet lobbying; less
organized may use protests or other “noisy” forms of
advocacy.
Agenda-setting (cont.)
• The agenda also is influenced by the 3 branches
of government.
– The legislative branch (i.e., Congress), which,
generally speaking, makes the laws
– The executive branch (i.e., the President, Cabinet
dep’ts, and agencies), which implements the laws;
bureaucracy is becoming ever more the source of
policy
– The judicial branch (i.e., the courts), which interprets
the laws; they are the last refuge of the oppressed;
ruling can prompt legislation
Agenda-setting (cont.)
• And the agenda is influenced by the
media.
• As we’ll talk about later on, the media are “gatekeepers.”
• If they don’t print it, you can’t read it.
• Even if they do print it, what they say can influence
your views as well.
Agenda-setting by states
• State governments are more
active, too. Federalism is
hugely important (about which
more in Chapter 3).
– States can be laboratories of
change. Ex: Colorado’s and
Washington’s marijuana laws.
– State Attorneys General also can
shape policy. Ex: Tobacco
litigation.
Our political system is facing some
challenges.
• Increased complexity of issues.
• Who’s going to read, much less understand, a 2,000 page
bill on financial reform?
• Limited participation in government, including voting.
• Under 50% turnout for midterm elections
• Local elections much worse (5% for mayor, e.g.)
• Escalating campaign costs.
• 2016 presidential race predicted to cost over $5 billion
• Party polarization.
Love it or hate it, we got it.
The federal gov’t –
– spent $3.8 trillion in 2015;
– employs 2.7 million civilians and 1.5 million in the
military;
– owns one-third of the land in the United States; and
– occupies 2.6 billion square feet of office space.
Whether and how it works depends on…
…YOU!
If you remember two things this
semester…
… think about adding this to the list:
“Just because you do not take an
interest in politics doesn’t mean politics
won’t take an interest in you.” Pericles
Pericles — great philosopher, conehead
53
Young whipper-snappers can’t
afford to ignore Washington
• I know this because there’s a website that
tells me so: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/05/30/
millennials_cant_afford_to_ignore_washington_126735.html
• The point: Politics is taking an interest in
(and bite out of) you every day.
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And yet the apathy in the young continues to run
amok (okay, so it sits on its sofa and eats Cheetos)
2016?
And if you can remember only one thing
this year …
… I hope it’s this:
“The government you elect is the
government you deserve.”
Thomas Jefferson*
*Maybe. Good quote regardless.