Chapter 1: The Study of American Government

Politics exist partially because people disagree on who should govern and how they should govern, or on power and purpose What is Political Power? Power is the ability of one person to coerce another person to do the first person's will Post-1950s, the government paid increasing attention to private matters (ex. a factory closing, a university refusing admission, a profession refusing accreditation) Authority is the right to use power, or rightful power Formal authority is the authority vested in a government office Legitimacy is authority conferred by a law or constitution American politics is often about what is legitimate authority (ex. the Constitutional Convention, the Civil War, the New Deal) But most Americans today agree that political power is not legitimate if it is not somehow democratic (Alexander Hamilton actually worried America would be too democratic) Democracy is the rule of the many, as defined by Aristotle Direct or participatory democracy is when all or most citizens participate directly in policy-making; only works with smaller populations Representative democracy is when only elected representatives participate directly in policy-making; works with larger populations and prevents mob rule A working representative democracy requires opportunity for real competition for leadership (i.e. people and parties can run for office, free communication, and meaningful choices for voters) Some variables include the numbers of elective and appointive offices, the number of meaningful candidates or parties, and the source of funds for electoral campaigns Some support the continuation of direct democracy through community control, citizen participation in law formation, and referendums (or policy choices on the ballot) The Framers of the Constitution believed in representative democracy because it would mediate popular views, not follow them exactly, because they thought most laymen were not capable of making reasonable decisions on policy (because of lake of time, information, interest, expertise, or resistance to demagogy), and because it would prevent governance from proceeding at too breakneck a rate; In representative democracy, very different leaders can come to power depending on the mood of the public Sometimes, in majoritarian politics, leaders closely follow public demands because they are heavily constrained by what the majority wants; can occur when the issue is important enough to gain a lot of attention, clear enough to allow citizens to make informed opinions, and feasible enough to address that the citizens' wishes can be done Other times, leaders act without knowing or caring about public opinion, and the small public voice that makes itself heard is often that of a minority An elite is a group of people who have a disproportionate amount of a resource (ex.

What is Democracy?

Is Representative Democracy Best?

How is Political Power Distributed?

power, money) There are four main schools of thought on distribution of political power in American government: In the Marxist view, the government is a reflection of economic forces and class interests, and the capitalists (bourgeoisie) and the workers (proletariat) are competing for power, with the bourgeoisie having dominated In the power elite view (started by sociologist C. Wright Mills), American democracy is actually governed by a handful of top, wealthy, upper-class leaders (ex. corporate leaders, military officials, some elected officials, communications leaders, labor union officials, heads of special interest groups) In the bureaucratic view (started by pioneer sociologist Max Weber), bureaucrats, or appointed officials, hold most of the power, not elected officials, even though they are less well known, because they decide how to translate laws into actions In the pluralist view, political resources (ex. money, prestige, expertise, rank, access to mass media) are so scattered and the number of governmental institutions so great that no single group dominates the political process, which consists of a complex system of haggling, compromising, and allying; governance is affected by competing groups of elites and mass public opinion Acknowledgedly, political power of citizens of democracies is usually unequal and strongly correlated with social class Is Democracy Driven by Self-Interest? Though political elites have self-interest, just like all other people do, the resulting politics will not necessarily be in that self-interest, and democracy is not necessarily driven by selfishness The quality of a policy is independent of the motives of those who made it Self-interest does not always apply when individuals choose their actions, so political leanings cannot be predicted by economic or organizational position Many important events in US history were not driven by narrow self-interest (ex. the American Revolution, the civil rights battle) Major changes in the character of the government are caused by complex, sometimessudden changes in elites' or the masses' beliefs about what government should do (ex. interest in foreign affairs) Ex. 1920s people believed the federal government should stay out of personal lives, 1930s to 1970s they believed it should solve social and economic problems, and 1981 to 1988 Reagan tried to reverse the trend Politics is only about who gets what, but also about how public interest is defined by people or elites claiming to represent people

What Explains Political Change?

The Nature of Politics At best, political scientists can only give complete, controversial, and contingent answers because they are interested in people's shifting preferences, and because it is difficult to identify who actually holds power To answer the questions of who governs and for what purpose, one can look at how institutions and interests act (ex. adopting or blocking policies, heeding or ignoring groups, embracing or rejecting values) on important issues (ex. economic policy, regulation of business, social welfare, civil rights, foreign affairs, military affairs)

 History, tradition, and belief heavily influence today's government The policy process is a good way to measure changes in who governs