Clarifying Key Terms in Government and Politics in Texas

1. GOVT 2306 Defining relevant terms

2. As we did in 2305, I want to clarify – broadly – what is meant by two key terms, and what they mean in the context of the government of Texas and local population centers:

3. The terms are“Government” and “Politics”

4. In addition, I want to look at the terms “sovereignty” and “public policy.”

5. Here are two, of the many, definitions of “Government”- The institution, or institutions, with the monopoly on the legitimate use of coercion in society- The institutions and procedures through which a land and its people are ruled.

6. And here are three of the many definitions of “Politics”1- The authoritative allocation of values in society.2 - The struggle over who gets what when and how.3 - Intrigue or maneuvering within a political unit in order to gain control or power

7. These terms are distinct. “Government” refers to the institutions that possess the authority to rule, “politics” refers to the conflict to influence what those rules will look like.

8. We should discuss two more terms as well so that the rest of these slides make sense.The terms are sovereignty and public policy.

9. Three definitions of “sovereignty”1 - supreme power, especially over a body politic 2 - the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory 3 - the power to do everything in a state without accountability

10. Sovereignty, at its simplest, refers to whoever or whatever is in charge of a government.One whose authority does a governing system rest?

11. In the U.S. we claim that sovereignty rests with the people. Of course, things get complicated after that since the people do not directly rule – but we will dig into this later.

12. The United States and Texas, we are reminded continually, are both based on popular sovereignty. Authority rests on the people. Everything it does must be consented to. This is what the phrase “the consent of the governed” means.. . . though we commonly debate whether this is in fact the case . . .

13. Here is a key controversy concerning sovereignty:

14. Do the people always retain sovereignty or, once they agree to establish governing institutions, and elected people to hold positions in those institutions, do they surrender that right to those institutions with the understanding that they can keep them in check through periodic elections?

15. How much direct and immediate control do “the people” have over government? As we will see soon enough, the people (more specifically – the electorate) have little direct control over government, but more so in Texas than on the national level.

16. Think of the story about what it takes to steer a supertanker – it takes small adjustments miles a turn has to take place. It’s the same thing with the American governing system. Periodic elections allow for small corrections in policy by adjusting who is in control of each governing system.

17. Another controversy: How can two level of government be sovereign? How can you have two bosses?

18. Tensions between the state and national government are common. The power of the national government is supreme – according to the Supremacy Clause – but its power is supposed to be limited also. States have authority over the reserved powers.

19. Sovereignty is especially touchy in Texas since – among other things – it was once an independent nation. Texas commonly disputes the ability of the national government to impose limits on how it conducts elections, emits pollutants, and others things.

20. Conflict involves disputes over the meaning of constitutional concepts like “commerce clause” authority and the extent of the “reserved powers.” Conflict also stems from the fact that the people of Texas are citizens of the national and state governments.We will spend some time outlining this conflict over this semester.

21. In addition to looking at the institutions of government and politics, we will look at how some of these policies are established and implemented – as well as the range of conflicts that surround them.

22. This is a good way to look at government as a dynamic entity.

23. So here’s a fourth term worth outlining before we proceed further: Public Policy

24. No surprise, but there are several definitions of public policy.Here are a couple

25. 1 - Public policy is a course of action adopted and pursued by a government. 2 - Public policy is a purposive and consistent course of action produced as a response to a perceived problem of a constituency, formulated by a specific political process, and adopted, implemented, and enforced by a public agency. - click here for the source.

26. Public policy is the stuff government does (or chooses not to do) to deal with a problem that has emerged on the public’s agenda.Here are examples

27. Foreign PolicyEnergy PolicyEducation PolicyDefense PolicyHealth PolicyCriminal Justice Policy

28. Another way we can define “government” is those institutions that are responsible for establishing and implementing those policies.

29. In 2305’s discussion of federalism, we mentioned that certain policies tend to fall more squarely on the national, state or local level.

30. National policies tend to be those that are delegated to the national government in the Constitution. These are mostly commercial and military in nature. Foreign policy is almost fully controlled by the national government.

31. The constitution also contains the Tenth Amendment which establishes that powers (policies) not restricted to the states are reserved to them – which carries the assumption that the national government cannot pass laws about them.

32. These are often referred to as the police powers.The power to regulate the health, safety, welfare and morals of a community.

33. Sometimes these policies impact commerce, which the national government has used to justify passing laws that affect police powers. Crime, for example, impacts the flow of commerce. The national government has been able to justify getting involved in interstate crime on that basis.

34. The point being: the public policy process in the United States (like all aspects of American government) is very complex and involves multiple actors motivated with often competing goals.

35. Nevertheless, there are certain types of policies that are mostly contained within Texas. We will look at some of these. Especially: Education PolicyCriminal Justice PolicyEconomic Development Policy

36. Let’s go back to defining the first term: “What is Government?”

37. Again, this is the term used to define the institutions that have evolved to establish, implement, and adjudicate rules that determine how a group of people will live together in some agreeable way.

38. In 2305 we discussed the factors related to the development of governments, its major components and different types of governing systems.The constitutional democratic republic that the U.S. is governed by is just one of a variety of different governing systems.

39. A few things worth remembering from that section:

40. First, Governments, historically, have evolved either due to coercion or consent. The historical record provides more evidence of governments established by coercion, but the American system is based on the idea that governments actually evolve due to a agreements people enter into voluntarily in order to better provide for mutual security. In this arrangement, people consent to rule rather than being coerced into it.

41. Of course in reality, once a policy is put in place, the state has to have coercive power to ensure it is followed.Think about how speed limit laws are established.

42. Second, in order to in fact rule, government shave to be able to do two things: collect revenue and coerce people to follow the law. If a government can do neither, then its not really a government.

43. Third, governments can be arranged in one of three basic ways depending on where sovereignty is located: Autocratic, Oligarchic and Democratic. Respectively these are referred to as the rule of the one, the few and the many.

44. We mentioned the each had advantages and disadvantages.

45. Autocracies are efficient, but prone to arbitrary rule.Executive branches in the US tend to have an autocratic character in order to ensure that laws are implemented effectively.

46. Oligarchies allows for knowledgeable rule, but are subject to bias.The courts in the US tend to have an autocratic design so that we have judges who have the knowledge to be able to make just decisions on the controversies that come before them.

47. Democracies offer legitimacy, but can be prone to mob rule.Our legislatures tend to be the most democratic institutions in order to ensure that diverse viewpoints are brought to bear when policies are debated and adopted.

48. In 2305 we spent time discussing different ways to define democracy – the simplest being majority rule. A more expansive definition also includes the requirement that democracies include universal adult suffrage and protection for minority rights.

49. This creates tension.Majorities commonly attempt to minimize the rights of minorities through the democratic process. Majorities can control democratic institution and turn them – effectively into tyrannies.

50. Tyranny of the Majority