AP Government and Politics

2. AP Government and Politics …the beginning…

3. AP Government & Politics • Why study government and politics? • Why does government and politics matter? • What has government done?

4. 1. Why study government and politics? • Learn what government is allowed to do • Learn what government is not supposed to do • Learn what has been done by government before • Learn possibilities of what government can achieve • Learn who leaders are and what they do • Learn the process for gaining power • Consider different theories of how it should work

5. 2. Why does government and politics matter? • Impacts our daily lives • Our daily deaths • Our money • Our civil liberties • Our civil rights • Our happiness • Our religions • Our opinions of ourselves • Our status in the world

6. 3. What has government done?-- What has government achieved?

7. Why Government Matters: A Top Ten List • 10.Promoted financial security in retirement • 9.Reduced the federal budget deficit • 8.Increased access to health care for older Americans • 7.Strengthened the nation’s highway system • 6.Ensured safe food and drinking water • 5.Reduced workplace discrimination • 4.Reduced disease • 3.Promoted equal access to public accommodations • 2.Expanded the right to vote • 1.Rebuilt Europe after World War II • .

8. In order to achieve anything in government: • People must have political power • People must use their political power

9. Post a blog post at www.civicsblog.blogspot.com: • Who has political power in America? • Give at least 2 examples that illustrate that the person you cite has political power. • Hints: Explain what this person has done that shows he or she has power. Use the individual name of the person and give the most specific examples possible.

10. Discuss: • Who has political power? • How do you know they have political power? • What examples can you give that illustrate that they have power? • What is political power?

11. What is political power? • Power: the ability of one person to cause another person to act in accordance with the first person’s intentions • May be obvious: president sends soldiers into combat • May be subtle: president’s junior speechwriters take a new tone when writing about a controversial issue

12. Political Science Looks at Two Things • Power as it is used to impact who will hold governmental office (ELECTIONS) and • Power as it is used to impact how government will behave (PUBLIC POLICY DECISIONS)

13. Americans Agree: • One thing American seem to agree on is that it is necessary for government to be in some sense “democratic” in the United States today in order to be perceived as legitimate. • Was the power you are writing about based in democratic ideals?

14. democracy • What is it? • What are the different theories of democracy? • How could this information be organized graphically?

16. Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others. • Winston Churchill

18. Direct Democracy • Aristotelian “rule of the many” • Fourth Century B.C.E. • Greek city-state • Practiced by free adult male property owners • Currently, we look at the New England town meeting • An egalitarian theory of democracy

19. Representative Democracy • An elitist theory of democracy • Defined by Schumpeter: acquisition of power by leaders via competitive elections

20. Democracy • “A system of governing in which people acquire the power to make decisions by means of a free and competitive struggle for citizens’ votes.” • Joseph Schumpeter

21. The Framers’ justifications for representative democracy from a pluralist perspective: • Government should mediate, not mirror, popular views • Elected officials should represent, not register, majority sentiments • Citizens do not have the time, information, interest, or expertise to make reasonable choices among competing policy decisions

22. …justifications continued: • Even highly educated people could be manipulated by demagogic leaders (play on fears and prejudices) • Pluralist representative democracy minimized chances that power would be abused (tyrannical popular majority or self-serving office holders)

23. Distribution of Power • How is political power distributed in our current democracy? • How are decisions made?

24. Wilson says, • “In some cases, the leaders will be so sharply constrained by what most people want that the actions of officeholders will follow the preferences of citizens very closely.”

25. Majoritarian Politics • DEFINITION: elected officials are the delegates of the people, acting as the people would act

26. If this is to work, the issues must be those that are sufficiently: • important (to command the attention of most citizens) • clear (to elicit an informed opinion from citizens) • feasible to address (so that what citizens want done can, in fact, be done)

27. What if those situations don’t exist? • Somebody will act • Policymakers will learn about the issues and get actively involved • A small, and maybe unrepresentative, minority will decide • Decisions will be made by ELITES • They may not know what the people want • They may not care what the people want

28. Elites: • DEFINITION: an identifiable group of persons who possess a disproportionate share of some valued resources like political power

29. Four schools of thought about elites • Marxist • Power elite • Bureaucratic • Pluralist View

30. Marxist: • DEFINITION:Democracy is a reflection of economic forces • capitalists, business owners, bourgeoise VERSUS • workers, laborers, proletariat • Whichever class dominates the economy, dominates the government

32. Power Elite View • DEFINITION: American democracy is actually dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside of government and enjoy great advantages in wealth, status, or organizational position.

33. C. Wright Mills(August 28, 1916 – March 20, 1962)

34. Power Elite View • Corporate leaders • Top military officials • Handful of elected officials • Modern day, we would add: • media chiefs • labor union officials • special interest leaders

35. Bureaucratic View • DEFINITION: Power is mainly in the hands, not of American democracy’s elected representatives, but in those of its appointed officials, or career government workers

36. Max Weber(April 21, 1864 – June 14, 1920)

37. Bureaucratic View • Marxist view or Political Elite view may happen, but either way politics is dominated by bureaucrats who staff and operate government on a daily basis. • Appointed officials and career government workers dominate because of their expertise and longevity • These people decide how to translate public laws into administrative actions

38. Pluralist View • No single intellectual parent • DEFINITION: No single elite or group has monopoly on power • Groups must bargain and compromise • Groups must be responsive to followers • Political resources are not distributed equally (i.e. not majoritarian distribution) • There must be a competition and coalitions must be built

39. Pluralism • Inequalities in democracy exist, but everything is so divided among different elites and levels of government control that no one elite group is in control • “Not only are the elites divided, they are responsive to their followers’ interests, and thus they provide representation to almost all citizens affected by a policy.”

40. Pluralism • The most reasonable and accurate description of how decisions are made

41. So what? • Politicians and governmental leaders don’t just “do what the people want” • Sometimes government can’t do what the people want because of the structure and process • Sometimes politicians do what the people want and it turns out to be bad public policy • Pluralism = What Madison was writing about when he wrote about factions? A healthy competition among different ideas with the best ideas or the largest coalitions winning?

42. Sounds like ideas that could show up in a United States Constitution…

43. Chapter Two The Constitution

44. Individuals have power when they are able to • A. get elected to office • B. Vote without being influenced by outside forces • C. get others to do what they want them to do

45. The text suggests that, in the 1950s, the federal government would have taken very little interest in • A. a factory closing its doors • B. a profession not accrediting a member • C. a university refusing an applicant

46. The primary source of legitimate political authority in the United States is the • A. will of the people • B. U.S. Constitution • C. concept of civil liberty

47. Which delegate to the constitutional convention thought that the new government might be too democratic? • A. John Adams • B. George Mason • C. Alexander Hamilton • D. Thomas Jefferson • E. Patrick Henry

48. The Greek city-state, or polis extended the right to vote to everyone except • A. slaves • B. women • C. minors • D. those without property • E. All of the above

49. The Framers’ concern about direct democracy are well illustrated by the fact that the U.S. Constitution • A. only uses the word democracy in reference to Congress • B. only uses the word democratic • C. does not feature the word democracy at all • Frequently uses the word democracy, but never in reference to the enumeration of a formal power

50. According to Alexis de Tocqueville, Americans are fond of explaining their actions in terms of • A. self-interest • B. philosophical skepticism • C. moral precepts • D. disinterested and spontaneous impulses • E. religious commitments