Transcript Slide 1

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
Chapter 1: Introducing
Government in America
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•
•
•
•
•
Government
Politics
The Policymaking System
Democracy
The Scope of Government in America
Summary
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
Chapter Outline and Learning
Objectives
• Government
• LO 1.1: Describe the key functions of
government and explain why they matter.
• Politics
• LO 1.2: Define the various aspects of
politics.
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Chapter Outline and Learning
Objectives
• The Policymaking System
• LO 1.3: Assess how citizens can have an
impact on public policy and how policies
can impact people.
• Democracy
• LO 1.4: List the key principles of
democracy, theories regarding how it
works in practice, and challenges it faces
today.
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Chapter Outline and Learning
Objectives
• The Scope of Government in America
• LO 1.5: Explain the debate in America over
the proper scope of government.
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Government
LO 1.1: Describe the key functions of
government and explain why they matter.
• Government makes public policies
made for society.
• Governments must perform five basic
functions.
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•
•
•
•
Maintain a national defense.
Provide public services.
Preserve order.
Socialize the young.
Collect taxes.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.1
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.1
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.1
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.1
To Learning Objectives
Politics
LO 1.2: Define the various aspects of
politics.
• Politics is the process by which we
select our governmental leaders and
what policies they pursue.
• Harold Lasswell defines politics as the
struggle over who gets what, when, and
how.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.2
To Learning Objectives
The Policymaking System
LO 1.3: Assess how citizens can have an
impact on public policy and how policies
can impact people.
• People Shape Policy
• Policies Impact People
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.3
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.3
The Policymaking System
• People Shape Policy
• People have interests, problems, and
concerns.
• The four linkage institutions are political
parties, elections, mass media, and
interest groups.
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To Learning Objectives
The Policymaking System
LO 1.3
• People Shape Policy (cont.)
• Policy agenda is the issues that attract the
serious attention of public officials.
• The four policymaking institutions are the
legislative branch, executive branch,
judicial branch, and the bureaucracy.
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To Learning Objectives
The Policymaking System
LO 1.3
• Policies Impact People
• Public policy is a choice that government
makes in response to a political issue.
• Policy impacts are the effects a policy has
on people and problems.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.3
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.3
To Learning Objectives
Democracy
LO 1.4: List the key principles of democracy,
theories regarding how it works in practice,
and challenges it faces today.
• Traditional Democratic Theory
• Three Contemporary Theories of
American Democracy
• Challenges to Democracy
• American Political Culture and
Democracy
• A Culture War?
• Preview Questions about Democracy
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.4
To Learning Objectives
Democracy
LO 1.4
• Traditional Democratic Theory
• Democracy is a system in which policy
represents and responds to the public’s
preferences.
• Five components of Traditional Democratic
Theory are equality in voting, effective
participation, enlightened
understanding, citizen control of the
agenda, and inclusion.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.4
Democracy
• Three Contemporary Theories of
American Democracy
• Pluralist Theory is a theory of government
and policies emphasizing that politics is
mainly a competition among groups, each
one pressing for its own preferred policies.
• Groups must bargain and compromise to
get policies.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.4
Democracy
• Three Contemporary Theories of
American Democracy (cont.)
• Elite and Class Theory contends that
societies are divided along class lines and
that an upper-class elite will rule.
• Policies benefit those with money and
power.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.4
Democracy
• Three Contemporary Theories of
American Democracy (cont.)
• Hyperpluralism is a theory of government
and politics contending that groups are so
strong that government is weakened.
• Confusing and contradictory policies result
from politicians trying to placate every
group.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.4
Democracy
• Challenges to Democracy
• Increased complexity of issues make it
harder for citizens to make decisions.
• Limited participation in government,
especially voting.
• Escalating campaign costs stop people
from running for office.
• Diverse political interests result into policy
gridlock.
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To Learning Objectives
Democracy
LO 1.4
• American Political Culture and
Democracy
• Political culture is an overall set of values
widely shared within a society.
• Five elements of American political culture
are liberty, egalitarianism, individualism,
laissez-faire, and populism.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.4
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.4
To Learning Objectives
Democracy
LO 1.4
• A Culture War?
• James Q. Wilson believes that America is a
more polarized nation today than at any
time in living memory.
• Other scholars believe that there is
relatively little evidence of a so-called
culture war going on among ordinary
American citizens.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.4
Democracy
• Preview Questions about Democracy
• Are people knowledgeable about matters
of public policy?
• If there are choices, do the media help
citizens understand them?
• Is Congress representative of American
society, and is it capable of reacting to
changing times?
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To Learning Objectives
The Scope of Government in America
LO 1.5: Explain the debate in America over
the proper scope of government.
• How Active Is American
Government?
• Preview Questions about the Scope
of Government
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.5
The Scope of Government in America
• How Active Is American
Government?
• Spends $3.8 trillion yearly.
• Employs 2.8 million civilians and 1.4 million
in the military.
• It owns one-third of the land in the United
States.
• It occupies 2.6 billion square feet of office
space.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.5
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.5
The Scope of Government in America
• Preview Questions about the Scope
of Government
• What role did the Constitution’s authors
foresee for the federal government?
• Does the public favor a large, active
government?
• Is Congress too responsive to the
demands of the public and organized
interests?
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.1
Summary
• Describe the key functions of
government and explain why they
matter.
• All governments perform include maintaining a
national defense, providing public services,
preserving order, socializing the young, and
collecting taxes.
• These functions matter because they impact
our lives.
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To Learning Objectives
Which of the following is an
example of a public good?
A.
B.
C.
D.
LO 1.1
College education
Automobile insurance
Home ownership
National defense
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To Learning Objectives
Which of the following is an
example of a public good?
A.
B.
C.
D.
LO 1.1
College education
Automobile insurance
Home ownership
National defense
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.2
Summary
• Define the various aspects of politics.
• Politics determines who our leaders are and
what policies they pursue.
• The who of politics is the voters, candidates,
parties, and groups; the what is the benefits
and burdens of government; the how is the
various ways in which people participate in
politics.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.2
Politics determines who we select as
our governmental leaders and
policies these leaders pursue.
A.
B.
C.
D.
who
what
when
how
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.2
Politics determines who we select as
our governmental leaders and
policies these leaders pursue.
A.
B.
C.
D.
who
what
when
how
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.3
Summary
• Assess how citizens can have an impact
on public policy and how policies can
impact people.
• Citizens’ interests and concerns are
transmitted through linkage institutions to the
policy agenda of the policymaking institutions.
• The policies that are made then influence
peoples’ lives.
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To Learning Objectives
All of the following are
considered linkage institutions
EXCEPT
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
LO 1.3
the media.
interest groups.
political parties.
courts.
elections.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
To Learning Objectives
All of the following are
considered linkage institutions
EXCEPT
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
LO 1.3
the media.
interest groups.
political parties.
courts.
elections.
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To Learning Objectives
LO 1.4
Summary
• List the key principles of democracy,
theories regarding how it works in
practice, and challenges it faces today.
• Key principles of democracy are equality in
voting, effective participation, enlightened
understanding, citizen control of the agenda,
and inclusion.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.4
Summary
• List the key principles of democracy,
theories regarding how it works in
practice, and challenges it faces today.
• The theories regarding how democracy works
in practice are the pluralist theory, elitist and
class theory, and hyperpluralist theory.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.4
Summary
• List the key principles of democracy,
theories regarding how it works in
practice, and challenges it faces today.
• Challenges democracy faces today are
complexity of issues today, citizens’ limited
participation, escalating campaign costs, and
the policy gridlock resulting from diverse
political interests.
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To Learning Objectives
According to Robert Dahl’s traditional
LO 1.4
democratic theory, an ideal democratic
process should satisfy all of the following
criteria EXCEPT
A.
B.
C.
D.
equality in voting.
effective participation.
enlightened understanding.
majority rule.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
To Learning Objectives
According to Robert Dahl’s traditional
LO 1.4
democratic theory, an ideal democratic
process should satisfy all of the following
criteria EXCEPT
A.
B.
C.
D.
equality in voting.
effective participation.
enlightened understanding.
majority rule.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
To Learning Objectives
LO 1.5
Summary
• Explain the debate in America over the
proper scope of government.
• Politicians debate if the scope of government
responsibilities is too vast, just about right, or
not comprehensive enough.
• This debate concerns whether the goals that
are agreed to be important are best achieved
through government action or rather through
means other than government.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman
To Learning Objectives
The annual budget of the federal
government is nearly
.
A.
B.
C.
D.
LO 1.5
$4 trillion
$5 trillion
$6 trillion
$7 trillion
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To Learning Objectives
The annual budget of the federal
government is nearly
.
A.
B.
C.
D.
LO 1.5
$4 trillion
$5 trillion
$6 trillion
$7 trillion
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To Learning Objectives
Photo Credits
page 2: Chuck Kennedy/Getty;
3T: AP Photo;
3TC: Getty Images;
3TB: Jewel Samad/Getty Images;
3B: Joseph Sohm/Corbis;
5: Colorblend Images/Getty Images;
7: AFP/Getty Images;
8: AP Photo;
9: AP Photo;
10: AFP Getty Images;
12 AFP Getty Images;
14: Chris Wildt/www.cartoonstock.com;
16: Alex Wong/Getty Images;
18: Joseph Sohm/Corbis;
20: Robert Trippett/Sipa;
21: David Horsey;
23: Jewel Sammad/Getty Images
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Text Credits
U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Surveys. Data can be found at
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/socdemo/voting/publications/historical/index.html.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman