Transcript an introduction to government

An Introduction to Government
Ms. Walker
AP US Government
Essential Questions
 What is Political Power?
 What is Democracy?
 Is Representative Democracy the
best system?
 How is Power Distributed?
 How is Political Power
Distributed?
 Is Democracy Driven by SelfInterest?
 What Explains Political Change?
 What is the Nature of Politics?
 I study government and political processes, institutions, and behavior.
Modern political science stresses the importance of using political
concepts and models that are subject to empirical validation and that
may be employed in solving practical political problems.
 Adapted from: Long Beach Unified School District GATE
What is Government?
Vocabulary
1. Government-An institution with the power to make and enforce a
societies laws.
2. State-A territory whose population maintains an organized governmental
body that regulates internal and external affairs (population, territory,
sovereignty, government)
3. Citizen-An officially recognized member of a state
4. Sovereignty-The absolute authority that a government has over its
citizens
5. Law-A set of rules, issued and enforced by a government, that binds
every member of society
6. Public Policies-Decisions and laws that a government makes in a
particular area of public concern-education, health
Origins of Government
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The rightful authority that any government has over its citizens is legitimacy.
Legitimacy is very difficult to achieve and maintain.
Every government exercises 3 kinds of power:
Legislative power -to make law
Executive power -the power to execute, enforce, and administer the law
Judicial power -The power to interpret laws, to determine their meaning, and
to settle disputes that arise within society
Power and Legitimacy
Parliament Building, Athens,
Greece
Defining Power
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Authority
Control
Elite
Coercion
Supremacy
Command
Dominance
Influence
Clout
The Acropolis, Athens Greece
Photo Copyright: Kelly Walker 2009
Power: The capacity to effect
outcomes
Who has the Power?
1. Primary Elites: Officials who have significant decision
making authority and control over government decisions.
Cult of Personality: The excessive adulation of a single
leader (Mao Zedong)
2. Secondary Elites: Those members of society who are not
in government but wield power through their associations
(trade unions, large corporations, media, etc.)
3. Political Society: Politically active members of society
4. Masses: The rest of the population
Political Power and Legitimacy
 Legitimacy: The right to rule
 Legitimacy may be secured in a number of
ways:
1. Constitutions
2. Tradition
3. Force
4. Social compacts
5. Ideologies
Max Weber
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber
Max Weber
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Born April 21, 1864 (Erfurt Germany)
Died June 14, 1920 (Munich Germany)
German Philosopher and sociologist
Wrote “Politics as a Vocation”
“The State is that entity which possesses a monopoly on
the legitimate use of physical force, which it may
nonetheless elect to delegate as it sees fit”.
Weimar, Germany
Photo Copyright: Kelly Walker , 2009
Max Weber
 Authority: “occurring when
there is a probability that
people will obey a specific
command”.
 Legitimate Authority:
“occurring when people
obey the authority because
they regard it as obligatory”.
Weber’s Three Types of
Legitimate Authority
1.
Traditional Legitimacy: Tradition should determine who should rule
and how (Monarchy)
Queen of England Summer Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland
Photo Copyright: Kelly Walker. 2009
Weber’s Three Types of
Legitimate Authority
2. Charismatic Legitimacy: Based on the
dynamic personality of an individual leader
or small group (Napoleon)
Waterloo, Belgium
Photo Copyright: Kelly Walker, 2009
Weber’s Three Types of
Legitimate Authority
3. Rational-Legal Legitimacy: Legitimacy is
based on a system of well established laws
and procedures. Highly institutionalized
and the people obey the leaders based on an
acceptance of the Rule of Law.
Photo copyright: Clipart.com
Rational-Legal Legitimacy
 Found primarily in democracies
 Most prevalent type of legitimacy in the modern world
 People accept the concept of a continuous state which binds them together
as a nation
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Photo Copyright: Clipart.com
The State
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1.
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Dominate Political Unit of the World
Population
Territory
Sovereignty: it has supreme and absolute power
within its own territory and can decide its own
foreign and domestic policies
4. Government
Where did it all begin?
 Ancient Greece-505-338 BC. The traditional government of
ancient Greece was a monarchy, however, it died out by 505
BC and was replaced by a democracy. Greece is famous for
being the first true democracy, where citizens held elections
and voted on laws.
Rome 509-27 BC
 Roman nobility overthrew their king and set
up a republic in his place; a system of
government where power was divided into a
Senate for nobles and an Assembly for
commoners.
John Locke 1632-1704
 Wrote Of Civil Government and established
the concept of Natural Rights-A right that is
considered to belong to all people, regardless
of time or place: Being natural to everyone
and are not granted or taken by a
government.
(inalienable rights)
The Enlightenment Thinkers
 Thomas Hobbs-English 1588-1679
Leviathan-Developed the idea of a social
contract- The theory that the people give
up their sovereignty in exchange for peace
and order that is provided by
the state.
Baron De Montesquieu
1689-1755
 French, wrote On the Spirit of Laws. He
believed that there should be a Separation of
Powers to have an effective
government. (A distribution
of powers among the branches
of government.)
Jean Jaques Rousseau 1712-1778
(Swiss)
1. The social contract between citizens and
government was important.
2. Morals and emotion should play a role in
government
3. Forefather of modern communismattacked private property
The Purpose of the US
Government
Two main Questions:
1. How should we govern?
2. What should government do?
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Form a more perfect union-the constitution
Establish Justice- Rule of Law
Insure Domestic Tranquility- preserve order
Provide for the common defense
Promote the general welfare- provide public services
Collect taxes
Socialize the Young
Forms of Government
 No Government is alike. 3 Classifications
of Governments:
1. Who may participate
2. Distribution of power within the state
3. Relationship between executive and
legislative branches
Sources of Authority
Monarchy
Head of state is a
hereditary position
Constitutional
MonarchyKing or queen is only
the ceremonial head of
state
Real power lies in
another branch of
government
Republic
(Democratic)
People are the source
of authority
Government is made
up of representatives
elected by the people
Dictatorship-
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(authoritarian-rulers
answer only to
themselves, not the
people)
Political and/or military
power, wealth and/ or
social position are the
source of leaders’
authority
Power is achieved and
maintained through force
Autocracy-rule by one
Oligarchy-rule by many
Extreme Dictators are
Totalitarian rulers-seek
complete control over all
aspects of citizens’ lives
Power Among Levels of
Government
Unitary System
Federal System
Central Government
holds all legal power
Local government has
no independent power;
carries out decisions
made by the central
government
Great Britain
National, state, and
local governments
share power
 All levels have
power to establish their
own laws, elect
officials, and create
agencies
United States
Confederal
System
Independent states
join together
Each state is
represented in a central
organization. Central
organization carries out
policies made by
representatives
UN, European Union
Power Within Levels of
Democratic Governments
Presidential System
A system of government
in which the legislative
and executive branches
operate independently of
each other.
United States
Parliamentary System
A system of government
in which power is
concentrated in a
legislature. The
legislature selects one of
its member s, a prime
minister, as the nation’s
leader.
Great Britain
Benefits of Democracy
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Worth of the Individual
Equality of all personsMajority rule, minority
Necessity of Compromise
Individual freedom
Forms of Democracy
Direct Democracy
A system in which laws
may be made directly by
all citizens.
Clubs, small
organizations, SCA
Representative
Democracy
A system of government
in which the people
choose political
leaders to make policy
decisions on their
behalf.
 United States, Great
Britain
Government and the Free
Enterprise system
The American economic system is based on the
Free Market. The US has a mixed
economy, where private enterprise exists in
combination with a considerable amount of
government regulation.
Who Should Govern?
How do we Solve our Problems?
 Who governs and why?
 How does Government affect our lives?

Keefe, Mike. "Border Wall." Cartoon. The Denver Post. 29 Mar. 2006. 8 Dec. 2007
<http://www.intoon.com/index.cfm>.
Political Power
 Power: The ability of one person to get
another person to act in accordance with the
first person’s intentions
 Authority: The right to use power
 Legitimacy: Political authority conferred by
law or by a state or national constitution
What Constitutes Legitimate
Authority?
 Should the Government provide Health
Care?
How is Political Power
distributed?
 Majoritarian Politics: Leaders are sharply
constrained by what most people want so
that the actions of officeholders will follow
the preferences of citizens closely.

http://www.mrc.org/biasalert/2009/20090910032749.aspx
How is Political Power
distributed
 Pluralist View: No single entity
has the power: There are too
many of them!
 http://www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers
/madison.htm
 The belief that competition among all affected
interests shapes public policy.
 Resources remain divided among such different
kinds of elites that all, or almost all, relevant
interests have a chance to affect the outcome of
decisions.
Political Power
 Marxist View: Government is a reflection of
underlying economic forces
 Power Elite View: Power held in a few
 Bureaucratic View: Power held by appointed
officials
Democracy
 Is Democracy Driven by Self-Interest?
 What Explains Political Change?