TYPES OF GOVERNMENT
* Government by one person
* Government by the few
Aristocracy
Oligarchy
* Government by the Many =
DEMOCRACY (Us)
TYPES OF DEMOCRACY
• 1. Direct
• 2. Representative
Direct democracy
People make law/policy
themselves
Example: Initiative: Citizen petition
places proposed law/constitutional
amendment on ballot, people vote
yes or no (state level – Florida)
• Representative government –
– We elect people to make decisions for us,
trust they will make decisions we support.
IMPLICATIONS
– do they truly represent the citizens who
elect them? Which citizens get the “most”
representation?
– What do we expect out of our
representatives? Should they mirror their
constituents’ views or be allowed leeway to
exercise their own judgment?
What does government do?
• 1. Maintain national defense (armed
forces ) - $600+ billion per year on ND
• 2. Provide public goods/services
(schools, libraries, highways etc.)
• 3. Preserve order ( police/national
guard)
• 4. Socialize the young (through schools)
• 5. Collect taxes to pay for #2
Where does policy come
from?
• “The people?” Transmit preferences to
policymakers in government through
“linkage institutions” (parties, elections,
interest groups, media)
• Citizens shape the government’s
POLICY AGENDA
• Main policymaking institutions:
Congress, presidency, courts (&
bureaucracy)
What does democracy mean?
• Traditional democratic theory
emphasizes certain principles:
– MAJORITY RULE, but also
– MINORITY RIGHTS (e.g. to freedom of
speech, assembly)
– REPRESENTATION (Wishes of “the
people” should be “made present
again”/honored/carried out by elected
officials)
Modern theories of American
democracy – how it works
• 1. PLURALISM – Policymaking should
be open to participation of all groups
with no single group dominating (Dahl)
• 2. ELITISM - Pluralists too
optimistic/unrealistic – Upper class elite
(the wealthy/big business) pulls the
strings of government.
(Schattschneider)
• 3.
• 3. HYPERPLURALISM –
• “pluralism gone sour” – Lots of groups
out there, so many competing groups
that government can’t act. Also too
many ways for groups to get their way –
multiple levels of government and veto
points at which groups can use the
political system to their advantage. The
“public interest” loses out.
Challenges to democracy
• Complexity of issues (can average
citizen understand them? If not, what
does it mean for representatives to
carry out citizens’ preferences?)
• Limited participation in government
(especially by young people)
• Rising campaign costs – money talks…
• Policy gridlock (relates to
hyperpluralism)
POLITICAL CULTURE
• Paradox: diversity and unity
– Ethnic and religious heterogeneity
– Relative homegeneity of political beliefs
(Samuel Huntington and others have said)
What is the American political
culture?/set of values widely
shared by American citizens?
• 1. Liberty (freedom – see first
amendment: freedom speech, religion,
assembly) – freedom “from”
• 2. Egalitarianism (Declaration of
Independence – “all men created
equal”, but equality of opportunity not
outcome