Calendar, Weeks of 2/20 & 2/27
2/20
No School
2/21
Executive Depts.
2/22
Bureaucracy: A
Controversial
Necessity
2/23
ACT/MME
Registration
Social Security #
Homework:
Handout: Wilson,
Bureaucracy:
What Gov’t.
Agencies Do and
Why They Do It
2/24
Bureaucracy
vs. Business
HOT
SEAT
Due: Political
Cartoon Portfolio
Homework:
SSB, p. 444-448;
Handout: IG
Interconnections;
Iron Triangle
Political Cartoon Portfolios are due Friday, February 24, 2012
2/27
2/28
2/29
Bureaucratic
FRQ #10
Who Rules
Final Exam
Policy Making
America?
Review
TEST
Due: Iron Triangle
HOT
Homework:
SEAT
Handout:
Domhoff, The
Class Domination
Theory of Power
3/1
3/2
Final Exam
Review Session
(11:55-1:20pm)
Pizza Lunch
11:05-11:50pm
NOTE: If school is cancelled for any reason, you still are responsible for keeping up with the
readings and assignments for that day. If Ms. Henry is unexpectedly absent, continue following your
calendar as is until she revises it for you
Reading Questions, Weeks of 2/20 & 2/27
Handout: James Q. Wilson, What Government Agencies Do and Why They
Do It (Wednesday, 2/22 – HOT SEAT)
1. Wilson argues that McDonald’s and the Department of Motor Vehicles operate differently
because of inherent differences between public and private organizations. Identify & explain
the major differences.
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages to of trying to run government more like a
business?
3. Should bureaucracies become more “businesslike”?
SSB, p. 444 – 448 (Friday, 2/24)
1. What is the purpose of enabling legislation? Why doesn’t Congress simply implement the
laws it makes itself?
2. Define an iron triangle.
3. Why are iron triangles less common today than in the past?
4. How is the concept of an issue network different from the iron triangle concept?
5. What are four controls that Congress has over the bureaucracy?
Handout: G. William Domhoff, The Class-Domination Theory of Power
(Tuesday, 2/28 – HOT SEAT)
1. According to Domhoff, who has predominant power in the United States? (give the “short
answer” and the “more exact” answer.) Why? (i.e. what “rival networks” were absent in the
relatively short history of the U.S?) How does Domhoff define domination by the few?
2. Briefly summarize the pluralistic view of power Domhoff is attempting to refute.
3. How does Domhoff define “power”? What are the three primary indicators of power?
4. How does Domhoff define “social class” and “upper class”? Who is included in Domhoff’s
“upper class”? How is “social cohesion” built by the “upper class”?
5. How does Domhoff define the “corporate community”? Who are the “interlocking directors”?
How does Domhoff try to show corporate unity? How do pluralists respond to Domhoff?
6. How do foundations, think tanks, and policy-discussion organizations function as “policyplanning networks”?
7. How does Domhoff define the “power elite”? Who are the power elite, really? How do the
“power elite” directly involve themselves in the federal government?
8. Explain the relationship Domhoff dubs “revolving interlocks.”
9. What governmental structures/electoral rules does Domhoff review that help to explain why
the American political system (under the rule of the power elite) can be characterized as a
“candidate selection process”? According to Domhoff, how do the power elite exercise
power in this system?
10. Although Domhoff dismisses claims by corporate leadership that they are powerless in
government, (claiming business leaders are confusing psychological uneasiness with
power), what four reasons does he offer to explain why the complaints are lodged?
11. How does Domhoff define the working class? How is it possible that the American working
class could be relatively powerless in a country that prides itself on its long-standing history
of pluralism and elections?
12. What does Domhoff mean when he writes: “…it is important not to confuse freedom with
social power.”?
13. What do you think of Domhoff’s argument? If you think he’s on the right track, explain why! I
If you think he’s missing the mark, what do you think he’s overlooking or glossing over?
Explain.