Chapter One – The Study of American Government
Who Governs?
How is political power actually distributed in America?
What explains major political change?
“the people” – who are the people?
To What Ends?
What value(s) matter most in American democracy?
Are trade-offs among political purposes inevitable?
Freedom vs. Order continuum
Freedom -------- Order
What ends should we govern?
What happens when we include the idea of equality?
Political Power
power – the ability of one person to get another person to act in accordance with the first
person’s intention
List of people with power in the government –
 politicians
 staffers
 bureaucrats
 political donors
 lobbyists
authority - the right to use power
What gives us the right to use power?
formal authority vs. informal authority
Libya – where does the authority of the rebels come from?
legitimacy – political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution
Are dictatorships legitimate forms of government?
Power if the US Constitution and elections
What if we changed our election process?
Legitimacy of health care?
Important Terms
Government - The institutions and processes through which public policies are made for
society.
autocracy – a system of government in which power is concentrated in the hands of one
oligarchy – a system of government in which power is concentrated in the hands of a few
Republican form of government
Republic - translates from Latin res “thing” publica “public” or the public things or
public affairs.


a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote
and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them, not a
monarchy
only form of government named in the Constitution
Democratic form of government
Democracy - translates from Greek demos “people” kratia “rule” or the rule of the
people. Democracy takes on two main forms, direct democracy and representative
democracy
Government should be a slow and
deliberative process
Direct democracy – a government in which
all or most of the citizens participate directly
 found ineffective on the federal level
– mob rule
 Can the uneducated make decisions
about what is in the best interest of
the country
 local affairs – town meetings, what
conditions are needed to make such
meetings successful
Representative democracy – a government in
which leaders make decisions by winning an
election for the popular vote
 How should we choose our
representatives?
 Does campaign financing impact the
ability of our gov’t to be a true
representative government
 demagogue – a politician who appeals
to and often deceives the masses by
manipulating their emotions and
prejudices
94% of Americans in a 2004 survey regarded
democracy as the “best form of government”
Does voter turnout support that statistic?
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Distribution of Political Power
Majoritarian – government officials following the “will of the people” – where does the
danger in this lie? – government official should serve as mediators, balancing the will of
the people and best interest of the country
Elite – person with a disproportionate share of some valued resource, like money or
political power -- Donald Trump, would he have a voice in this country if it not for his
real estate success
Four schools of thought on the power elite and power distribution:
1. Marxist View – government is dominated by capitalists
a. German philosopher
b. competition between the capitalists (bourgeoise) and the workers
(proletariat)
c. those who dominate the economy dominate the government
d. subsidies to oil companies?
2. Power Elite View – government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom
are outside of the government
a. government is dominated by three groups – corporate leaders, top military
leaders and a handful of elected officials
b. C. Wright Mills (1959) - Waco, TX
c. Modern theorists include the media, labor unions officials and heads of
various special interests groups
d. GE and WWII – Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address the Military
Industrial Complex / Haliburton and Iraq
3. Bureaucratic View – government is dominated by appointed officials
a. Max Weber – German scholar and sociologist
b. government is controlled by those responsible for the daily operations –
not only implementing the public policy but shaping it to suit their own
needs
c. career government employees, lasting through various administrations –
have power and connections due to their position in government
d. Revolving door?
4. Pluralist View – belief that competition among all affected interests shapes public
policy
a. political resources – money, prestige, expertise, organizational position
and mass media exposure – scattered and available so that no small group
of elites can hold too much power – not suggesting equality to such
resources
b. So many layers of gov’t – fed, state, local and bureaucratic agencies
within
c. environmentalists vs. off shore drilling