Welcome to American
Government!
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Prof. Denise Scheberle
Steve Haskell
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big card, first name
little card:name, who you are, fun or
interesting fact about you, what you
want to learn from this class, xerox a
picture and put it on the back
getting to know you
Nature of the class
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Civic engagement and political
participation
Lecture, discussion and involvement
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We’re learning together
What’s in the news
Levels of learning
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Facts, opinions, evaluation
More information…
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Syllabus and books
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Test and assignment dates will probably
NOT change
Phoenix Forum April 7 (normal class time)
Reading schedule may vary
snow days
Thursday, January 20
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Cards/ reflections on government
Inauguration, confirmation hearings for
Rice, upcoming elections in Iraq,
others?
America is divided
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49% approval rating for President Bush
(89% in September 2001)
42% approve of foreign policy/ economy
(75%; 64% in October 2001)
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44% approve of how Congress is doing its job (67%
in October)
28% have favorable opinion of Vice President
Cheney, with 33% unfavorable, but 22% don’t know
More than half believe America will remain divided in
the next four years
Questions
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What is government?
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Why have it?
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How do you feel about
government?
Government defined…
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legitimate use of force to control
behavior.
formal institutions through which a land
and its people are ruled.
mechanisms that people use to protect
themselves and to establish policies
that provide favorable conditions for
pursuing their lives.
Policy
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purposeful course of action to solve a
problem
Private (business) v. public
(government) policies
laws are the most common instruments
of public policy
Politics
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Process of influencing government—
results in a determination about whose
values will prevail
Struggle over power within
organizations or groups that can grant
or withhold privileges or benefits
“who gets what, when, and how much.”
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Harold Lasswell
democracy
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“people have authority”
direct or indirect
Republic: indirect democracy, a
representative form of government with
the consent of the governed
How do we measure
democracy?
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Procedural: universal participation,
political equality, majority rule
Substantive: people live free, civil
liberties and rights are protected
Challenges facing government?
Values desired by citizens
Freedom
 Order
 Equality
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Freedom
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to speak and write
freely
practice own religion
have liberty to
pursue our lives
Individuals
Social order
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To be protected from
ourselves and external
threats
Equality
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Political equality
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one person, one vote
Social equality
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equality of opportunity
equality of outcome
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Which value is the most
important to you? Why?
For Tuesday
Chapter 1 and Chapter 2
Reactions to the inaugural address
www.cspan.org
How would you describe the U.S.
constitution?
Review
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Government—what it is and how we
feel about it; definitions
Three values (freedom, order, equality)
Today—inaugural address, values,
philosophies of Locke and Hobbes,
political ideologies
Inaugural address
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How would you describe the event?
What were some messages/themes you
remember from the address?
What are your reactions?
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freedom, order, equality
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Freedom v. Order
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The original conflict of government is
between freedom and order
Thomas Hobbes
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Leviathan (1651)
job of government is to protect individuals
from each other
leave a state of nature to come into social
community
single ruler to protect the weak against the
strong
John Locke
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Second Treatise, of Civil Government
(1690)
Government is necessary to protect
property
Man in a state of nature is generally good
Government should be limited
Government can be dissolved if it breaks
the social contract
Freedom v. Equality
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A more modern conflict is between
freedom and equality.
Reconciling the two dilemmas
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Every citizen has a different opinion
about how much freedom she/he is
willing to give up to ensure social order
or promote equality
Often, how we feel about these
dilemmas helps establish our ideology
Political Ideology
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A consistent set of values and beliefs
about the purpose and scope of
government.
Usually thought of as a continuum with
liberal on one end and conservative on
the other.
Liberal vs. Conservative
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LIBERAL
larger government,
more intervention
for social programs
Doesn’t always want
more government
CONSERVATIVE
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smaller government,
less intervention in
economy
Doesn’t always want
less government
Typology of Ideologies
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Instead of a continuum
created by trading levels of freedom,
order and equality
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Liberals
Libertarians
Conservatives
Communitarians
Quick quiz
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Who is Mr. Michael
J. Badnarik?
What is your ideology?
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http://www.lp.org/
Writing assignment option #1
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Take the quiz and discuss whether the
quiz accurately reflects your ideology.
Have someone else take the quiz. Do
you have similar or different ideologies?
Was your ideology reflected in your
voting decision? Why or why not?
Due next Tuesday
Let’s review
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1. Define political equality, ideology
2. What did Locke say about the need
for government? Did Hobbes agree?
3. What is the original dilemma of
government?
4. What do liberals tend to believe
about government?
The founding of America
How would you describe our
constitution?
Iraq election process
(courtesy BBC news)
An Empire of Reason
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What were the failures of the Articles of
Confederation?
what were the arguments in favor of
ratification?
what were the arguments against
ratification?
Shay’s rebellion
For Tuesday…
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Iraq elections
Chapter 2: What truths did Jefferson
hold to be self-evident in the
Declaration of Independence?
What is the structure of the
Constitution?
Bring books—looking at the Declaration,
Constitution and Federalist #51