American Government
and Politics Today
Chapter 1
The Democratic Republic
Politics and Government

Key Terms:
Politics: “who gets what, when,
and how”
 Institution: an ongoing organization that
performs certain functions for society
 Government: institution in which decisions are
made that resolve conflicts or allocate benefits
and privileges

Why Is Government Necessary?

Order: the process of maintaining peace and

security by protecting members of society
from violence and criminal activity; the
oldest purpose of government
Liberty: the greatest freedom of individuals
that is consistent with the freedom of other
individuals in the society; can be promoted
by or invoked against government
Why Is Government Necessary?
(continued)

Authority: the right and power of a

government or other entity to enforce its
decisions and compel obedience
Legitimacy: the popular acceptance of the
right and power of a government or other
entity to exercise authority
Schools Are Different
Forms of Government


Totalitarian regime: a government that controls
all aspects of a nation’s political and social life
Authoritarianism: a system in which only the
government itself is fully controlled by the
ruler, therefore social and economic institutions
exist that are not under the government’s
control
Forms of Government
(continued)


Aristocracy: rule is by the “best,” though in
reality rule is by the upper class
Democracy: political authority is vested in the
people; derived from the Greek words demos
(“the people”) and kratos (“authority”)
Direct Democracy


Political decisions are made by the people
directly, rather than by their elected
representatives
Direct democracy is attained most easily in
small political communities
The Dangers of
Direct Democracy



The founders believed in government based
on the consent of the people
However, they were highly distrustful of
anything that might look like “mob rule”
Therefore, they devised institutions to filter
the popular will through elected elites
A Democratic Republic



“Democratic republic” and “representative
democracy” mean nearly the same thing—
government based on elected representatives—
except that a republic cannot have a vestigial
king
Britain, with its largely ceremonial monarchy, is
therefore a representative democracy
The United States, as created by the U.S.
Constitution, is a democratic republic
A Democratic Republic
(continued)

Principles of democratic government



Universal suffrage: the right of all adults to vote for their
representatives
Majority rule: the greatest number of citizens in any
political unit should select officials and determine policies
Constitutional democracy

Principle of limited government: powers of government
should be limited, usually by institutional checks;
without such limits, democracy could destroy itself
What Kind of Democracy
Do We Have?
Majoritarianism: government ought to do what
the majority of people want
 Elite theory: society is ruled by a small number of
privileged people who exercise power to further
their self-interests
 Pluralism: politics is made of conflict and
compromise among interest groups

Fundamental Values



Political socialization
Liberty versus order
Equality versus liberty
Economic equality
 Property rights and capitalism
 Capitalism: an economic system characterized
by the private ownership of wealth-creating
assets and by free markets and freedom of
contract

Tensions Over Big Government



How much power should the American
government have and what role should it play
in the lives of its citizens?
Example: Katrina—in this scenario, “big
government” was considered desirable
Example: National security
policies—concerning issues such
as domestic surveillance, most
Americans value limited powers
Political Ideologies:
Liberalism versus Conservatism


Conservatives: tend to favor limited governmental
involvement in the economic sector, and see
economic freedom as a necessity for the good of the
society; regarding social issues they support
traditional values and lifestyles
Liberals: tend to favor governmental regulation of
the economy to benefit the society’s individuals;
regarding social issues they advocate for social
freedom, civil rights, and social change
Political Ideologies:
The Traditional Political
Spectrum


Socialism: a political ideology based on strong
support for economic and social equality;
socialists traditionally envisioned a society in
which major businesses were taken over by the
government or by employee cooperatives
Libertarianism: a political ideology based on
skepticism or opposition toward almost all
government activities
“Classical” Liberalism


“Liberalism” once meant limited government
and no religion in politics
The term evolved into its modern American
meaning along with the political evolution of
the Democratic Party, which was once the
party of limited government but has become
the party of (relative) economic equality
Direct Democracy Today
Initiative: allows voters to propose a law or a
constitutional amendment
 Referendum: allows the legislature to refer
legislative or constitutional measures to the voters
for approval or disapproval
 Recall: allows the people to vote to dismiss an
elected official from state office before his or her
term has expired

The Traditional
Political Spectrum
A Four-Cornered
Ideological Grid

We can break down the electorate into:

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

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Cultural and economic liberals
Cultural and economic conservatives
Cultural liberals/economic conservatives (libertarians)
Cultural conservatives/economic liberals
Classifying the voters—all four viewpoints have
substantial support based on polling data
Conservative popularity—however, the term
“conservative,” as a self-applied label, is more
popular than any other label except “moderate”
Other Ideologies


Communism: revolutionary variant of socialism that
favors a partisan (often totalitarian) dictatorship,
government control of all enterprises, and
replacement of free markets by central planning
Fascism: a 20th-Century ideology (often totalitarian)
that exalts the national collective united behind an
absolute ruler, rejects liberal individualism, values
action over rational deliberation, and glorifies war
Ideology in the Islamic World

While communism and fascism are the
historical ideologies that totalitarianism was
coined to describe, our current international
problem is with radical Islamism, as
exemplified by al-Qaeda
The Changing Face of America



Aging
Population growth
Ethnic change


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Changes in Hispanic community
Women in the workforce
Increasing levels of education
U.S. Population
Questions for Critical Thinking

Do you think a direct democracy is a rational
option for governing in the United States?
Describe the forms of direct democracy that
exist and discuss the pros and cons of these
mechanisms.
Questions for Critical Thinking


Do you think some people in American society
equate security and order with protection
against fellow citizens who are racially,
culturally, or economically different? Why or
why not?
Do you think protection against discrimination
should be considered an issue of security as well
as an issue of equality? Justify your answer.