Who runs the government?
(No, rich white men will not be an acceptable answer on the AP Exam)
Examples of Pluralism,
Elitism and HyperPluralism
C Wright Mill, Max
Weber, etc.
Ability to explain the
policymaking system
A person seeking to score at
the next level must know the
lower level(s).
Advanced
Level (5)
Intermediate
Knowledge (4)
Basic Knowledge (3)
Basic understanding of Pluralism, Elitism and
Hyper-Pluralism
Basic understanding of what a democracy iswhy America is a republic
Clear understanding of
Pluralism, Elitism
and Hyperpluralism
Understanding of
Democracy vs.
Republic
Can give basic
examples of P, E,
HP
Understands the
difference between
policy and law
The Problem With Government
We all notice the things government stops us from doing….
• “I can’t believe the cops pulled me over… I was just doing 15 mph
over the speed limit by that school”
• “The second amendment says I have a right to bear arms… so why
can’t I have a rocket launcher?”
• “I’m sorry I tried to kill Ben Affleck but damnit nobody wants to see
him as Batman, Mr. Officer.”
What we don’t notice/acknowledge is what government helps us do
What Government Does Do
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S.
Department of Energy.
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and
launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been
determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology
and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work
on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a
quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.
On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of
Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the
USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the
state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local
police department.
Types of Democracy
Democracy
Direct Democracy
Representative Democracy
A system in which the people hold
sovereignty and make decisions
directly
An indirect democracy where
sovereignty is held by representatives
elected by the people
Political System
• A political system is a set of institutions and activities that link together
government, politics, and public policy.
• Government (The Structure)
• Public Policy (The Action/Result)
• Politics (The Process)
• Linkage Institutions are the political channels through which people’s
concerns become political issues on the policy agenda.
•
•
•
•
Political Parties
Elections
Media
Interest Groups
Policymaking
• Policymaking begins with “people.” (Or in the name of the “people.”)
• All Americans have
• Interests
• Problems
• Concerns
• Policy Agenda
• Definition: The policy agenda are issues that attract the serious
attention of public officials.
• A political issue arises when people disagree about a problem or
about a public policy choice made to fix a problem.
Policymaking Institutions
• Definition: Policymaking institutions are the branches of government charged
with taking action on political issues.
BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT
FEDERAL LEVEL
STATE LEVEL
Legislative
Congress
State Legislature
Executive
President
Governor
Judicial
Supreme Court
State Supreme Court
Bureaucracy
Agency Workers
Agency Workers
Policies Impact People
• Policy impacts are the effects that a policy has on people
and on society’s problems.
• Does it solve the problem?
• Does it create more problems?
• Depending on the answer, policy impacts carry the political
system back to its point of origin: the concerns of people.
• Questions
• How is policy made?
• In whose name is policy made?
How is political power distributed?
• Majoritarian politics: Concept where nearly
everyone has a say in making a decision (Will of
the majority)
• Elitist politics: Concept where decisions are
made by groups with a disproportionate amount
of some valuable resource
Elitist Theories
•Elitist Power Theory (C. Wright Mills)
•Marxist Theory (Karl Marx)
•Bureaucratic Theory (Max Weber)
•Pluralist Theory
•Hyperpluralist Theory
Explaining Influence of Elites
Elitist Power (C Wright Mills):
• Coalition of corporations, military, and government
officials dominate political power & make decisions on
their behalf--iron triangles
• Many would add media chiefs & labor officials to the
coalition—issues network
• Proof? Examples?
Explaining Influence of Elites
Marxist (Karl Marx):
•
Government is influenced by economic elites-those who
control the economy, control the government.
•
•
•
“He who pays the piper, calls the tune.”
In the U.S., capitalists dominate the economy and therefore
government.
Decisions benefit the business owners and capitalists.
• Proof? Examples?
Explaining Influence of Elites
Bureaucratic (Max Weber):
• Government power is in the hands of a
small group of bureaucrats (civil servants)
who translate law into policy.
• Bureaucrats enforce policies according to
their own guidelines.
• Bureaucrats are hired for expertise but
rarely fired for incompetence.
• Proof? Examples?
Explaining Influence of Elites
Pluralist:
• No single elite dominates politics; resources are too
widely spread out; too many institutions
•
•
•
Many groups compete with each other for control over policy
Multiple access points to government
Policy is the outcome of political haggling, compromise, & shifting
alliances among groups
• Proof? Examples?
Explaining Influence of Elites
Hyperpluralism:
• No single elite dominates politics; resources are too
widely spread out; too many institutions
•
•
•
•
•
Groups have gotten so powerful that they actually have weakened the
government
Groups control the policy and prevent government from taking any action
Policy is the outcome of political haggling, compromise, & shifting
alliances among groups
Difficulty in coordinating policy implementation
Confusing and contradictory policies result from politicians trying to
placate every group
• Proof? Examples?