Lineberry Chapter 1
Introducing Government in America
Politics Matters
• Youth is known for its apathy
– Very critical and cynical
– But politics is the personnel system for democracy
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Youth is decreasing its political awareness
See Table 1.1
Lower voter turnout rate
Changes in media do have a role in youth’s
apathy
Government
• Institutions and processes through which public policies are
made for a society
– Shapes our daily lives
• How should we govern and what should government do?
– Does government do what we want it to do?
• All governments must:
– Maintain a national defense
– Provide public services in the form of public goods (Goods that
everyone shares, like clean water and air)
– Preserve Order
– Socialize the young (Education)
– Taxes
Politics
• A process by which we select our government
leaders and what policies these leaders will
pursue
– Who gets what, when, and how?
• The media covers the who
• What refers to the substance of politics and
government – like benefits and taxes
• How is about ways for people to get involved
– Political Participation is all activities used by citizens to
influence the selection of political leaders or the
policies they pursue.
Politics
• Single Issue groups are groups that have a
narrow interest, dislike compromise, and draw
membership from people new to politics
– This distinguishes them from interest groups
Policymaking System
• Process by which policy comes into being and evolves over
time. Reveals how the government responds to the priorities
of the people.
– See Figure 1.3 in text
• The system begins with people. (interests, problems, or
concerns touched on by public policy)
• People’s concerns enter linkage institutions
– Political channels through which people’s concerns become political
issues on the policy agenda. Include elections, parties, interest groups,
and the media
• Ways to transmit preferences of the people to government policymakers
• Institutions help shape Policy Agenda
– Issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other
people involved in politics at any time
Policymaking System
• Political issues are issues that arise when people
disagree about a problem and how to solve it
• Policy agenda changes regularly
• Policymakers work within the 3 policymaking
institutions
– Legislative (Congress), Executive, Judicial
• Bureaucracy is so strong that it is considered to be a 4th institution
• Policies are finally created to impact people
according to their concerns through expenditures,
taxes, laws, regulations, or non-decisions
• People are impacted by the policy
Policies impact people
• Government decisions are public policy
– Choices that government makes in response to a
political issue
– Policy is the course of action taken in regard to
some problem
What is Democracy
• A system of selecting policymakers and
organizing government so that policy
represents and responds to the public
• Does the U.S. have a Democracy as its form of
governments?
• Did the framers of the constitution want a
democracy?
Traditional Democratic Theory
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Equality in Voting
Effective participation
Enlightened understanding
Citizen control of the agenda
Inclusion
Must practice majority rule
May not infringe on minority rights
Representation must describe the relationship
between the few leaders and the many followers
Contemporary Theories on American
Democracy
• Pluralist Theory
– Theory of government that politics is mainly a competition
among groups, each on pressing for its own preferred
policies
– Groups with shared interests influence public policy by
pressing their concerns through organized efforts
– EX. NRA, NOW, LULAC
– Because of open access to various institutions of
government, groups can compete for control of policy but
no one group dominates.
– Pluralists are usually optimistic that public interest will
prevail
– Everyone will get a slice of the pie
Contemporary Theories on American
Democracy
• Elite and Class Theory
– Theory of government that societies are divided along
class lines and that an upper-class elite will rule, regardless
of the formal niceties of government organization.
– Critics of pluralists question how big is everyone’s slice of
the pie
– Wealth is the basis of power.
• 1/3 of the nations wealth held by 1% of the population
– A few powerful don’t just influence policymakers but are
the policymakers
– Big business is the center of elite and class theory
Contemporary Theories on American
Democracy
• Hyperpluralism
– Theory of government that groups are so strong that
government is weakened
• Any exaggerated, perverted form of pluralism
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Influence of groups cripples govt ability to make policy
Too many ways for groups to control policy
Groups are sovereign and govt is their servant
Powerful groups divide the government and its authority
Govt gives in to every interest and single-issue group
Challenges to democracy
• Increased Technical expertise
– Technical knowledge overshadows the knowledge
of the general public
• Limited Participation in Government
• Escalating Campaign Costs
• Diverse political interests
– Policy Gridlock Is when no group is strong enough
to form a majority and establish policy. Nothing
gets done