US Government and Politics August 19, 2015 Unit 1 Origins of Government

Unit 1 Principles of Government Objectives Define power. Compare and contrast power and authority. Explain the relationship among power, government, and the nation-state. Describe several theories about power. Define power. Compare and contrast power and authority. Explain the relationship among power, government, and the nation-state. Describe several theories about power.

Origin of Government Theories 1. The Force Theory – Government was first imposed by force. Ancient writings detail that rulers had complete control over its people. Even today, some governments force control over the people. Throughout history one group conquered another group of people and ruled by force. 2. The Evolution Theory – Government evolved from family ties. Within the family there is already a notion of authority. The parents rule the children. This idea easily spread through some cultures in which the oldest and wisest ruled. The younger generations learn from their elders and eventually gain the right to rule.

Origin of Government Theories 4. Divine Right Theory – Government was created by God, and God chose government leaders. This has not just accepted from a Jewish, Christian, Muslim stance. Many ancient cultures believed in ancient right and that the right to rule came from the gods. This type of government kept ominous control over the people. People were afraid to disobey the government for fear of punishment from a higher power. 5. Social Contract Theory – Government originated when members of a society agreed to create it. This theory is the most modern but some older cultures may have evolved this way too. The 1700s marked a government revolution in Europe in which many people began to think different about government power. “People would give up some of their power in exchange for the benefits of living under a government. It was a trade: The government got power and the people got protection.”

Government and Power A government may have power because it rules out of fear. A government in which the people acknowledge its power out of respect is very different. The ability to make people do what you want is power. A government that has power and is accepted by the people has authority. A government that has authority is considered legitimate.

What is a Nation-State The world is divided into many different sections called nation-states. There are about 200 nation-states in the world today. Every nation-state has at least these four characteristics: Population. Defined borders. Government Sovereignty or supreme authority within its territory.

Two Main Theories of Power Elitists theories support that the elite are few in numbers and powerful. Pluralists theories contend that a large group of the people have power.

Who are the Elites? Karl Marx – The elites are those who control the economy. C. Wright Mills – The elites are those who control the economy, the government, and the military. Max Weber – The elites are the bureaucrats.

Karl Marx German theorist, Karl Marx co-wrote Communist Manifesto in His theory grew largely popular and help cause government revolutions throughout the world. Marx’s work led to communism. Marx's argument was that the power was held through "means of production." Marx argued that because the elite bourgeoisie owned the means of production, workers who owned only their own labor were being taken advantage of by the elite.

Max Weber (vay-bur) Weber believed that power was held by people who work in large and complex organizations also called bureaucracies. A bureaucracy is the collection of departments and all the people that work for them. These employees are called bureaucrats. Examples of bureaucracies are governments, large corporations, companies that own a resource that it imperative for peoples’ survival. Weber thought that bureaucrats were the elites, that they held a whole lot of power in modern societies.

C. Wright Mills An American sociologist, Mills published a book titled, The Power Elite. He believed that the Power Elite included government officials, military generals, and top businessmen. These people are the heads of the economy, the government, and the military.

Pluralist Pluralist theories hold that power is distributed among many different elites and many government institutions. No one group can dominate all of government. Instead, people or groups have power over specific policies. Also known as interest groups – they work for a specific cause and influence the decisions government makes on policies of their interest. Interest groups power do not overlap each other.

Assignments: 1.06 Evaluating Power due Friday - 8/21