The Nature of Power, Politics, and Government Chapter 1 Essential Question: Why should you care about power, politics and government?

Rocket to Mars (no need to write this) Earth is in trouble Scientists build a rocket 500 skilled people, plants, books, animals (a spaceship Noah’s ark) Goal: rebuild human society They shoot it off Upon descent, force field erases their memories They land okay, have 6 months supplies, feel instinct to survive What will happen? Or, what would you do if you were there?

The “state of nature” Thomas Hobbes 1651 wrote “Leviathan” Said in the “state of nature” there is no ruling body So, the state of nature is anarchy = no government Came up with the “social contract”

Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

So… Hobbes said… “social contract” Social = refers to people …people will anarchy is bad …people will take action to avoid it …a benevolent (kind) king is best. “social contract” Social = refers to people Contract = a two-way relationship where each does their part Social contract = people will agree to be under the king’s authority, in return, the king will protect the people.

Power Power = ability to get others to do what you want How? Carrot or stick? Persuade – convince them to do Coerce – persuade them with a threat behind it Force – make them do it Legitimacy = the right to rule; acceptance by people Mandate of heaven – ruler was “son of heaven” Divine right – God chose the king Social-contract theory – people give personal sovereignty to the gov’t in exchange for protections

Government - why? how? who? Maintain order Protection Public goods – think of roads, streetlights How? Coercion – convince them Force – make them Revenue collection – tax them Who? One – king, dictator Few – the elite, rich Many – democracy

Nation-states A combo of nation and state – common people in a common area with common gov’t. Territorial integrity Stable population Code of laws National sovereignty – we run ourselves

Preview (we’ll do this on laptops soon) Make a list of all the individuals, institutions, and circumstances that have power over you. For each one, briefly describe how it has power over you. Now make a list of all of the individuals, institutions, and circumstances in which you have power. For each one, briefly describe how you have power. Create a simple illustration that represents you and how you feel about power in your life. Below your illustration, summarize in two or three sentences how you feel about power in your life.

Reading Notes, sections 2 to 4 Create an illustrated dictionary. For each term, (1) create a symbol or icon to represent it, (2) write a definition in your own words, and (3) write a sentence using the term. Section 2 – power, authority, legitimacy, mandate of heaven, divine right of kings, social-contract theory Section 3 – government, public good, coercion, revenue, polity, nation-state, sovereignty Section 4 – politics, institution

Section 5 Create a table like the one below. In column 1, enter the names of the 5 political games discussed in section 5. describe each game in column 2. Lastly, in column 3, list and briefly explain one historical example of each game. Five Political Games Game Description Example  

Processing Read the quotes, mark each as either 1 = never true 5 = always true Which of the quotations do you think is the most true about power? Which of the quotations do you think is the most true about politics? Which of the quotations do you think is the most true about your own life?