The Study of American Government Chapter 1 The Study of American Government

Learning Objectives What is meant by “politics”? Can you give two definitions of “democracy”? How is political power actually distributed in America? What is the “political agenda” and why has it expanded? How can you classify and explain the politics of different issues? Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Issues and Politics Issue: a real or apparent conflict between the interests, ideas, or beliefs of different citizens Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Have issues changed significantly since colonial times?

Issues and Politics Politics: activity by which an issue is agitated or settled Negotiation Argument Discussion Application of force Persuasion Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Power, Authority, and Legitimacy Power: ability of one person to get another person to act in accordance with his/her wishes Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Power, Authority, and Legitimacy Authority: rightful power Varies from time to time Varies from country to country Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. How does Congress assert its authority? How does the president?

Power, Authority, and Legitimacy Legitimacy: political authority conferred by law or by a constitution Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

What is Democracy? Democracy: rule of the many Direct democracy: government in which most citizens participate directly Representative democracy: government in which elected leaders make decisions Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Joseph Schumpeter: “The democratic method is that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals [that is, leaders] acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote.”

Political Power in America: Five Views Class view Government dominated by capitalists Power elite view Government dominated by a few top leaders, mostly outside of government Bureaucratic view Government dominated by appointed officials Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Political Power in America: Five Views Pluralist view Belief that competition among all affected interests shapes public policy Creedal passion view Government dominated by impassioned elites Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Who Governs—and to What Ends? How is political power actually distributed in America? What explains major political change? To what ends? What value or values matter most in American democracy? Are trade-offs among political purposes inevitable? Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. All views are correct on some level.

Expanding the Political Agenda Political agenda: issues that people believe require governmental action; affected by Shared political values Weight of custom and tradition Impact of events Changes in way political elites think and talk about politics Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Expanding the Political Agenda Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Americans felt powerfully connected to their fellow citizens in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Source: Matt McDermott

Expanding the Political Agenda Groups (organized and unorganized) Government institutions Includes courts, bureaucracies Source of policy (not just reactive) Media Action by the States Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. New Deal legislation: responded to social problems, but first devised by non-government experts Great Society measures: developed, designed, and advocated by government officials and bureaucrats

The Politics of Different Issues Type of issue affects politicking Costs (monetary or nonmonetary) Benefits (monetary or nonmonetary) Perception of costs vs. benefits Is beneficiary “deserving”? Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Politics is in large measure a process of raising and settling disputes over who will benefit or pay for a program and who ought to benefit or pay.

The Politics of Different Issues Simple theory of politics: Are costs and benefits of proposed policy widely distributed? Income tax, Social Security Are costs and benefits of proposed policy narrowly distributed? Farm subsidies Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Four Types of Politics Majoritarian politics Distributed benefits, distributed costs Free-rider problem Example: Social Security Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Four Types of Politics Interest group politics Usually involves organized interest groups Concentrated benefits, concentrated costs Example: regulations affecting layoff notifications for union members Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Unorganized interest groups (such as welfare recipients and the homeless) typically receive far less benefits.

Four Types of Politics Client politics Concentrated benefits, distributed costs Pork-barrel legislations and log-rolling Example: farm subsidies Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Four Types of Politics Entrepreneurial Politics Distributed benefits, concentrated costs Policy entrepreneurs Ralph Nader Example: environmental protection regulations Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

A Way of Classifying and Explaining the Politics of Different Policy Issues Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Figure 1.1

Four Types of Politics Policy dynamics Issue can remain stable, change a little or a lot, change slowly or quickly No “typical” path Most major social legislation reflects majoritarian politics Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is an exception. It reflects all four types of politics.

Major Overhaul of U.S. Military Includes Defense Cuts Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Click picture to play video

Major Overhaul of U.S. Military Includes Defense Cuts Taking a closer look: Which of the four types of politics best describes defense policy? When formulating this policy, who likely served as President Obama’s primary advisors? What can you hypothesize about the timing of this policy proposal? Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Understanding Politics Political scientists ask how and why Who governs—and to what ends? How do political issues get on the public agenda? How do the politics of issues change over time? What political obstacles and opportunities will arise? What is the role of public opinion, interest groups, the media, the courts and political parties? Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.