Bell Ringer: What is the artist implying?

The Study of American Government [Chapter 1]

What is Political Power?  First of all—what is power?  Who uses power?  How do they use power?  In this course we will only focus on power as it relates to who will hold government office and how the government will behave  We will predominantly focus on the federal government

What is Political Power?  What is authority?  Who has authority when it comes to using the military?  Perhaps more important—who doesn’t?  When we talk about “formal authority” we are talking about the person/office that has the right to exercise a power

What is Political Power?  Why do we accept someone’s authority?  Is “because they said so legit?”  Hint—if it’s your parents, then the answer is yes  Reality is we accept authority because a body of laws were accepted by us as a society making it legitimate  While the Constitution has been changed 27 times since 1787 and is the shortest constitution in the world, it is something that most of us accept as legitimate laws for governing our society

What is Political Power?  America has a long history of fighting over what is considered legitimate authority  The Civil War was an argument of the role of the federal government in relation to states rights  Many New Deal items were repealed by the Supreme Court arguing legitimacy  Perhaps the most recent argument on the topic of legitimate power came with the challenge of Obamacare (which was upheld if you didn’t hear)

What is Political Power?  One thing virtually every American agrees on—power that is exercised in this country must be based in democracy  You’ve heard the term your whole life, so tell me, what is democracy?  Direct v. Representative democracy— what’s the difference? (POTENTIAL AP QUESTION)

How has democracy expanded throughout our history?  Making it easier to register as a voter (motor-voter laws)  Getting rid of requirements like poll taxes and property requirements (enfranchises the poor)  Passed the 15 th, 19 th, and 26 th Amendments granting suffrage to minorities, women, and people from ages who were previous blocked

A call to expand suffrage…  F:\Video\Watch Video Bad Romance Women's Suffrage YouTube at blinkx.flv F:\Video\Watch Video Bad Romance Women's Suffrage YouTube at blinkx.flv

Is Representative the Best?  It is funny—when your inline with the winner you say the “will of the people was heard” but when your on the losing side it was “mass misunderstanding”  Another funny thing—the word “democracy” wasn’t used in the Constitution anywhere  Why?

Is Representative the Best?  For it to work we must have 1. Legit competition for leadership (presidential elections) 2. Communication must be free 3. Voters believe there is a meaningful choice  Are these things happening?

Is Representative the Best?  People who want direct democracy claim it is the only way to ensure the “will of the people”  Did the founding fathers just not care about the will of the people since they went with representational democracy?  NO! A common mistake among Americans is believing that the Founders found the “will of the people” to be synonymous with the “public good” which is wrong  They sought to create a government that protected freedom and private property

Is Representative the Best?  The Founders actually believed that most people lacked the time, information, and/or expertise to make reasonable decisions  Even highly educated people could be manipulated by self-serving interests or those who played to their fears  The reason for representative democracy was to minimize the chance that power would be abused by either a tyrannical popular majority or by self-serving office holders

Is Representative the Best?  The danger with any democracy is that society can become an oligarchy or an autocracy  How does the situation in this cartoon lead to an oligarchy or autocracy?

How is Political Power Distributed?  There are four theories on who controls 1. Class view—emphasizes the power of “the rich” or leaders of corporations 2. Power elite view—says that democracy is dominated by a few, private leaders who do not hold office 3. Bureaucratic view—appointed officials control everything, not elected officials 4. Pluralist view—political resources are so widespread (money, prestige, expertise, and access to mass media) that no one group can dominate  Which one is America?

Is Democracy Driven by Self-Interest? Are politicians just in it for themselves? Are you in it for yourself when you go to work?

Is Democracy Driven by Self-Interest?  A policy, much like any random product, can be good or bad independently of the person/company who created it  Motive doesn’t correlate to quality  No Child Left Behind is widely accepted as a failed policy  Is the late Ted Kennedy a bad person for sponsoring the bill? Is Bush a bad person for signing it?

What Explains Political Change?  Before 1930 it was widely accepted that the government was to play a small role in our lives  What happened?  In the 1940s America attempted to be neutral in the European issues  What happened?  The reality is, despite what we have “planned” major events can quickly and drastically alter the policies we believe in

The Nature of Politics  Finding out what government does in a given situation is easy ( is a good source)  Finding out who wielded the power and why is an entirely different task  Any number of groups can cause action to be taken (lobbyists, interest groups, an ambitious congressmen)

Assignment  Page 14 provides a scenario  Please say whether you would ban ballot initiatives or keep them  In your answer please explain why with specific support/examples.