1. Introduction: Government & the People

2. Government, Politics, and Power
Government: The rules of the game
The institutions and processes that make the rules for society and possess the power to enforce them
Ex.: Congress & the constitutional budget power
Politics: The pursuit and exercise of power
Harold Lasswell: “Who gets what, when, and how”
Ex.: The deals & compromises that go into the budget

3. Constitutional Democracy
Democracy: Government by the People
Direct Democracy
(e.g., ancient Greece, New England towns)
Representative Democracy, or Republic
Constitutional Democracy = Limited Gov’t
Majority Rule and Minority Rights
Plurality & parliamentary systems
Equality
Worth, if not ability

4. Interacting Values Personal Liberty Respect for the Individual
Equality of Opportunity
Popular Consent
John Locke
Values in Conflict

5. Political Processes Free and Fair Elections Freedom of Expression
Right to Assemble and Protest
New “direct democracy” in the states
Initiative
Referendum
Recall

6. Conditions for Democracy?
Education?
Economics?
Social Capital?
Something else?
Why promote democracies elsewhere?

7. Making Public Policy
Policy: a course of action decided upon by a government that usually involves a choice among competing alternatives
Laws, presidential orders or “doctrines” (e.g., Bush Doctrine)
Implementation: actions taken by government to carry out a policy

8. Types of Policy Distributive Policies Redistributive Policies
Distributing goods and services to projects or groups
New bombers or a new park?
Redistributive Policies
Takes something from one person or group and gives it to another
Tax brackets; earned-income credits