1. American Government: Basics
Lecture #1

2. What is political power?
Terms
Power: ability for one body (person, government) to get another person or government institution to do something
Is force used?
Does the government have too much power? Who decides?
Authority: right to use power
Tend to only have authority to use power if you have….
Legitimacy: determination of who has authority
Can the President issue a travel ban?
Can Congress pass healthcare legislation?
Can the Courts legalize gay marriage?

3. Different Types of Democracy
Direct: every citizen participates in the decisions government must make (everyone plays equal role)
Examples: Ancient Greece
Indirect/Representative:
Examples: current US government; student government at PFHS

4. Who Governs? Marxist Theory
Control economic system, control government
Based on writings from Karl Marx
Elitist Theory
Top, powerful leaders (some economic, some not) make decisions and do not typically represent popular beliefs
Started with C. Wright Mills, American sociologist

5. Who Governs? 3. Bureaucratic Theory
Appointed civil servants (public actors) who operate and control the government
Marxism is flawed because it forgets the many government institutions that exist
In other words, capitalists (rich business elites) AND government workers can come to power
Based on Marx’s protege→ Max Weber
4. Pluralist Theory
Competition exists and no single group has all the power because there are so many different resources (money, prestige, media, etc) and levels of government that no group can control all gov’t
5. Creedal Passion View
All the aforementioned views are correct, but adds to it
Says elites still govern, but they are driven by compassionate motivations

6. The Political Agenda Shared political values
We believe in ideas such as free speech, life, liberty, individualism
Weight of custom and tradition
Precedent→ people more open to policies that are similar to things the government has already done and they are resistant to change
Example: it’s harder to take away something that people have already enjoyed/received a benefit from
Impact of events
War, terror attacks, financial crises, natural disasters
Changes in way political elites think and discuss politics

7. What influences government institutions?
Supreme Court makes a decision that impacts how other branches of government work
Media
Media can unearth issues the general public did not know about
Shift perception
Educate public on an issue they did not know existed
Problems with infrastructure
Poverty
Healthcare/public health issues
States
State policies influence national policies
States serve as case studies for ideas