1. The Study of American Government

2. Why Is Government Necessary?
Order
Liberty
Authority and Legitimacy
Liberty is the greatest freedom of individuals that is consistent with the freedom of other individuals in the society; it can be promoted by or invoked against government.

3. Forms of Government Totalitarian Authoritarianism Aristocracy
Democracy
Derived from the Greek words demos (“the people”) and kratos (“authority”)
Political authority comes from citizens
Totalitarian Regime: government controls all aspects of the political and social life of a nation.
Authoritarianism: a type of regime in which only the government itself is fully controlled by the ruler. (But social and economic institutions exist that are not under the government’s control. )

4. Direct Democracy
Political decisions are made by the people directly, rather than by elected representatives
Attained most easily in small communities
The purest model of a direct democracy is the ancient Greek city-state of Athens. All citizens debated and voted on proposed laws. However, women, foreigners and slaves were excluded from citizenship status, and thus, a vote.
Voter registration in Chicago
AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

5. Representative Democracy
Constitution established a representative democracy
Framers called this a Republic
Experimental
Power (votes) resides with citizens
Representatives make policy and law

6. Direct Democracy Today
Initiative: voters can propose a law or a constitutional amendment
Referendum: referred by the legislature to the voters for approval/ disapproval
Recall: allows voters to dismiss an elected official from office before term expires

7. Is Direct Democracy Dangerous?
Founders believed in government based on the consent of the people, but were highly distrustful of anything that might look like “mob rule.”
Feared tyranny of majority over rights of the minority.
Believed “masses” were too uneducated to make informed decisions.
Devised institutions to filter the popular will through elected elites.

8. A Democratic Republic
Democratic republic and representative democracy really mean the same thing—government based on elected representatives—except for the historical quirk that a republic cannot have a vestigial king.
The U.S. system was unique at first in the large amount of power vested in ordinary citizens.
National Portrait Gallery

9. A Democratic Republic (cont.)
Principles of Democratic Government
Universal suffrage
Majority rule
Constitutional Democracy
Limited government
Usually includes constitutional checks
Multiple points of access to power
Without such limits, democracy could destroy itself.

10. What Kind of Democracy Do We Have?
Majoritarianism
Government ought to do what majority of people desire
Elite theory
Society is ruled by small group who wish to further their own self-interests
Pluralism
Views politics as a conflict among interest groups, with decision-making characterized by bargaining and compromise

11. Fundamental Values Political Socialization Liberty versus Order
Equality versus Liberty
Economic Equality
Property Rights
Capitalism
Capitalism: an economic system characterized by the private ownership of wealth-creating assets and also by free markets and freedom of contract.

12. Tensions Over Big Government
How much power should the American government have and what role should it play in the lives of citizens?
Gulf oil spill and cleanup
Mining safety regulations
Recalls (auto, food, pharmaceutical)
Taxes
National security policies
Conflicts over the size and scope of government are not new. Americans value limited government in relation to their private lives and civil liberties, but are quick to ask for government help when a large-scale disaster strikes.

13. Ideologies: Liberalism versus Conservatism
Conservatives
Favor limited government involvement in economy
Often favor government involvement in social issues to preserve traditional values
Liberals
Favor government regulation of economy to benefit society
On social issues, prefer limited government role

14. A Four-Cornered Ideological Grid
In this grid, the colored squares represent four different political ideologies.
The vertical choices range from cultural order to cultural liberty.
The horizontal choices range from economic equality to economic liberty.
Voters are more likely to describe themselves as conservative, which they associate with “moderate.” The term liberal has come to be associated with “radical,” with libertarian ideologies seen as even more radical.

15. Ideologies: The Traditional Political Spectrum
Socialism: strong support for economic and social equality
Libertarianism: skepticism toward government
Socialism: a political ideology traditionally envisioning a society in which major businesses were taken over by the government or by employee cooperatives.
Libertarianism: a political ideology based on skepticism or opposition toward almost all government activities.

16. Classical Liberalism
Liberal once meant limited government and no religion in politics.
Liberal evolved into its modern American meaning along with the political evolution of the Democratic Party, once the party of limited government, but now the party of (relative) economic equality.
The original meaning of liberal was “free.” In general, all popular American ideologies are a type of liberalism. Outside of the United States, the meaning of liberal has not changed, and is similar to our modern-day understanding of libertarianism.

17. The Traditional Political Spectrum
Socialism falls on the left side of the political spectrum, and has a very minor role in the American political system. Libertarianism, which falls on the right, is marked by skepticism and opposition toward most government activities. Libertarians support laissez-faire capitalism.

18. Other Ideologies Communism: a revolutionary variant of socialism
Government control of all enterprises
Partisan dictatorship
No free markets
Fascism: often totalitarian
Absolute ruler
Rejection of individualism
Communism: favors a partisan (and often totalitarian) dictatorship, government control of all enterprises, and the replacement of free markets by central planning.
Fascism: a twentieth-century ideology—often totalitarian—exalts the national collective united behind an absolute ruler, and rejects liberal individualism, values action over rational deliberation, and glorifies war.

19. Ideologies in the Islamic World
While communism and fascism are the historical ideologies that totalitarianism was coined to describe, our current international concern is with the radical and fundamentalist interpretation of Islam known as Islamism.
Islamism rejects Western democratic values
Desires worldwide Islamic political order
Al Qaeda’s ideology is an example of Islamism. It rejects all Western democratic values and calls for the establishment of a worldwide Islamic political order (the caliphate.)

20. A Demographic Profile of America
“Here is not merely a nation but a teeming Nation of nations” Walt Whitman
The demographic profile of the United States is most affected by its changing ethnic composition and the aging of its citizens.

21. Click the icon to open the movie Video Supplied by Motion Gallery
Obama Election Night
A news story showing brief clips of Obama speaking in Chicago’s Grant Park after his election win was confirmed.
Air Date: 11/5/2008
Click the icon to open the movie
Video Supplied by Motion Gallery

22. Video Questions
Was Obama’s election a direct result of the changing demographic breakdown in the U.S.?
After this election, did ethnic background become more or less important for future candidates?
Where does Obama fall on the ideological grid? Has this changed since his election?

23. Religious Diversity
Although a large majority (83%) of Americans still identify as Christians, Americans now claim affiliation with 1600 different religious affiliations and denominations.
About 16% are not religiously affiliated.
The largest percentage of Americans identify themselves as Protestant, either affiliated with a mainline Protestant church (18%) or an evangelical Protestant tradition (26%). The next largest group are Roman Catholics (24%). About 16% of Americans say they are unaffiliated with a particular church (

24. The Changing Face of America
Aging
Population Growth
Ethnic Change
Changes in Hispanic community
Women
In the workforce
In Congress and state government
The U.S. population is aging, but at a slower rate than many wealthy nations. The U.S. also continues to experience (slow) population growth. Due to changing immigration rates and a higher fertility rate among immigrants, its ethnic character continues to change.

25. Illegal Immigrants
SOURCE: Washington Post, National Weekly Edition, May 29–June 4, 2006, 8.

26. The U.S. Population Click here to go to the U.S. POPClock Projection
Information is provided by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
© The New Yorker Collection J.B. Handelsman from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.
Click here to go to the U.S. POPClock Projection

27. The Aging of America
The median age of the population is increasing more slowly in the United States than in many other wealthy countries. By 2050, the median is expected to be 36.2.
*Data for 2025 and 2050 are projections.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census.

28. Changing U.S. Population
The number of people who identify themselves as multiracial is also growing.

29. Questions for Critical Thinking
Do you think a direct democracy is a rational option for governing in the United States?
Describe the forms of direct democracy that exist. Discuss the pros and cons of these mechanisms. 29 29

30. Questions for Critical Thinking
Do some Americans equate security and order with protection against fellow citizens who are racially, culturally, or economically different?
Is protection against discrimination an important issue today? Which groups in American society most need protection? 30 30

31. Web Links U.S. Census Bureau U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Includes detailed census data, as well as the U.S. Population Clock.
The official site of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.