Brief Contents of Chapter 1: Introducing Government in America
Lecture Tips and Suggestions for In-Class Activities
Use the beginning of the twenty-first century to stimulate a discussion on the text’s theme of how we should be governed. What are the strengths of our democracy in the new millennium? Our weaknesses? Why? And what should we do about them? This topic could also be used for a reading and writing connection, asking students to keep a journal that focuses on these questions throughout the semester.
Discuss the importance of interest groups in politics today. Do students identify with any groups? Are they members of any groups? Are they represented by any groups, whether they are members or not? Ask the students if they think interest groups are good or bad for democracy.
Lecture Tips and Suggestions for In-Class Activities
Split the students into two sections. Assign one section the task of defending the importance of high citizen political participation. The other section will have the task of defending the argument that only politically knowledgeable citizens should participate in politics. Give each section time to discuss its positions and then have them select one or two students to present their arguments to the class.
This chapter discusses four challenges to democracy: increased technical expertise, limited participation in government, escalating campaign costs, and diverse political interests. Ask students to identify which one of these challenges is most critical, and to discuss what might be done about it. This assignment could be a writing assignment or a debate format in class.
Lecture Tips and Suggestions for In-Class Activities
Debate over the role and size of government is central to contemporary American politics, and it is a theme that is examined in each chapter of Government in America. The authors ask: is the scope of government too broad, too narrow, or just about right? Ask students to discuss, using contemporary examples, what is meant by government being “too big.” Do students disagree as to what “too big” is? Why? Ask students to develop a set of criteria, or values, with which they could evaluate what is “too big” about government today.
Lecture Outline
Government
Political Apathy
People age 18-29 are twice as likely than people over age 65 to report low political interest.
Age and Political Knowledge
Young people are less likely to know answers to political questions than older people.
Figure 1.1 Political Apathy Among Young and Old Americans, 1972-2008
Figure 1.2 Age and Political Knowledge, 1972 and 2008
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Government
Presidential Election Turnout Rates
Young people because they are less interested in politics and hence less likely to be regular voters.
Government is the institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society.
In the case of our own national government, these institutions are Congress, the president, the courts, and federal administrative agencies (“the bureaucracy”).
Figure 1.3 Presidential Election Turnout Rates of Young and Old Americans, 1972-2008
LO 1.1 Image: George W. Bush carried the crucial state of Florida in 2000 by a mere 537 votes.
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Government
Regardless of how they assumed power, all governments have certain functions in common.
Governments maintain national defense.
Governments provide public goods—things that everyone can share, such as clean air.
Governments have police powers to provide order—as when Chinese security forces crushed the student protest in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and when the National Guard was called in to restore order in Los Angeles after the 1992 Rodney King verdict.
Governments socialize the young into the political culture—typically through practices such as reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in daily exercises at public schools.
Governments collect taxes to pay for the services they provide.
LO 1.1 Image: As part of America’s national defense, U.S. troops have been fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan since 2001.
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Politics
Politics determines whom we select as governmental leaders and what policies they pursue.
Politics produces authoritative decisions about public issues.
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Politics
Who includes voters, candidates, groups, and parties.
What refers to the substance of politics and government—benefits, such as medical care for the elderly, and burdens, such as new taxes.
How refers to the ways in which people participate in politics.
People get what they want through voting, supporting, compromising, lobbying, and so forth.
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The Policymaking System
A policymaking system is the process by which policy comes into being and evolves over time.
People’s interests, problems, and concerns create political issues for government policymakers and shape policy that impacts society.
Figure 1.4 The Policymaking System
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The Policymaking System
It is important to assess how citizens can have an impact on public policy and how policies can impact people.
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People Shape Policy
People have interests, problems, and concerns.
People’s interests, problems, and concerns create political issues for government policymakers.
In a democratic society, parties, elections, interest groups, and the media are key linkage institutions between the preferences of citizens and the government’s policy agenda.
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People Shape Policy
Political issues shape policy.
When people confront government officials with problems they expect them to solve, they are trying to influence the government’s policy agenda.
A political issue arises when people disagree about a problem or about a public policy choice.
The end product of government and politics is public policy.
Policymakers stand at the core of the political system, working within the three policymaking institutions established by the U.S. Constitution: the Congress, the presidency, and the courts.
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Policies Impact People
Policy impacts people, generating more interests, problems, and concerns.
Policy impacts are the effects policy has on people and on society’s problems.
There are many types of public policies, including congressional statutes, presidential actions, court decisions, budgetary choices and regulation.
Having a policy implies a goal: people who raise a policy issue usually want a policy that works.
Translating people’s desires into public policy is crucial to the workings of democracy.
Policies can be established through inaction as well as action.
Table 1.1 Types of Public Policies
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Democracy is a means of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public’s preferences.
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Traditional democratic theory rests upon several principles that specify how a democratic government makes its decisions.
Democratic theorist Robert Dahl refers to five criteria that are essential for “an ideal democratic process”:
Equality in voting—the principle of “one person, one vote” is basic to democracy.
Effective participation—political participation must be representative.
Enlightened understanding—free press and free speech are essential to civic understanding.
Citizen control of the agenda—citizens should have the collective right to control the government’s policy agenda.
Inclusion—citizenship must be open to all within a nation.
In addition, democracies must practice majority rule and preserve minority rights.
The relationship between the few leaders and the many followers is one of representation: the closer the correspondence between representatives and their electoral majority, the closer the approximation to democracy. Most Americans also feel that it is vital to protect minority rights, such as freedom of speech.
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Three Contemporary Theories of American Democracy
Pluralist theory contends that many centers of influence compete for power and control.
Groups compete with one another for control over public policy, with no one group or set of groups dominating.
There are multiple access points to our government, with power dispersed among the various branches and levels of government.
Bargaining and compromise are essential ingredients of our democracy.
Electoral majorities rarely rule; rather, as Dahl puts it, “all active and legitimate groups in the population can make themselves heard at some crucial stage in the [policymaking] process.”
The recent increase in interest group activity is cited by pluralists as evidence of pluralism.
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Three Contemporary Theories of American Democracy
Elite and class theory contends that our society (like all societies) is divided along class lines.
An upper-class elite rules, regardless of governmental organization.
Wealth is the basis of class power: a few powerful Americans are the policymakers.
Big business and its power is at the center of most elite and class theories.
Some observers argue that elitism is increasing in recent times.
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Three Contemporary Theories of American Democracy
Hyperpluralism is pluralism gone sour.
Many groups are so strong that government is unable to act.
There are too many groups with access to the different levels and branches of government: these groups have multiple ways to both prevent policies they disagree with and promote those they support.
When politicians try to placate every group, the result is confusing, contradictory, and muddled policy (or no policy at all).
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Challenges to Democracy
How can average citizens make decisions about complex issues?
What if citizens know little about their leaders and policy decisions?
Is American democracy too dependent on money?
Does American diversity produce governmental gridlock?
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American Political Culture and Democracy
Political culture is key to understanding American government.
America is unified by ideology and political culture—which is unusual compared to most countries with strong nationalistic characteristics and a longer history.
Five elements of political culture shape American democracy.
Liberty: Liberty is one of Jefferson’s inalienable rights and a cornerstone of the Bill of Rights.
Egalitarianism: Equality of opportunity, especially social equality, has promoted increasing political equality.
Individualism: American individualism developed in part from the western frontier and the immigrants’ flight from government oppression.
Laissez-faire economics: The American government taxes and regulates less than most countries at its equivalent level of development.
Populism: The common, ordinary citizens are idealized in American politics, and both liberals and conservatives claim to be their protectors.
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A Culture War?
James Q. Wilson believes that America is a more polarized nation today than at any time in living memory.
Other scholars believe that there is relatively little evidence of a so-called culture war going on among ordinary American citizens.
LO 1.4 Image: In his first major political speech, Barack Obama proclaimed that there was no such thing as red or blue states—only the United States.
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The Scope of Government in America
Gross Domestic Product is the sum total of the value of all the goods and services produced in a year in a nation.
Altogether, our governments— national, state, and local—spend about a third of our gross domestic product (GDP).
Lecture Outline
The Scope of Government in America
Consider some facts about the size of our national government.
It spends about $3.8 trillion annually (printed as a number, that’s $3,800,000,000,000 a year).
It employs over 2.8 million civilians, as well as 1.4 million in the military.
It owns one-third of the land in the United States.
It occupies 2.6 billion square feet of office space, more than four times the office space located in the nation’s 10 largest cities.
LO 1.5 Image: Political debate over the historic health care bill signed into law by President Obama.
LO 1.1: Describe the key functions of government and explain why they matter.
Which of the following is an example of a public good?
D. National defense (LO 1.1)
Which of the following is an example of a public good?
D. National defense (LO 1.1)
LO 1.2: Define the various aspects of politics.
Politics determines who we select as our governmental leaders and policies these leaders pursue.
B. what (LO 1.2)
Politics determines who we select as our governmental leaders and policies these leaders pursue.
B. what (LO 1.2)
LO 1.3: Assess how citizens can have an impact on public policy and how policies can impact people.
All of the following are considered linkage institutions EXCEPT
D. courts. (LO 1.3)
All of the following are considered linkage institutions EXCEPT
D. courts. (LO 1.3)
LO 1.4: List the key principles of democracy, theories regarding how it works in practice, and challenges it faces today.
LO 1.4: List the key principles of democracy, theories regarding how it works in practice, and challenges it faces today.
According to Robert Dahl’s traditional democratic theory, an ideal democratic process should satisfy all of the following criteria EXCEPT .
D. majority rule. (LO 1.4)
According to Robert Dahl’s traditional democratic theory, an ideal democratic process should satisfy all of the following criteria EXCEPT .
D. majority rule. (LO 1.4)
LO 1.5: Explain the debate in America over the proper scope of government.
The annual budget of the federal government is nearly .
A. $4 trillion (LO 1.5)
The annual budget of the federal government is nearly .
A. $4 trillion (LO 1.5)
