AP Gov't Chap 1 Intro to Gov't

Introducing Government
in America
Chapter 1

Warm Up
 List 5 things that you did from the time
you woke up this morning

Introduction
 Politics and government
matter.
Policy choicesmakeadifference
and shapethekind of country in
which welive, taxeswepay, the
warswefight, thequality of our
environment, and many other
critical aspectsof our lives

Politics and Government Matter!
 Despite it’s importance…
 Americans areapathetic about politics
and government.
 American youth arenot likely to be
informed about government and
politicsand rarely participatein
politics.
 Jay Walking

What do you know?!?
1. What political party controls the House of
Representatives?
2. What political party controls the Senate
3. Who is the current Speaker of the House?
4. Who is the current VP?
5. Who is the current Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court?
6. What is the economic system of the US?
7. Who is one of your state senators?
8. If both the Pres and VP can no longer serve,
who becomes president?
9. How many justices are on the SC?

Knowledge vs. Participation
 Should all citizens participate in
government? OR Should only
knowledgeable citizens be allowed to
participate in government?
 What do you think? Why?

Introduction
 “there has never been, nor ever will
be, a people who are politically
ignorant and free” Thomas Jefferson

????
 It means that if people are politically
ignorant, they will soon fall under the
tyranny of a dictator.
America is in great danger at this
time!!!

Chapter 1: Introducing
Government in America
• Government
• Politics
• The Policymaking System
• Democracy
• The Scope of Government in America
• Summary

Chapter Outline and Learning
Objectives
• Government
• LO 1.1:
Describe the key functions of government and
• Politics
• LO 1.2: Define the various aspects of politics.

Objectives
• The Policymaking System
• LO 1.3: Assess how citizens can have an
impact on public policy and how policies
can impact people.
• Democracy
• LO 1.4: List the key principles of
democracy, theories regarding how it works
in practice, and challenges it faces today.

Objectives
• The Scope of Government in America
• LO 1.5: Explain the debate in America over
the proper scope of government.

Four Essential Features
of
The State• Population
• The people that make up the State
• Territory
• An area with fixed boundaries
• Can change because of war, purchase, annexation
• Sovereignty
• Absolute authority, within its territorial boundaries
• Government
• Maintains order, Provides services, National security,
Makes economic decisions
• CIA World Factbook

State vs. Country?
• State and country generally have the
same meaning
• Political community (People)
• Definite boundaries (Territory)
• Freedom to make rules and laws without
getting approval from another (Sovereignty)
• Independent government

Section –I
Principles of Government
• How many States are there in the world
today?
• The answer…
• 195 is probably the best current answer
to the question.

Why is there not an exact
number?
• There are dozens of territories and
colonies that are sometimes erroneously
called "countries" but don't count at all
• Bermuda
• Puerto Rico
• Greenland
• Northern Ireland
• Scotland
• they're not fully independent countries

So, are PA and NY countries?
• Not exactly
• Political divisions in the United States
are called states because:
• When the colonies banded together to
fight the British, they thought of
themselves as independent countries.

Populations
• Populations can be either homogenous
or heterogeneous
• Homogeneous – Finland, 94% Finn; 72%
Lutheran
• Heterogeneous – US, Canada

Population
• Race –
• Ethnicity –
• Nationality -

Race
• A group of people identified as distinct
from other groups because of supposed
physical or genetic traits. “The way you
look”
• Some biologists and anthropologists do
not recognize race as a biologically valid
classification. Race is "merely a social
construct.

• Race Categories
• American Indian or Alaska Native: A person having origins in any of the original
peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains
tribal affiliation or community attachment.
• Asian: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East,
Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China,
India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and
Vietnam. Middle East?
• Black or African American: A person having origins in any of the black racial groups
of Africa. "Black or African American".
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the
original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
• White: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe. Middle East?
• Ethnicity Categories
• Hispanic or Latino: A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or
origin, regardless of race. The term, "Spanish origin", can be used in addition to "Hispanic or Latino".
• Not Hispanic of Latino

Ethnicity
• a socially defined category of people
who identify with each other based on
common ancestral, social, cultural or
national experience
• Physical characteristics
• Linguistics
• Is Ethnicity Fluid? Can you ever shed your
ethnicity?

Is Racial Fluidity a thing?

Nationality
• is the legal relationship between a
person and a state

Nationality

DNA Discussion Project
• Have you ever wondered about the origins of your
family? Are you curious about your ethnicity or race?
Have you heard or told stories about your family's
past? Would you like to know the truth behind family
secrets? There happens to be a scientific way to
answer all these questions with a high level of
accuracy. It is called DNA.
• DNA Discussion Project

DNA Discussion Project
• In the long run, we hope to expand the project
to include elementary and high school
students in the region. By encouraging greater
understanding of the science of genetics, the
construction of race, and the perception of
ethnicity, we hope to expand the dialogue
about diversity in our community.

• Ancestry DNA

Power????
•How do people come to
power???
• How did tHe state arise?

Theories of the Origin of the
State

Theories of the Origin of
the State
• Evolution
• The state developed out or early
primitive family in which one person was
the head and evolved to be the head of
the state.

State
• Force
• One person or a group claimed control over
an area and forced all within its borders to
submit. The state was born out of force

State
• Divine Right
• The state was created by God who gave
those of royal birth the “divine right” to rule
• Aztec, Mayan, Egypt, Japan

State
• Social Contract Theory
• Humans voluntarily gave up their freedom in
exchange for protection and security.
• A government of “rules” not “rulers”

Locke vs. Hobbes
• Hobbes – “state of nature” world without
gov’t, “nasty, brutish, short”
• Locke – The job of government/The
State is to protect "life, liberty, and
property”

Government
LO 1.1: Describe the key functions of
government and explain why they matter.
• Government - those institutions that
make authoritative policies for society.
• Regardless how their leaders assume
office, all governments have certain
functions in common.
To Learning Objectives

The Purposes/Role of
Government
• Americans are affected by government in
countless ways every day.
• National, state, and local governments make
decisions and run programs that impact our daily
lives.
• Unfortunately, most Americans give little to no
thought about the extent of the government’s
role.

Actions of Government

Purposes of Government
 Governments typically :
maintain a national defense
provide services
 preserve order
 socialize the young
Make economic decisions

Purposes of
Government
Nat’l Defense
Public Services
Order
Socialize the
Young
Economic
Decisions

Purposes of the American
Government
• Preamble

Preamble
• Introduction to the US Constitution
• Six Goals of the US Government

• Form a More Perfect Union
• Promote Cooperation between the states

• Establish Justice
• Make fair laws and treat all citizens equally.

• Insure Domestic Tranquility
• Keep communities safe from crime and
disorder

• Provide for the Common Defense
• Prevent attacks from foreign nations

• Promote the General Welfare
• Improve the quality of people’s lives

• Secure the Blessings of Liberty
• Allow people to be free from unnecessary
and unjust laws

• How well is the United States doing in
terms of achieving its goals?

Grade the goals of the
Preamble
• A – F?
• Give each a goal a grade and explain
why the US receives this grade.

• Two central questions:
• How should we govern?
• What should government do?

Politics
LO 1.2: Define the various aspects of
politics.
• Politics is the process by which we
select our governmental leaders and
what policies they pursue.
• Harold Lasswell defines politics as the
struggle over who gets what, when, and
how.

Why does politics matter?
• Who – individuals and groups – usually
the focus of the media
• What - the substance of politics and
government
• How – the type of engagement or
participation used

The Policymaking System
LO 1.3: Assess how citizens can have an
impact on public policy and how policies
can impact people.
• People Shape Policy
• Citizens have an impact on the polices
that are pursued
• Policies Impact People
• Policies greatly affect the lives of the
public

People
 Interests
 Problems
 Concerns

Linkage Institutions
 Definition: Linkage institutions are the
political channels through which
people’s concerns become political
issues on the policy agenda.
Political Parties
Elections
News & Entertainment Media
Interest Groups

Policy Agenda
 Definition: The policy agenda are issues
that attract the serious attention of public
officials.
 Political issues arise when people disagree
about a problem and how to fix it.
 Some issues will be considered, and others
will not. Why?
 A government’s policy agenda changes
regularly.

Policymaking Institutions
 Definition: Policymaking institutions
are the branches of government
charged with taking action on political
issues.
Legislature (Congress)
Executive (President)
Courts (Federal and State)
Bureaucracies (Federal and State)

Policies Impact People
Public Policy: a choice that government makes
in response to a political issue

Policies Impact People
 Impacts of Policies:
Does it solve the problem?
Does it create more problems?
 Depending on the answer, policy
impacts carry the political system
back to its point of origin: the
concerns of people.

Let’s Look at a Recent
Policy!!!!
 Policy-
 People –
 Linkage –
 Agenda-
 Institutions –
 Policy -
 Policy Impact ?-

Democracy
LO 1.4: List the key principles of democracy,
theories regarding how it works in practice,
and challenges it faces today.
• Traditional Democratic Theory
• Three Contemporary Theories of
American Democracy
• Challenges to Democracy
• American Political Culture and
Democracy
• A Culture War?
• Preview Questions about Democracy

Democracy
 Definition: Democracy is a system of selecting
policymakers and of organizing government so that
policy represents and responds to the public’s
preferences (will of the people).
 Traced by to Ancient Greece and Rome
 Framers of the US were suspicious of democracy
 Abe Lincoln “government of the people, by the people,
and for the people”
 Democracy is spreading around the world in areas that
were formerly undemocratic

 Criteria
 Equality in voting (1 man; 1 vote)
 Effective participation
 Enlightened understanding
(knowledgeable citizenry)
 Citizen control of the agenda
 Inclusion (Majority Rule BUT with the
protection of minority rights)

Theories of American
Democracy
 Who has power and influence?
 Who really governs our nation?

Theories of U.S. Democracy
 Pluralist Theory
A theory of government and policies
emphasizing that politics is mainly a
competition among groups, each one
pressing for its own preferred policies

Pluralist Theory
 Groups will work together
 Public interest will prevail through
bargaining and compromise

 Elite and Class Theory
A theory of government and politics
contending that societies are divided
along class lines and that an upper-
class elite will rule
Wealth and Big business at the center
of politics and government

Elite and Class Theory
 Problems
Not all groups equal
Policies benefit those with money and
power

 Hyperpluralism (pluralism gone sour)
A theory of government and politics
contending that groups are so strong
that government is weakened.
 Special Interest Groups control policy
and prevent government from acting

Hyperpluralism
 Difficulty in coordinating policy
implementation
 Confusing and contradictory policies
result from politicians trying to placate
every group

Challenges to Democracy
 Increased
Complexity of the
Issues
 Limited
Participation in
Government
 Escalating
Campaign Costs
 Diverse Political
Interests (policy
gridlock)

 Increased
Complexity of the
Issues

 Limited
Participation in
Government

 Escalating
Campaign Costs

 Diverse Political
Interests (policy
gridlock)

American Political Culture
and Democracy
 Political Culture: An overall set of values
widely shared within a society.
 American culture is unified by ideology and
political culture. “American Creed”
 Liberty
 Egalitarianism
 Individualism
 Laissez-faire
 Populism

Democracy
• A Culture War?
• James Q. Wilson believes that America is a
more polarized nation today than at any
time in living memory.
• The two major political parties have moved
away form the middle and there has been
little room for compromise.
• Not the United States but separate red and
blue states!
LO 1.4

Polarized Nation?
Liberal Conservative

A Culture War?
 Is there a culture war going on in
America?
 Cartoon on page 21 in text.
Is This a realistic portrayal of
America?
Is This an exaggerated view of
America?

Liberal vs. Conservative
 Let’s take a Liberal/Conservative self
assessment!!!!

Liberal vs. Conservative
 Figure out your Liberal/Conservative
Quotient:
A x1 = _____
B x 2 =_____
C x 3 =_____
Total = _____

Typically Democrat Swing Vote Typically Republican
33 34 47 48 6162 74 75 88 89 101 102

The Left
 Liberal
- Democrats, Labor, Socialist,
Communist
- Progressive
-Society
-Multicultural – Evolving
-Equality – level playing field

The Right
 Conservative
Republican, Conservative, Nationalist
Traditional
Individual
Patriotic
Liberty - opportunity

Big vs Small
 Liberals
Government intervention and
redistribution is the way to achieve
important goals!!
 Conservatives
Limits on government are the best
way to govern. “As government
expands, liberty contracts” Reagan

Issues Lib vs. Con?
 Abortion
 Death Penalty
 Economy
 Gun Control
 Private Property
 War on Terror
 Welfare

The Scope of Government in
America
 Is the scope of out government too
broad, too narrow, or just about right?
 What or How much should government
do?
 Do we want a Big government to solve
all our problems or a Smaller
government to get out of our way and let
responsible individuals solve problems
themselves.

Summary
 Young people are apathetic about
government and politics, even though they
affect everyone.
 Democratic government, which is how the
United States is governed, consists of those
institutions that make policy for the benefit
of the people.
 What government should do to benefit the
people is a topic central to questions of the
size and scope of American government.

AP Gov't Chap 1 Intro to Gov't

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