This document provides an overview and outline of key topics in a chapter on introducing government in America, including:
- The functions and purposes of government and how policies impact citizens.
- Defining politics and assessing how citizens can influence policymaking through linkage institutions and how policies then impact people.
- The key principles of democracy, different theories about how it works in practice, and current challenges to democracy in America.
It includes learning objectives for each section and provides examples and definitions to explain the concepts.
Introduction to the learning objectives and core requirements required in Kitchenman's survey American Government Course. Includes a broad overview of key terms in political science that students should master and philosophical underpinnings of democratic government.
3. Warm Up
List 5 things that you did from the time
you woke up this morning
4. 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
5. 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
8. 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?
15. 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?
16. Introduction
“there has never been, nor ever will
be, a people who are politically
ignorant and free” Thomas Jefferson
17. ????
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!!!
49. Purposes of Government
Governments typically :
maintain a national defense
provide services
preserve order
socialize the young
Make economic decisions
69. 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
70. 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.
72. 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)
74. 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.
75. Let’s Look at a Recent
Policy!!!!
Policy-
People –
Linkage –
Agenda-
Institutions –
Policy -
Policy Impact ?-
78. 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).
Democracy traced back to Ancient Greece and Rome
Framers of the US believed in democracy they were also
suspicious of democracy
Abe Lincoln - Gettysburg Address - “government of the people, by
the people, and for the people”
Democracy is spreading around the world in areas that were
formerly undemocratic
79. Democracy
Policies should reflect the “will of the
people”
Direct Democracy
Representative Democracy
“Republic”
• and to the republic for which it stands…
80. 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)
82. Theories of U.S. Democracy
Pluralist Theory
A theory of government and politics
emphasizing that politics is mainly a
competition among groups, each
one pressing for its own preferred
policies
Groups debate and compromise for
the “common good”
85. Pluralist Theory
Groups will work together
Public interest/common good will
prevail through bargaining and
compromise
Groups will walk away from the table
with some satisfaction.
86. Theories of U.S. Democracy
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
Wealthy and big business at the
center of democracy
87. Elite and Class Theory
Problems
Not all groups equal
Policies benefit mainly those with
money and power
88. Theories of U.S. Democracy
Hyperpluralism (pluralism gone sour)
A theory of government and politics
contending that competing groups are
so strong and one dimensional that
government is weakened.
Groups control debate and policy and
prevent government from acting
89. Hyperpluralism
Results in:
Difficulty in coordinating policy
implementation
Confusing and contradictory policies
result from politicians trying to placate
every group
90. Challenges to Democracy
Increased
Complexity of the
Issues
Limited
Participation in
Government
Escalating
Campaign Costs
Diverse Political
Interests (policy
gridlock)
91. 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
100. 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?
106. The Left
Liberal
- Democrats, Labor, Socialist,
Communist
- “Progressive”
-Society
-Multicultural
-Constitution – Evolving – “Living Doc”
-Equality – level playing field
107. The Right
Conservative
Republican, Conservative, Nationalist
Traditional
Individual
Patriotic
Constitution – Original Intent
Freedom - opportunity
108. Big vs Small
Liberals
Government intervention is the only
way to achieve important goals!!
Conservatives
“As government expands, liberty
contracts” Reagan
109. 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
or a smaller government.
110. The Scope of Government in America
How Active Is American
Government?
Spends $3.8 trillion yearly.
Employs 2.8 million civilians and 1.4
million in the military.
It owns one-third of the land in the
United States.
What ever the national problems –
many people expect government to
solve it.
LO 1.5
To Learning Objectives
112. 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
American government.
Figure 1.2 Age and Political Knowledge, 1972 and 2008
Figure 1.3 Presidential Election Turnout Rates of Young and Old Americans, 1972-2008
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 consists of those institutions that make authoritative public policies for society as a whole.
Four key institutions make policy at the national level: Congress, president, the courts, and the federal administrative agencies (bureaucracy).
This chapter raises two fundamental questions about governing that will serve as themes for the text.
How should we govern?
What should government do?
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.
Lecture Outline
Politics determines whom we select as governmental leaders and what policies they pursue.
Harold D. Lasswell defined politics as “who gets what, when, and how.”
Political participation refers to the ways in which people get involved in politics.
Single-issue groups are interest groups whose members will vote on a single issue, such as pro-life and pro-choice groups that ignore a politician’s stand on everything except abortion.
LO 1.2 Image: Pro-life and pro-choice groups are single-minded and usually uncompromising.
Lecture Outline
A policymaking system is the process by which policy comes into being and evolves over time.
Figure 1.4 The Policymaking System
LO 1.3 Image: AIDS activists try to get the government to take aggressive action to find and approve new treatments.
Lecture Outline
Democracy is a means of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public’s preferences.
Figure 1.5 Assessment of Democracy by Citizens in Various Countries
Lecture Outline
Scholars debate whether there is a “cultural war” afoot in America.
Lecture Outline
National, state, and local governments in America collectively spend 29 percent of our gross domestic product (the value of all goods and services produced annually by the United States).
LO 1.5 Image: Political debate over the historic health care bill signed into law by President Obama.