First week of PowerPoint lecture notes for Politics and Power in America course. Examines what politics is, differences in democracies, contrasted with the meaning of a Constitutional Republic, such as that of the United States.

1. Politics and Power

2. 2
"Man is by nature a political animal."
-- Aristotle
"Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of
principles."
-- Ambrose Bierce, American journalist
"Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in
affairs which properly concern them."
-- Paul Valery, French writer and philosopher
"The mistake a lot of politicians make is in forgetting
they've been appointed and thinking they've been
anointed."
-- Claude D. Pepper, US Senator

3. 3
Representation
and the Political
Process

4. 4
Democracy
 Direct (historically earlier form): citizens
themselves govern
 To which extent is it possible?
 Representative (modern)
 Government by citizens’ representatives
 The main principles:
 The state is a separate entity above society
 The state derives its authority from citizen consent
 State officials have an autonomy from society, but
are accountable to it

5. 5
 What is the meaning of representation?
 1. Rulers are elected, granted authority to govern -
but may not necessarily do what citizens want:
unfulfilled promises
“painful but necessary” reforms
 2. Rulers are not elected, but govern in such a way
that citizens do feel that their interests are taken
into account
kindly kings, benevolent dictators seeking citizen
support
 Obviously, electoral democracy is a better form of
representation
 But major problems remain

6. 6
 What if the majority of a democracy voted to…
 Take your property? (redistribute it to the poor)
 Return to the days of slavery?
 What would your country need to protect
individual rights to life, liberty and property?


7. 7
 1. Electoral mechanisms: how well do they
communicate society’s demands to the state
 2. Channels of citizen influence on the government
between elections – in the policy-making process
 3. The contents of policy
 Some of these problems can be solved through
improvements in the mechanisms of representation
 But there are strong arguments in favour of
reinforcing representation with robust institutions of
direct democracy

8. 8
The political process
The political process can be described as the flow of
political power
This flow never stops
It has its own patterns, reproduced over and over
again in a systematic way
It moves through institutions, links, channels which
connect society with the state

9. 9
Demands
Supports
INTERESTS
Interest
Groups
Political
Parties
Media
Executive
Assembly
Government
Judiciary
LAWSANDPOLICIES
Social impact of laws and policies
Elections
THE STATESOCIETY
The Political Process

10. 10
Some interests have more weight than others. Such
differences are reflected in every part of the political process
Some interests need the state more than others
Different interests need the state for different things
The flow of power has a dual nature
Power flows in two directions:
from society to the state
from the state to society

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Overall, the dominance of the society-to-state flow should be a
sign of democracy: the government heeds societal
demands
But if one looks at the unequal distribution of power, the
picture looks different
Economically dominant classes exert dominant control over
both flows of power
The rise of economic inequality in society is a sign that the
political process works primarily for those at the top,
creating a DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT

12. 12
Interest Groups and Interest
Articulation
The basic actor in the political process is the individual citizen
The range of individual political impact -
From letters to MPs and newspapers
To being a Bill Gates – or a Prime Minister’s close friend
But most individuals can have any impact only by acting
through interest groups – created to articulate (formulate
and express) group interests
In modern societies, they are numerous
They vary in structure, goals, style, financing, support base

13. 13
4 main types of interest groups*
 ANOMIC
 NONASSOCIATIONAL
 INSTITUTIONAL
 ASSOCIATIONAL
--------------------------------
*See Gabriel Almond, Bingham Powell et al., Comparative Politics Today, 8th
edition, Longman, 2003, Chapter 4

14. 14
ANOMIC GROUPS
Spontaneous (more or less) formations which arise to
respond to a specific issue, usually in a crisis –
demonstrations, riots
Not well-organized or sustained -
but may trigger off revolutions…
Can be created by organized groups

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NONASSOSIATIONAL GROUPS
Like anomic groups, not well-organized
Unlike anomic groups, are based on common
identities, such as ethnicity, region, religion,
occupation, etc.
Can be very large (ethnic communities in Canada) –
or very small (residents of a village)

16. 16
INSTITUTIONAL GROUPS
Formal groups created for the purpose of influencing
government policy
Mostly elite groups, are created by people possessing
significant social power - businessmen, military
officers, bureaucrats, politicians, the clergy
Possess large resources – financial, organizational,
etc.
Often have direct channels of influence on policy

17. 17
ASSOCIATIONAL GROUPS
Created to represent on a sustained basis diverse
social interests – trade unions, business sectors,
ethnic, religious, civic groups, etc.
They lobby, finance election campaigns, put out their
message through the media
A strong civil society is characterized by the existence
of strong, well-organized non-elite associational
groups which exert real influence on the political
process

18. 18
How interest groups act and interact
3 main interest group systems:
Pluralist – free interplay between the groups
Democratic corporatist – systematic, organized
coordination, with involvement of government
officials
Controlled – in authoritarian states, have no freedom
of action, closely controlled by ruling parties and
bureaucracies (authoritarian corporatism)

19. 19
Channels used to transmit demands
Legal access channels:
Personal connections
Mass media
Political parties
Legislatures
Government bureaucracies
Protest demonstrations, strikes
Coercive methods:
Protest demonstrations, strikes
Boycotts
Riots
Terrorism
Coup d’etat

20. 20
Interest Aggregation
The process through which demands are translated into policy
proposals
The key pre-modern (feudal) mechanism for IA is
the patron-client network (the crony system):
who knows whom, who is obliged to whom, who serves
whom – personal, informal, and flexible tools of power
In modern democracies, generally considered ineffective. Rule
of law, active citizenry, media freedom, competitive elections
limit the usability of cronyism.

21. 21
The main modern IA mechanism is the political party. Some
interest groups (institutional and associational) also perform
IA tasks.
But patron-client networks have not disappeared from modern
democracies
They continue to serve as unofficial - but not necessarily illegal
- mechanisms interlocking with official institutions
When a patron-client network is used to break the law, this is
called corruption. But the lines between the legal and the
illegal are often blurred

22. 22
Political Party
An interest group seeks to influence the state
A political party seeks to capture control of the state
President is the head of his political party.
A political party in the majority has more legislative power.
Leader of the majority party is called the “Whip”.
Functions of political parties:
Chooses presidential candidates
formulate programs to govern society
help organize the process of policy-making
recruit and train citizens for political leadership roles
(chooses electors for the electoral college).
How are political parties created?

23. 23

24. 24
Parties in government
In one-party authoritarian systems, the party,
organized as a military-type command structure,
controls both state and society
In two-party systems, the majority party has a high
degree of control over government
In multiparty systems, government is often formed on
the basis of several parties (bloc, coalition).
Differences between parties in a coalition may
undermine the government

25. Selecting a History Fair Topic
 Conflict and Compromise is this years theme.
 Select the category that you will compete in
 1. Research Paper (individual only)
 2. Web Site
 3. Documentary
 4. Role Play (drama students only)
 5. Exhibit
 Go to NHD.org and look at examples of winning
projects from past nationals winners.
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26. Selecting your Political Character
 1. Think about historical-political characters you
might be interested in… make a short list of these.
 2. What conflicts were they involved in?
Research and write down the conflict your
character was involved in.
 3. Explain how they made compromises to
resolve the conflict. Write down specifically what
actions your political character took, and especially
what was the historical result that helped to shape
history…in a positive way.
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27. Due by this Friday… Quiz Grade
 1. Find and save one scholarly essay that you
found online that analyzes your political character.
(50 points). Essays must have a bibliography.
 2. Zero in on the specific compromises that your
political character managed to achieve. Write
these down in a brief outline on your Cornell
Notes. (25 points)
 3. Explain how your political character changed
history by compromising through the conflict. (25
points)
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28. Political Character Suggestions
 George Washington (Continental Congress)
 Thomas Jefferson (Barbary Pirates)
 James Madison (Constitution)
 Abraham Lincoln (Civil War and Slavery)
 Theodore Roosevelt (Antiquities Act-National Parks
 Franklin D. Roosevelt (Wall Street Putch)
 Harry Truman (WWII-Atomic bombing)
 John F. Kennedy (Cuban Missile Crisis)
 Richard M. Nixon (from Quakerism to Watergate)
 Robert E. Lee (Civil War- gave up mil. career)
 Benjamin Franklin (Revolution-Diplomat)
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