Tabakian Pols 1 Fall/Spring 2014

1. Dr. Tabakian’s Political Science 1
US Government – Spring/Fall 2014
Week #2

2. COURSE LECTURE TOPICS
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Defining Political Science
Theory Defined
Rational Choice
Elitism & Pluralism
Spheres of Influence
Manipulation
Interdependency Theory
Power Theory
Transparency

3. WELCOME TO CLASS!
New semesters bring various
hiccups for everyone. This also goes
for your instructor. We are all
adjusting to new situations, course
schedule
conflicts
and
other
adjustments. This course utilizes
various
methods
to
deliver
information. Many of our materials
are media driven. You will find many
to be humorous, thought provoking ,
or even interesting. This first clip is
presented merely for fun. It is titled
“Welcome To School”.

4. SCHOOL FRUSTRATION

5. POLITICAL MESSAGE
All citizens are allowed to
author campaign rhetoric in
order to influence public policy.
Here is an example from
Campchaos.com. The purpose
may be solely comical without
any political purpose. However,
we must remember that all
individual actors are part of the
system. All actions influence
“The System”.

6. BUSH-CHENEY CARTOON

7. WHAT IS POLITICAL SCIENCE? - 1
• Political science is a branch of the social sciences
• Just like Sociology
• Each branch is interested in individual and group behavior
• Fundamental difference is the foundational theory
• Sociologists are biased towards elitism
• Political scientists are biased towards pluralism
• Elite theory is still utilized in the political sciences
• In contrast with pluralism
• Political scientists examine influences of political behavior
• Result of competing interests
• End result of conflict and compromise
• Sociologists looks at individual behavior
• According to elite influence in general

8. ROLE OF THEORY - 1
• Everyone uses theory
• Whether they know it or not
• Many of us devise our own theories
• Through childhood socializations
• Up to adulthood
• Disagreements over basic theories
• Foundation of social sciences
• Elitism / Pluralism / Rational Choice
Theory also helps researches to classify
certain variables. It may be thought of as

9. ROLE OF THEORY - 2
• Foundation of political science
• Pluralism / Rational Choice Theory
• Think of theory as a pair of sunglasses
• Filtering unwanted information
• Helps us “see” the truth

10. EXAMPLE OF THEORY - REALISM
• Human nature is the predominant factor
• In a nation-state’s foreign policy
• These policies are focused upon self-interest
• The inherent motive for man is survival
• Applied policies are determined according to political determinations
• Considered to be a synonym for power politics
• Construed as pragmatic and wrought with simplicity
• Abrupt philosophy focused on the inherent evils of mankind
The following clip is from the movie “Failsafe”.
Walter Matthau plays the role of National
Security Advisor who applies rational choice and
realist theory to explain why striking at the
Soviet Union is necessary to survive.

11. FAILSAFE

12. RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY - 1
• What is the primary goal of the individual?
• The answer may be summed up in one word: Survival.
• The foundation for all action
• Individual parties make decisions based on rationality
• Assuming that individuals base all decisions on self-interest
• Requirements to make a rational choice
• Perfect information
• Balancing our emotions
• Rational choice in one sentence:
• “Decisions are based on self-interest…as we define our
self-interest to be.”

13. RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY - 2
Who Is Acting Rationally In This Example?
We have a nun and a real-estate mogul. The nun gives up all
her worldly possessions and dedicates herself to helping
those in poverty. Her justification may be great rewards in the
afterlife. The real-estate mogul does not believe in an afterlife,
but does believe in making as much money as , spending it all
on an overly extravagant and abusive lifestyle. Who is acting
rationally? Both individuals are for they are fulfilling their selfinterest…as they define their self-interest to be.

14. ELITISM
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Elitism does not promote elite rule
The rules of a society obstruct social progress of masses
Elites are needed due mass ignorance and apathy
Elites have two main goals
• Preserve and enhance their positions of power
• Masses open to demagogues
• When the economy is doing poorly
• The country is fighting a war that it is losing
• Demagogues come from the far left or far right
• The Founding Fathers were against national referenda

15. ELITISM SUMMARIZED - 1
1. Society is divided between the powerful few and the
majority weak.
2. Governing few are not typical of the governed masses.
Elites are not drawn mostly from the upper class
socioeconomic section of society.
3. Non-elites have to be given the opportunity to rise up to
elite positions. The masses have to believe that the
process is continuous or revolution may occur. Barriers
prevent finite elite positions from being overtaken by
unqualified individuals. This is a rat and cheese scenario.
Sufficient Cheese
Sufficient Cheese
Lack Of Cheese

16. ELITISM SUMMARIZED - 2
1. Elites share a common belief on the basic values of
the elite. Any change of public policy will be
incrementally slow rather than revolutionary.
2. Elites may base their actions either on narrow, selfserving motives and risk undermining mass
support, or they may initiate reforms, curb abuse,
and undertake public-regarding programs to
preserve the system.
3. Active elites are not typically influenced from
apathetic masses. Elites influence masses more
than the masses influence elites.

17. ELITISM SUMMARIZED - 3

18. ELITISM / INFORMATION FLOW - 1
• Information flows from opinion elites down to opinion
leaders who are looked to the public for information
• News is first “created” by opinion elites and then sent to
opinion leaders to help disseminate the information
• Those at the very top of the elite network decide what
information is deemed as necessary to offer society
• These elites may be news makers themselves or in charge
of large media corporations
• Opinion leaders may be thought of as journalists, news
anchors, expert pundits or even celebrities who possess
legitimacy among those in society.

19. ELITISM – INFORMATION FLOW

20. MANIPULATION EXAMPLE
Governmental elites find it
necessary to manipulate the
masses if doing so serves a
vested interest. Here is a great
example of how a safety video
can serve as a tool for
manipulating the masses from
childhood. Who does the
monkey represent?

21. DUCK AND COVER

22. MIRROR MYTH – 1
• News media outlets “decide what will
be decided”
• Bias is exhibited throughout the
mainstream and nontraditional news
sources
• The news media stress that they are
nonbiased since they only reflect
reality

23. MIRROR MYTH – 2
• Their choice of news
subjects proves their bias
• All news is biased

24. WHAT WE CALL THE NEWS - 1
Securing market share is vital,
for without it, the major media
would
lose
advertising
revenue. It is really our fault
that the major news networks
willfully focus on sex, violence
and various negative pieces.
Enjoy this video, “What We
Call The News.”

25. WHAT WE CALL THE NEWS – 2

26. PLURALISM & SPHERES – 1
• Pluralism insures that groups are restricted from single
handedly influencing public policy
• cross-cutting cleavages would form, as groups seek
compromise with others to build coalitions that would
succeed in affecting change
• Minorities are protected from an overwhelming majority
• Majority power-holders are essentially “checked”
• Cross-cutting cleavages balance against overwhelming forces

27. PLURALISM & SPHERES – 2
• Pluralism insures that groups are restricted from single
handedly influencing public policy
• cross-cutting cleavages would form, as groups seek
compromise with others to build coalitions that would
succeed in affecting change
• Minorities are protected from an overwhelming majority
• Majority power-holders are essentially “checked”
• Cross-cutting cleavages balance against overwhelming forces

28. PLURALISM & SPHERES – 3

29. PROPAGANDA – CITIZEN BASED
“The War On Terror” sparked a
great deal of media distributed via
the Internet. Elites no longer
maintain
total
control
over
distribution. These videos are
meant to produce an “Us” versus
“Them” mindset.

30. CLASSIFIED DOCUMENT

31. PLURALISM SUMMARIZED – 1
1. Society is divided into numerous groups with all making
demands on government while none of the participants are
able to dominate all decision-making.
2. Citizens do not directly participate in decision-making, but
they are able to vote for leaders to make decisions through
a process of bargaining, accommodation, and compromise.

32. PLURALISM SUMMARIZED – 2
3. Competition among leadership groups helps protect
individuals’ interests. Countervailing centers of power – for
example, competition among business leaders, labor
leaders and government leaders – can check one another
and keep each interest from abusing its power and
oppressing the individual. Each of these individual
“spheres of influence” allies themselves with other spheres
that possess similar goals. See “Spheres Of Influence”.
4. Individuals may not participate directly in decision-making,
but they can exert influence through active participation in
organized groups, political parties and elections.

33. PLURALISM SUMMARIZED – 3
5. Leadership groups are open; new groups can form and gain
access to the political system.
6. Political influence in society is unequally distributed, but
power is widely dispersed. Access to decision making is
often determined by how much interest people have in a
particular decision. Because leadership is fluid and mobile,
power depends on one’s interest in public affairs, skills in
leadership, information about issues, knowledge of
democratic processes, and skill in organization and public
relations.

34. PLURALISM SUMMARIZED – 4
7. Multiple leadership groups operate within society. Those
who exercise power in one kind of decision do not
necessarily exercise power in others. No single elite
dominates decision making in all issues.
8. Public policy does not necessarily reflect majority
preference, but is an equilibrium of interest interaction –
competing interest group influences are more or less
balanced, and the resulting policy is therefore a reasonable
approximation of society’s preferences.

35. ELITISM VERSUS PLURALISM – 1
1. Elitism asserts that the most important division in society is
between elites and masses.
2. Elitism emphasizes the importance to leaders to maintain
their position of power – Pluralism emphasizes this devotion
to their group interests.
3. Elitism asserts that mass membership of organizations
rarely exercises influence on elite leadership. That these
organizations have no democratic processes and are
controlled by leaders who operate for their own self-interest.
Pluralists offer no evidence that the giant organizations
represent the interests of their individual members.

36. ELITISM VERSUS PLURALISM – 2
4. Elitism takes into account of all power holders – private and
public. Pluralism focuses on governmental leaders and
those who interact directly with them.
5. Elitism emphasizes shared characteristics of leaders on top
of their interest in preserving the social diversity among
leaders, differences in backgrounds, ideologies, and
viewpoints. Pluralism also argues that decisions made by
leaders are a product of their role perception, institutional
constraints, interest group pressure, public opinion, etc.
Elitism focuses on leadership consensus – Pluralism
focuses on elite conflict.

37. SPHERES OF INFLUENCE
• Competing spheres of influence
protect minority rights against
majority factions
• Alliances will form among once
competing spheres in order to
“check”
another
sphere
or
individual elite base that acquires
too much power
• Individual spheres of influence are
always on the alert for one of their
peers assuming too much power.

38. COMPETING SPHERES
• Competing Spheres of Influence
essentially check each other within
the political system
• This is essential for the protection
of minority rights especially as it
pertains to majority factions
• Elites are those who hold positions
of power in society
• Our Founding Fathers considered
the protection of minority rights as
those few individuals who retained
control over society

39. TRANSITIONAL EFFECTS – 1
• Competition produces great returns for humanity
• The result has been America progressing from a
predominantly agricultural society to an industrial, nuclear,
and information based society
• Innovation has led to advancements that have greatly
influenced every aspect of society.
• Society has benefited from constant advancements in
energy harvesting, computers, communication, water
purification, medicine, etc.

40. TRANSITIONAL EFFECTS – 2
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Every significant discovery has in turn greatly influenced
societal norms of behavior Masses today view internet
communications as a vital necessity. It is nearly impossible to
operate in a complex society without easy access to the web.
The majority of masses did not have this belief fifteen years
ago. Only society determining that the internet allowed for
greater efficiency was it adopted as a societal norm. Those not
willing to adapt became obsolete.

41. STABILIZATION
• Sudden instability is the greatest threat to humanity
• It threatens to cause irreparable harm to the individual
• Elimination of one’s sustenance throws the individual into a
state of war, because their survival is now threatened
• Nation-states consist of multiple spheres of interest in turn
consisting of individual units consisting of people
• Survival is the primary goal of man and nation-states
• The primary concern is that of stability
• This philosophy has prevented a major war for over 70 years
• Instability is the primary cause of all conflict

42. SPHERES OF INFLUENCE
• Spheres consist of individuals
who share a common set of
interests and/or belief systems
• Individual participants are the
absolute micro-level
• Family, work, school, political
parties, religion, etc.
• The individual member serves as
the conduit between spheres
• Various
social
interactions
influence individual behavior

43. ELITE STAGES
• Elites are the true minority
• True for all societies
• Elites possess large capacities of power
• The example shows maximum education

44. PLURALISM ALLIANCES
Interdependent Spheres
• Alliances will form among once
competing spheres in order to
“check”
another
sphere
or
individual elite base that acquires
too much power
• Certain situations may also call for
spheres realize they share a
common agenda with one or more
of their respective peers
Government
Business
Individual

45. POLITICAL MESSAGE
Those activists who work with
both major parties are either
much
more
liberal
or
conservative than the average
typical
voter.
Democratic
activists are more liberal and
Republican activists are more
conservative.

46. CAMPAIGN 2000

47. POWER THEORY – 1
• To exert power one must first possess adequate reserves
• This is defined simply as “capacity of power”
• Achieving higher positions is dependent on various factors
that may include: education; wealth; profession; charisma
and other talents either developed or engrained from birth
• This “capacity of power” is not determined according to a
single resource, ability or possession
• It is a combination of different variables that serve to make
up the individual
• This is just like a battery consisting of energy resources
drawn upon when it comes time to draw power in order to
achieve a set objective.

48. POWER THEORY – 2
• To exert power one must first possess adequate reserves
• This is defined simply as “capacity of power”
• Achieving higher positions is dependent on various factors
that may include: education; wealth; profession; charisma
and other talents either developed or engrained from birth
• This “capacity of power” is not determined according to a
single resource, ability or possession
• It is a combination of different variables that serve to make
up the individual
• This is just like a battery consisting of energy resources
drawn upon when it comes time to draw power in order to
achieve a set objective.

49. POWER THEORY – 3
Like a battery powering a
flashlight so does one’s
individual “capacity of power”
serve to assist one in achieving a
set goal or in this case
influencing or affecting political
behavior to maintain, expand or
protect one’s standing in order
to survive in society.

50. POWER THEORY – 4
Power equals resources (capacity of power) times compliance
squared, divided by force. Every accounting of power theory is
taken into consideration in the construction of this formula. We
have explored the contention that the pursuit of self-interest
encourages man to engage in political behavior. This serves as
the foundation for rational choice theory, which in turn has led us
to power theory. One may argue that the pursuit of power
maintains the never ending cycle of political: conflict; compromise;
alliances; and wars.

51. POWER THEORY – 5
Many have countered this argument with a direct assault on the
statement that “there is no morality in politics”. These critics are
both right and wrong. It is true that morality has no direct
correlation with political science if the pursuit of self-interests and
power resources maintains utmost priority. On the other hand
they may be correct if one party sells their pursuit as a moral
cause in order to achieve their agenda. For example, one may
argue that good may come from conflict even if it leads to the
destruction of a nation-state and the slaughtering of thousands or
millions of people if the seed of democracy is planted and
nurtured to maturity.

52. TRANSPARENCY – 1
America has grown from the days of a colony to major power,
superpower, and hegemon, to its present empire status. American
power is felt throughout the international community. Playing
poker requires one to adopt what is commonly known as a “poker
face”. Players will hide their true emotions, even faking their true
intentions to catch other players off guard. Some have even taken
to wearing sunglasses. The exact opposite tactic that the United
States has adopted is “Transparency”. This involves disclosing all
routes the nation-state will undertake with regards to all forms of
public policy pertaining to its political, economic and military
strategies.

53. TRANSPARENCY – 2
Alexander Hamilton initiated this
policy as the chief financial
philosopher of the United States
even if he did not coin the term.
Hamilton is regarded as the chief
architect of our economic policy,
which in turn was developed in order
to win the confidence of domestic
US business and financial elites as
well as gaining the confidence of
international business.

54. TRANSPARENCY EXAMPLE – 1
America possesses the most
technologically
advanced
military hardware. This video
demonstrates one of the first
deployable force fields for
light
armored
vehicles
(LAVs). Welcome to the 21st
Century.

55. TROPHY

56. TRANSPARENCY EXAMPLE – 2
America is not the only nation
that utilizes Transparency. This
video shows the Israeli Defense
Force demonstrating a new type
of gun that can shoot around
corners. A brief interview with the
inventor of this amazing weapon
follows the demonstration.

57. CORNER SHOT

58. TRANSPARENCY EXAMPLE – 3
Some forms of transparency are
both political and military in
nature. The military sponsored
the development of the Massive
Ordinance Aerial Burst (MOAB). It
is commonly referred to as “The
Mother Of All Bombs”. It is the
largest conventional bomb in our
arsenal. There is a psychological
component to this bomb. A
mushroom cloud forms following
successful detonation. It looks
somewhat like a nuclear device
being detonated.

59. MOAB

60. TRANSPARENCY EXAMPLE – 4
Javelin is a fire-and-forget missile
with lock-on before launch and
automatic self-guidance. The
system takes a top-attack flight
profile against armored vehicles
(attacking the top armor which is
generally thinner) but can also
take a direct-attack mode for use
against buildings or fortifications.
This missile also has the ability to
engage helicopters. Javelin is
supplied by Raytheon/Lockheed
Martin's JAVELIN Joint Venture.

61. JAVELIN