American

Government and
Politics Today

Chapter 1
The Democratic Republic
Politics and Government

 Key Terms:
 Politics: “who gets what when and how”
 Institution: an ongoing organization that
performs certain functions for society
 Government: institution in which decisions
are made that resolve conflicts or allocate
benefits and privileges
Why Is Government
Necessary?
 Order:
Maintaining peace and security by
protecting members of society from
violence and criminal activity is the
oldest purpose of government.
 Why Is Government
Necessary? (cont.)
 Liberty
The greatest freedom of
individuals that is consistent with
the freedom of other individuals
in the society; can be promoted
by or invoked against
government.
Why Is Government
Necessary? (cont.)
 Authority and Legitimacy
 authority: the right and power of a
government or other entity to enforce its
decisions and compel obedience.
 legitimacy is popular acceptance of the
right and power of a government or other
entity to exercise authority.
Forms of Government

 Totalitarian Regime—government
controls all aspects of the political and
social life of a nation.
 Authoritarianism—A type of regime in
which only the government itself is fully
controlled by the ruler. Social and
economic institutions exist that are not
under the government’s control.
Forms of Government (cont.)

 Aristocracy—Rule by the “best”; in

reality, rule by an upper class.
 Democracy—A system of government in
which political authority is vested in the
people. Derived from the Greek words
demos (“the people”) and kratos
(“authority”).
Direct Democracy

 Political decisions are made by the

people directly, rather than by their
elected representatives
 Attained most easily in small political
communities.
Direct Democracy Today
 Initiative–a procedure by which voters can
propose a law or a constitutional amendment
 Referendum–an electoral device whereby
legislative or constitutional measures are
referred by the legislature to the voters for
approval or disapproval
 Recall–a procedure allowing the people to vote
to dismiss an elected official from state office
before his or her term has expired
Is Direct Democracy
Dangerous?
 While the founders believed in
government based on the consent of the
people, they were highly distrustful of
anything that might look like “mob rule.”
Therefore, they devised institutions to
filter the popular will through elected
elites.
A Democratic Republic

 Democratic republic and representative

democracy really mean the same thing—
government based on elected
representatives—except for the historical
quirk that a republic cannot have a
vestigial king.
A Democratic Republic (cont.)
 Principles of Democratic Government
 universal suffrage, or the right of all adults to vote
for their representatives
 majority rule, the greatest number of citizens in any
political unit should select the officials and
determine policies.
 Constitutional Democracy
 limited government, states the powers of
government should be limited, usually by
institutional checks. Without such limits, democracy
could destroy itself.
What Kind of Democracy Do
We Have?
 Majoritarianism: A political theory holding that in
a democracy, the government ought to do what
the majority of the people want.
 Elite theory: A perspective holding that society
is ruled by a small number of people who
exercise power to further their self-interest.
 Pluralism: A theory that views politics as a
conflict among interest groups. Political decision
making is characterized by bargaining and
compromise.
 Fundamental Values

 Political Socialization: Why is our system stable? In part because of a

shared political culture passed on through political socialization, largely performed by the
family and the educational system, although in recent years, by the media as well.
 Liberty versus Order
 Equality versus Liberty
 Economic Equality
 Property Rights and Capitalism
 capitalism,
an economic system characterized by the private
ownership of wealth-creating assets and also by free markets
and freedom of contract.
 Kelo v. City of New London (US Supreme CT)
Tensions Over Big
Government
 How much power should the American
government have and what role should it
play in the lives of citizens?
 Katrina
 Taxes
 National security policies
Ideologies:
Liberalism vs. Conservatism
 Conservatives tend to favor limited
governmental involvement in the economic
sector. Economic freedom is seen as a
necessity for the good of the society. On social
issues, conservatives advocate governmental
involvement to preserve traditional values and
lifestyles.
 Liberals tend to favor governmental regulation
of the economy to benefit individuals within the
society. On social issues, liberals advocate a
limited governmental role. Social freedom is
seen as a necessity for the good of the society.
Ideologies:
The Traditional Political Spectrum
 Socialism, a political ideology based on
strong support for economic and social
equality. Socialists traditionally
envisioned a society in which major
businesses were taken over by the
government or by employee
cooperatives.
 Libertarianism, a political ideology based
on skepticism or opposition toward
almost all government activities.
Classical Liberalism

 Liberal once meant limited government

and no religion in politics. The term
evolved into its modern American
meaning along with the political evolution
of the Democratic Party, which was once
the party of limited government but has
become the party of (relative) economic
equality.
The Traditional Political
Spectrum
The Ideological Grid
 We can break down the electorate into cultural
and economic liberals, cultural and economic
conservatives, cultural liberals/economic
conservatives (libertarians), and cultural
conservatives/economic liberals.
 Classifying the Voters. All four viewpoints have
substantial support based on polling data.
 Conservative Popularity. However, the term
conservative, as a self-applied label, is more
popular than any other label except “moderate.”
 Totalitarian Systems
 Totalitarian: The government has total control over
the lives of its people.
 Needs of the state come before the needs of the
individual.
 All citizens must work for the common goals that
established by the government
 Nothing is beyond the governments control.
 Modern technology and science make Totalitarianism
possible.
 Two types of Totalitarianism:
 Communism

 Fascism
Other Ideologies
 Communism, revolutionary variant of socialism
that favors a partisan (and often totalitarian)
dictatorship, government control of all
enterprises, and the replacement of free
markets by central planning
 Fascism, a twentieth-century ideology—often
totalitarian—that exalts the national collective
united behind an absolute ruler, and rejects
liberal individualism, values action over rational
deliberation, and glorifies war
Ideologies in the Islamic World

 While communism and fascism are the

historical ideologies that totalitarianism
was coined to describe, our current
international problem is with radical
Islamism as exemplified by Al Qaeda.
The Changing Face of
America
 Aging
 Population Growth
 Ethnic Change
 Changes in Hispanic Community
 Women in the Workforce
The Aging of America
U.S. Population
Questions for Critical Thinking

 Do you think a direct democracy is a

rational option for governing in the
United States? Describe the forms of
direct democracy that exist and discuss
the pros and cons of these mechanisms.
Questions for Critical Thinking

 Do you think some people in American

society equate security and order with
protection against fellow citizens who are
racially, culturally, or economically
different? If so, why?
 Do you think protection against
discrimination should be considered a
security issue as well as an issue of
equality? Justify your answer.