INTA 1200 - American Political Foundation

Limited Government

• government should have certain restrictions in order to protect the individual rights and civil liberties of citizens

Framers

• leaders in the era of War for Independence

• John Locke and Thomas Hobbes influenced the groundwork for the current political system

Natural Rights

• aka unalienable rights

• rights that the Framers believed all people are born with and can’t lose

  • believed government’s main role is to protect these rights

• John Locke: natural rights = “life, liberty, and property”

• Thomas Jefferson: “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”

  • inspired by Locke

Social Contract

• Society gives up some freedoms in exchange for protection by the government

• Idea created by Thomas Hobbes

• Some were still concerned about the centralized government becoming too powerful and becoming a monarchy

Popular Sovereignty

• a government’s power comes from the will of the people, or the “consent of the governed”

  • Ex: one political party losing to another—change of political parties in power = direct representation of the will of the people

Republicanism

• a type of government that has elected leaders who represent the people

  • supported by the Framers

  • belief that if the people elected their leaders, there was less of a chance that government would hold onto power and refuse to give it up

  • result of King George III, the War for Independence, and “no taxation without representation”

Types of Democracy in Modern Government

• Participatory democracy

• Pluralist democracy

• Elite democracy

Participatory Democracy

• citizens have the power to decide directly on policy and politicians are responsible for implementing those policy decisions

• not direct democracy—citizens don’t make direct policy decisions, rather they can influence these decisions

• Examples:

  • town hall meeting held by local governments

  • An initiative: a process in which citizens can bypass state legislatures and place proposed laws directly on a ballot. (only 24 of 50 states have this process)

  • A popular referendum: allows voters to approve or repeal an act of legislature

Pluralist Democracy

• no one group dominates politics and organized groups compete with each other to influence policy

• unlike in participatory democracy, where anyone can participate in influencing decisions, a pluralist democracy operates when individuals work through groups formed around a common cause

• Examples:

  • Interest groups: groups of ppl who seek to influence policymakers to support their position on a common interest (ex: national rifle association NRA, mothers against drunk driving MADD…)

Elite Democracy

• A small number of ppl, usually those who are wealthy and well-educated, influence political decision making

• argues that participation in politics should be limited to a small group of well-informed ppl who make decisions for all

• Examples:

  • The Electoral College: ppl popularly elect a president, but the electoral college serves as a check on tyranny by the majority. A small group of ppl are in charge of making major political changes, even if those decisions contradict the “will” of the ppl

Collective Dilemmas

• Occur when there’s a conflict between group goals and individual goals or self interest

  • Collective action problem

  • Prisoner’s dilemma

  • Coordination problem

  • Unstable coalition

Collective Action Problem

• a situation where many ppl would be better off if they all collaborated, but an individual has an incentive not to cooperate as long as the others are cooperating

Prisoner’s Dilemma

• an interaction between 2 strategic actors in which neither actor has incentive to cooperate even though both would be better off if they do

Coordination Problem

• situation in which a group of ppl want to coordinate, but there are many ways to coordinate and ppl disagree over which way is best

Unstable Coalition

• instance in which voting coalition in favor of an alternative can be divided by consideration of an alternative

Public Policies

• programs and decisions by the government that are enforced by the rule of law