American National Government!

Politics (Laswell, 1938)

"Who gets what, when, and how."

Politics (Easton, 1953)

The "authoritative allocation of values."

government

The institution that has the authority to make decisions that are binding on everyone.

Three major types of government

Autocracy, Oligarchy, and Democracy.

Autocracy

Power to allocate values is held by one person.

Oligarchy

Power to allocate values is held by a small group of people (e.g., dictatorships, ruling elites).

Democracy

Power to allocate values is held by the people.

Sovereignty

The authority to legally wield coercive power to allocate values.

Popular Sovereignty

The core of democracy; all citizens have the right to participate in the political process.

The three core principles of American politics

Majority Rule, Political Freedom, and Political Equality.

Majority Rule

Government adopts the policy the largest percentage of citizens prefers (must be balanced with minority rights).

Absolute majority

50% plus one of all eligible citizens.

Simple majority

50% plus one of all those who vote.

Plurality

The choice with greater support when none of the options gained more than 50%.

Tyranny of the Majority

The process of democracy produces undesirable policy.

Political Freedom

The right to openly oppose governmental decisions, policies, and laws.

Political Equality (Civil Equality)

The expectation that citizens will be treated similarly in the political process.

Equality under the law

The law is applied impartially without regard to identity or status.

Social Equality

Treating people equally in daily life (e.g., employment, access to housing).

Economic Equality

Each person should receive the same amount of material goods regardless of his or her contribution.

Opportunity Equality

The right of every individual to develop his or her ability to their fullest extent.

Democracy as Process

All citizens have the right to participate in the decision-making process (typically slow and inefficient, yet equitable).

Democracy as Substance

The policies or outcomes that are produced by the government (expected to reflect core principles).

Direct Democracy

Citizens are the principle decision makers (requires huge commitment and fully informed citizens).

Representative Democracy

People entrust decision-making to elected officials (principal form in America).

Normalization Fallacy (False Consensus)

Americans tend to believe their views are "normal" or common sense and are shared by most people.

Pluralistic political system

Power is fragmented and distributed widely among diverse groups and interests.

Political Science

The systematic study of government, political institutions, processes, and behavior.

Three basic goals of Science

Describing, Explaining, and Predicting.

Normative analysis

Subjective study; answers, "What we should do with our knowledge?" (pundits).

Empirical analysis

The objective study of what is; often associated with the scientific method.

Descriptive (Research)

Seeks to describe and measure one or more characteristics (variables).

Explanatory/Causal (Research)

Seeks to understand variables by discovering and measuring relationships among them.

Predictive (Research)

Seeks to forecast future events (e.g., election outcomes).

Dependent Variable (DV)

The presumed effect; what you are trying to explain.

Independent Variable (IV)

The presumed cause; what you are using to explain the DV.

Rational Choice (Down’s theory)

Assumes self-interest; government reflects majority preferences because the center is where all the votes are.

Behavioral Models of Politics

Assumes people’s behavior is in response to an environmental stimulus (e.g., socialization leads to Party ID).

Ideology

A consistent set of values, attitudes, and beliefs about the appropriate role of government in society.

Partisanship

The psychological attachment to a political party.

Conservative (Ideology)

Favor the status quo.

Liberal (Ideology)

Favor individual liberty.