Government
Is government needed?
A government is needed to provide services, sometimes called “public goods.”
Public goods: goods that all citizens need. People probably cannot provide adequately for themselves.
Examples include:
defenses against foreign aggression
maintenance of public order
a stable currency
enforcement of contracts
Forms of Government
Governments vary in size structure, and operation based on who governs.
Autocracy: Run by a single individual like a queen, king, or dictator
Oligarchy: Small group controls most of the governing decisions
Democracy: System of rule that permits citizens to play a role in governmental process
Limiting Government
Founding generations placed limits on government to encourage freedom.
Freedoms included: speech, assembly, and conscience as well as freedom from arbitrary search and seizure
The founders did not favor democracy as we know today.
Many of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention owned enslaved black people and supported property requirements and other restrictions for voting and holding office
The story of America is the expansion of political power.
Democracy in the US
What type of government exists in the US?
Most people use one word: democracy. Yet this is. of the complete answer.
Direct Democracy: a system of rule that permits citizens to vote directly on laws and policies
Example: ballot initiatives, popular referendum
Representative Democracy: ( Republican) a system of government in which the people select representatives, who play a significant role in government decision-making.
Influencing the Government through Participation: Politics
According to political scientist, Harold Lasswell, politics is the struggle over “who gets what, when, how”.
Politics refers to conflicts over who the government's leadership is, how the government is organized, or what its policies are.
Politics also involves power.
Political power is the influence over a government's leadership, organization, or policies
Pluralism
The idea that everyone that
Citizenship
Citizenship is membership in a political, community that confers legal rights and participation responsibilities.
A key ingredient of citizenship is political knowledge.
A democracy functions best when citizens know the rules and processes of government political institutions and the principles they rest on.
Citizens also need knowledge to assess their interests and know when to act on them.
Disinformation
Disinformation is false information shared intentionally to reach a political goal.
Problematic in a democracy because it complicates the process of acquiring valid political information
With greater access to information, most Americans know little about current issues or debates, or even the basics of how government works.
Political Efficacy
Political Efficacy is the belief that ordinary citizens can affect what the government does.
Americans’ sense of political efficacy is declining.
1960 poll
One-quarter (25% of respondents said elected officials didn’t care what citizens like themselves thought.
2019 poll
nearly three-quarters 71% felt the same way
American Identity History
The US has grown from 3.9 million in 1790 to 336 million in 2024
U-shaped growth from immigration
In 1790, when the nation consisted of 13 states along the East Coast:
About 81 percent of Americans trace their roots to Europe, mostly Britain and elsewhere in Northern Europe.
Nearly 20%, the majority of enslaved people, traced their roots to Africa.
By the 1900s, waves of immigration, mainly from Europe, boosted the population to 76 million
The population predominantly comprised people of European ancestry, it now includes, many from southern, eastern, and northwestern Europe.
Black population was 12%, and less than 1% were from Latin America or Asia
Immigration Laws
After World War 1, Congress passed new laws that limited immigration.
It passed the Immigration Act of 1924
Insisted a national origins quota system, based on the nation's population in 1890, before a wave of Eastern and southern European immigrants arrived.
It established a hierarchy of admissions: northern and western European countries received the more generous quotas.
In 1970, these guidelines had reduced the foreign-born population
Who are Americans? Monday 9/24
By 1995, Congress had lifted many of the strict immigration limits.
This resulted in new waves of immigration from Asia and Latin America.
Current population (2020 census)
White: 61.6%
Asian: 6%
Black: 12.4%
Latino: 18.7%
Two or more races: 3%
Large-scale immigration means that many more residents now are foreign-born.
In 2024, 13.9% of the population were born outside of the United States, a figure comparable to that in 1900.
Unlike a century earlier, many more immigrants today come from Latin America, the Caribbean, South America, and Asia
Religion
Immigration patterns have led to a more religiously diverse nation
Adult population was 33% Protestant in 2023.
Catholic: 22%
Christian: 13%
Jewish: 2%
Mormon: 1%
Other: 6%
As life expectancy increases so has the number of older Americans
1900, only 4% of peripheral were over the age of 65; by 2020 that. umber is 16%
America is aging slower than many other advanced industrialized countries.
Largely due to Immigration into the US
The elderly population in the US grows relative to those of working age, the funding of “safety net” programs such as Social Security becomes more difficult.
Geography
Over nations history, Americans have mostly moved from rural areas and small towns to large cities and suburbs.
Increasing numbers of Americans live in urban areas.
The US Senate over represents sparsely populated rural states and under represents those with large urban populations
Population has shifted regionally
Past 50 years especially, many americans have left the Northeast and Midwest and moved to the South and Southwest.
Socioeconomic Status
For much of US history, most Americans were relatively poor working people, many of them farmers.
An extremely wealthy elite emerged in the late 1800s during a period known as the Gilded age.
By 1928, nearly one-quarter of total annual national income went to the top 1% of earners; top 10% took home 46% of the total.
1960s civil rights legislation and new social programs helped shrink the nations income disparity between rich and poor.
Since then, however, economic inequality has again widened in what some called a “New Gilded Age”
American Political Values
A few fundamental values underlie the American system of government. Together, these form our political culture:
Liberty
Democracy
Equality
Justice
These principles were proclaimed in the Declaration of independence and the constitution.
Liberty
Key idea of Limited Government
Liberty: freedom from government control
Personal freedom: Bill of Rights
Economic freedom: capitalism, free markets, and protection of private property
Economic freedom links to concepts of laissez-faire capitalism
A free market economic system with minimal or no government interference.
Federal and state governments impose regulations to protect the public in areas such as health and safety, environment, and the workplace.
Democracy is a principle and a practice
Americans sought to make government more responsive through increased political participation.
The right to vote has been significantly expanded over the last two centuries.
How elections are carried out can significantly affect who actually votes or gets elected.
Recent claims of voter fraud have eroded the publics trust in the election system.
Money has become the central fact of life in American politics determining who runs office.
Equality
The Declaration of independence declares that “all men are created equal”
Principles of equality include:
Political Equality: the right for all people to participate in politics equally, based on the principle of “one person, one vote”
Equality of opportunity: the ideal that all people should have the freedom to use their talents and wealth to reach their fullest potential.
Equality implies obligation of the government to the people, and the degree to which government should promote equality is controversial.
American Politics 8/26
The founders valued justice so much that it was the first of five political objectives highlighted in the constitution.
In Founders views, the judicial. ranch would have the responsibility of ensuring that justice is carried out.
Justice is linked to the principle of fairness
Ensuring a fair process is key to how we get to a just outcome.
Justice is not exclusively determined by judges; conceptions of justice arise from the people
Organized groups of Americans have used the language of justice-especially social justice
ex: disability justice movement, environmental justice movement, and criminal justice reform movement
The movement for racial justice inspired over 20 million people to take to the streets during spring 2020.
American have been reductant to grant the government too i h power.
In 1933, the power of the government began to expand in response to the Great Depression.
Congress passed legislation that brought government into the business of home mortgages, farm mortgages, and relief of personal financial distress.
When the economy suffered a deep recession in 2008 and 2009, the federal government oversaw the restricting of failing to auto manufacturers and provided billions of dollars in economic stimulus.
Public trust in government declined.
Early 1960s, three quarters of Americans said they trusted givenfmeng most of the time.
By 2023, only 16% of Americans expressedthe same sentiment.
Trust in government has been found to increase among members of the party that controls the presidency.
Chapter 2 The Founding and the Constitution
During the first half of the 1700s, Britain ruled it's American colonies with a light hand.
Beginning of1760s, however, debts and other financial problems forced Britain's government to search for new revenue sources.
This search quickly led to the North American colonies.
Colonists were divided between the radicals and the colonial elite
The radicals tended to have fewer economic resources and were distrustful of the British
In contrast, many elites be edited from British rule and supported the Crown
Aggressive new tax and trade policies split elites, enhancing the radicals' political influence
This set off a chain of events that culminated in the American Revolution.
British reasoned that much of its debt was due to the defense of colonies French and indian war, which ended in 19730.
British imposed the sugar act in 1764, which taxed sugar, molasses, and other commodities
The Stamp Act of 1765 required printed materials to have stamp on them
Many colonists saw these moves as detrimental to their livelihoods and a challenge to the colonies' autonomy
Under the slogan “ No taxation without representation,” they organized demonstrations and a boycott to British goods.
Disagreements between the British and the colonists over taxation continued.
In 1733, the British government again took action with the Tea Act.
Granted the east indian trade company a monopoly on imported tea.
December 16, 1773, fifty colonists boarded three British ships.
They threw an entire cargo of tea into the BostonHarbor.
The Second Continental Congress in 1776 appointed a committee to draft a statement of independence from the British rule.
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia drafted the majority of the document with two crucial sections:
Legitimizing separation from Britain
Announcing the creation of a new nation
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to accept the document and declare independence.
Despite the colonists differences along regional, economic, and philosophical lines, the Declaration focused on principles, goals, and grievances to unify various groups.
The Declaration states the purpose of governments is to secure rights and that governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the govemed."
When governments violate these rights and no longer have the support of the people, the people have the right to overthrow the government.
It also focuses on the 27 grievances against King George III, including maintaining a standing army without consent and not providing appropriate representation rights.
Thomas Jefferson drew heavily from philosophers associated with the European Enlightenment when describing expectations of government.
John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu
Locke was a British philosopher and advanced the principles of Republican government.
Hobbes was another British philosopher who believed that governments should have limits on the powers they exercised.
Montesquieu was a French philosopher who argued that power needed to be balanced by power as a bulwark against tyranny.
After declaring independence, the Continental Congress adopted the Artides of Confederation.
The Articles of Confederation (1777-89)
The first written constitution of the United States
Ratified by all the states in 1781
Primarily concerned with limiting the powers of the central government
The state governments retained their “sovereigny, freedom, and independence"
These attributes define a confederation.
• A confederation is the system of government in which states retain sovereign authority except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government.
The Failure of the Articles of Confederation 8/28
A series of developments highlighted the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation.
1. The United States had great difficulty conducting its foreign affairs successfully.
There was no national military.
Competition among the states for foreign commerce allowed the European powers to play them off against one another:
2. The power that states retained began to alarm well-to-do Americans.
Shay's Rebellion in 1787 magnified concerns about the Articles of Confederstion.
Daniel Shay, a former army captain, led a mob of farmers in a rebellion against the Massachusetts government.
Goal was to prevent the foreclosures of land by keeping county courts from sitting until after the next election.
Edmund Randopl offered a resolution that proposed the “Virginia Plan”
The Virginia Plan called for a system of representation based on:
State population of proportion of each states revenue contribution the national government, or both
Cingressswould be set up as bicameral legislature or a legislative body composed of two chambers
Opponents claimed the plan was biased in favor of the large states
Under the New Jersey Plan, each state was to have equal representation and a unicameral legislature, or a legislative body under one chamber.
The Connecticut, or Great, Compromise irgdes the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan.
The Great Compromiise created a bicameral legislature:
The House: representatives apportioned y the population in the state
The Senate: equal representation for all states, regardless of population
While the institution of slavery was crucial to the colonial economy, attitudes towards the acceptability of slavefy, especially in northern cities, were shifting by the late eighteen century.
The pressure to end slavery also came from enslaved people themselves.
Enslaved black people resisted their treatment through both obvious and subtle ways
More explicit forms of resistance ickuded running away or armed uprisings, while subtle forms of resistance included learning how to read
The discomfort around slavery became more pronounced with the Revolutionary War
Many of the 13 colonies offered enslavedblack people their freedom if they fought in the Continental Army after a similar offer from the British
As the process of drafting a new constitution began, the founders faced a nation divided over slavery.
From economic perspective, southerners wanted to protect slavery, and many northerners benefited from investments in the institution
From moral perspective, the issue was more complicated
There was a widespread acknowledgment that slavery was incompatible
Slavery was at the center of the debate about representation in the House of Representatives.
Northern and Southern states debated the issue of whether enslaved people would, or would not, be counted as part of states population in determining representation in the House,
The Three-Fifths Compromise: seats in the house were apportioned by “population” according to which fuve enslaved people would count as three free people
After resolving the issue of representation, the next issue was how long the skave trade would continue.
Many delegates wre appalled at accommodating an extension of the slave trade in the constitution; others considered it key to their future economy.
Ten states already have outlawed the importation of African enslaved people.
South Carolina proposed a ban on the federal government from regulating the importation of enslaved Africans
importation of enslaved black people for another 20 years, and the federal government could tax imported enslaved Africans.
The framers sought several goals in the new government:
Central government strong enough to promote commerce and protect property
Prevention of “excessive democracy”
Emphasis on ideas that would generate public support
Restraint of federal government from threatening citizens' liberties
To protect against “excessive democracy,” the Constitution provides for:
A bicameral legislature: an assembly composed of two chambers
Checks and balance amongst the three branches of government
Staggered terms in office
Indirect elections if such as selection of the president through an electoral college and senators by state legislatures
The Constitution: Bold Powers and Sharp Limits
To create broad support for the Constitution, the framers promised to add:
A bill of rights to ensure citizens' liberty
To make sure that the government does not infringe on citizens ' rights, the Constitution incorporates:
Separation of powers
Federalism
In Article 1, the. Institution provided for a congress consisting of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate
Section 8 of Article 1 lists the powers of Congress.
Congress has the authority to:
Collect taxes
Borrow money
Regulate commerce
Declare war
Maintain an army and navy
Expressed versus implied powers
Expressed powers: Specific powers by the Constitution to Congress and the president
Implied powers stem from necessary and Proper Clause, or the Elastic Clause of the Constitution.
This clause indicates that expressed powers could be broadly interpreted and be a source of strength to the national government
The constitution provided for the establishment of the presidency in Article 2.
The president can:
Receive ambassadors from other countries.
Negotiate treaties
Grant pardons and reprieves
Appoint major departmental heads
Convene Congress in a special session
Veto bills passed by Congress
The Constitution provides for the establishment of the judicial branch I article 3,
The Judicial branch:
Includes the Supreme Court
Power to resolve conflict between federal and state laws
Jurisdiction over controversies between citizens of different states
Federal judges are given lifetime appointments
Supreme Court assumed the power of judicial review
Amending and Ratifying
The Constitution established procedures for its own revision in Article 5.
Requirements to add amendments are very difficult and happen only rarely.
Amendments: a change to a bill, law, or constitution
The Constitution also lays out the rules for its ratification or adoption in Article VII
The Constitution required 9/13 states to ratify it to go into effect.
Even if all 13 states did not ratify, it would take effect for all 13 once the threshold of 9 states has been crossed.
The Constitution includes two key principles: separation of powers and federalism
Separation of powers is not explicitly stated but is maintained by “checks and balances”
Checks and balances: the mechanisms through which each branch of government is able to participate in and influence the activities of the other branches
An important aspect of separation of powers is that each branch is given distinct constitution.
The Constitution included federalism and the Bill of Rights.
Federalism was devised as a system of two sovereigns
The Bill of Rights, or a lists of citizens' rights, are the first 10 amendments of the Constitution
Ratification requires 9/13 states to approve. The struggle for ratification was carried out in 13 separate state campaigns.
Federalist:
Favored a stronger national givernemnt
United in their support for the Constitution
Argued for their cause through the publication of the Federalist Papers
Antifederalist:
Favored strong state government and a weak, more decentralized national government
Were divided over possible alternatives to the Constitution
Federalism 9/2
Federalism is a system of government in which power is divided, by the Constitutionn, between a central government and regional governments
Federalism contrasts with a unitary system
Unitary system, lower levels of government have little independent power
Lower levels of government primarily implement decisions made by the government
Under federal, ism policy experimentation and innovation is af eature
There is no competition among states and localities to attract individuals and businesses to maximize efficiency of government services
American version of federalism, a key characteristic is the division of labor across levels of government
Makes intergovernmental relations one of the most characteristic aspects of American government
Intergovernmental relations refer to the process by which those levels of government negotiate and compromise over policy responsibility
Federalism not only affects political power but also has policy implications
Political preferences arising from federalism are not set in stone
Preferences of conservatives and liberals about federal versus state local can be more fluid and situational
President Georgige W. Bush introduced the No Child Ldft Behind Act that allowed for federal intervention in public education
President Obama released states from the federal NCLB mandates
Federalism can provide opportunities for citizens to vote or contact elected officials, but it can also inhibit political participation
The Tenth Amendment preserves a strong role for state government
The Tenth Amendment is also known as the “reserved powers amendment”
Reserved powers are powers not specifically delegated to the national government or denied to the states
The Anti-Federalists, who feared a strong central government, pressed for this amendment
Some authority is posses by both the state and national government
This authority is referred to as concurrent powers
Example: states retain and share some powers to regulate commerce and affect currency
One very important power of the states is the control of voting rights and the election process
States can:
Draw congressional district boundaries
Establish voter registration requirements
Allow or deny absentee voting
Organize casting and counting votes
Another important authority of the state's power is police power
Police power is power reserved to the state government to regulate the health, safety, and morals of its citizens
States also have the power to define personal property
Private property exists because of state laws against trespass and theft
The state will also enforce an owner's possession by prohibiting others from occupying a property without the owner's consent
The full faith and credit clause comes from Article 6, Section 1 of the Constitution
States are expected to honor public acts, records, and judicial decisions that take place in other states
Controversy surrounded the full faith and credit clause concerning same sex marriage
Local government has no status in the Constitution
Local governments are subject to control by the states
However, most states give their larger cities Home rule
Home rule: powers delegated by the states to a local unit of government to manage its own affairs
At the time of the Founding, the states far surpassed the federal government in their power to influence the lives of ordinary Americans.
In the system of shared powers, the states played a much more active role in economic and social regulation than the federal government.
It was not until the New Deal of the 1930s that the national government gained vast new powers.
Since then, the states have asserted themselves at certain times and in certain policy areas, sometimes aided by courts
But at other moment, a crisis shifts power toward the national government again
Dual federalism historically has meant that states have done most of the fundamental governing
Refers to sharing governmental powers between federal and state governments
Under dual federalism, the federal government was small
Dual Federalism 9/4
Article 1, Section 8, known as the Commerce Clause, enumerates the powers of Congress.
The Commerce Clause gives Congress the power to tax, raise an army, declare war, and establish post ofices.
It also gives Congress the power to " regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States and with the Indian tribes."
Though its scope initially was unclear, this Commerce Clause would later form the basis for expanding federal government control over the economy.
Early court decisions interpreted the Commerce Clause in favor of the national government.
McCulloch vs. Maryland (1819)
This ruling affirmed that the US congress had through its implied powers, the legal right to charter a national bank
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
This ruling established the supremacy of the national government in all matters affecting interstate commerce.
Later in the nineteenth century, the national government tried to regulate commerce in areas such as fraud, product quality, child labor, and working conditions.
No one questioned the of the national government to regulate businesses that by their nature crossed state lines.
The great depression and the government's response marked a major change in national power.
State and local governments struggled to handle the demands brought on by the Great Depression
In 1932, 25% of the workforce was unemployed
Franklin Roosevelt became president in 1993
He pledged to develop a more activist federal government to address these problems through his New Deal
New national programs that President Roosevelt developed came through grants-in-aid.
Grants-in-aid
Funding from Congress given to state and local governments
Funding is provided on the condition the funds be employed for purposes defined by the federal government.
The New Deal expanded grants-in-aid to include:
Social programs
Later expanded to school lunches and highway construction
Types of federal grants in aid:
Categorical grants
These are congressional grants given to states and localities on the condition that expenditures be limited to a problem or group specified by law.
Categorical grants have increased dramatically
The value of categorical grants has risen from $54.8 billion in 1960 to $954 billion in 2022.
States Rights 9/9
In the 1990s, there was a revival of interest in the tTenth Amendment
Much of the interest stemmed from conservatives who believed that a strong federal government encroached on individual liberties.
The US Supreme Court ruled that Congress exceeded its power:
United States vs. Lopez: struck down a federal law that barred handguns near schools
Since the 1970s, devolution has been an increasingly popular idea
Devolution refers to the transferring of responsibility from the federal government to state or local governments
Proponents of devolution argue that it allow states to be innovators and experimenters of policy
Proponents of greater state power have looked to block grants
Block grants are federal grants-in-aid that allow states considerable discretion in how the funds are spent
President Nixon pushed for more block grants in the 1970s as part of his New Federalism
Congress also provided a new form of assistance to state and local government through general revenue sharing
Those who argue for more state government control argue that states can be a source of innovation that spreads to other governments.
Minnesota first created charter schools in 1991; now 44 states and the District of Columbia permit them.
The Massachusetts health care reform of 2006 became the template for the federal Affordable Care Act of 2010.
States often complain about unfunded mandates-requirements on states imposed by the national government without accompanying funding.
For example, a 1973 federal law prohibiting discrimination against the disabled required state and Local governments to make public transit accessible, but the legislation provided no funding.
Some cities have acted to set policies but have been preempted by state government.
Some states preempt local minimum-wage ordinances, local paid-eave ordinances, regulations on ride- and home-sharing, prohibitions on gender discrimination, and establishment of public broadband sevices.
Other examples:
Most famously North Carolina, along with several other states, preempts local antidiscrimination ordinances.
In 2021, the Washoe County Commission objected to mask mandates passed by the state of Nevada.