Politics, Political Culture, Political Science, and Government

Politics

  • Politics is multifaceted:

    • Actions of politicians to pass laws.
    • Individuals running for office.
    • Favor exchange for government assistance.
    • Sacrifices made for advancement.

  • Politics exists in various contexts like office, family, personal relationships, government, business, church, and sports.

  • Core of politics:

    • Decision-making within groups.
    • A dynamic process involving information exchange.
    • Dialogue and consensus-building.
    • Aiming for fairness and binding agreements.

  • Politics is also the process by which public goods and services are allocated among competing people in society, through institutions of government.

    • These goods and services include money, materials, resources, benefits, status, opportunity, access, and information.

Political Culture

  • Culture: Unique elements that define a group (e.g., French, Irish, Arabic, Hispanic cultures).

    • Influenced by factors like music, dress, language, religion, family, and architecture.
    • Shapes expectations of behavior within a society.

  • Definition: Norms, values, and expectations people hold in a society regarding government and politics.

  • Importance: Influences the design and use of governmental decision-making processes.

Political Science

  • Study of decision-making processes in government: who governs, for what ends, and by what means.

  • Key questions in political science:

    • Participants: Politicians, bureaucrats, voters, interest groups, lobbyists.
    • Means: Institutions and processes.
    • Outcomes: Policies, laws, goods, and services.

Government

  • Definition: An organization extending to the whole society that can legitimately use force.

  • Collective design of participants, institutions, processes, and outcomes.

  • Agreed-upon process for deciding who gets what, when, where, and how.

  • Legitimacy: The widespread acceptance of something as necessary, rightful, and legally binding; crucial for government acceptance in Western political culture.

Purposes of Government

  • Primary purpose: To preserve order.

    • Without order: Anarchy, chaos, and destruction.

  • Provide public goods and services: Structures and services individuals can't afford (e.g., military defense, law enforcement, roads, libraries).

  • Ensure individual rights: Protection of personal property; controversial due to disagreements over which rights should be guaranteed.

Defining Government's Approach

  • Core question: Is the society or the individual more important?

  • Competing ideologies:

    • Organicism: Society is an organism; government prioritizes the whole, even at the expense of individual parts.
    • Individualism: Society comprises unique individuals whose functions need protection and encouragement.

  • Balance: Societies often lean towards individualism but incorporate organicism for self-preservation.

  • Nature of human beings:

    • Are humans inherently good or bad? This answer dictates laws and government structure.

  • Distrust in people: Authoritarian government, total control.

  • Trust in people: Government with public input.

  • Western societies are founded on the idea that people are inherently good and will, given the right information or the right opportunity, make good decisions about what is best for themselves and others in society.

  • This is a positive view of human nature, which assumes people to be rational in their behavior and hold a sense of responsibility to themselves and to others in the society.

  • Rights:

    • Philosophical basis: John Locke's concept of inherent rights.

  • Humans possess reason to understand natural laws.

  • Unalienable rights: Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.

  • Government's role: To protect these rights, as well as others as they are defined in the constitution.

  • Examples: Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, gun ownership.

  • The US system is based on individualism, positive human nature, and inherent human rights.

Basic Values of Government

  • Value: A guiding principle for making decisions.

  • Examples: Faith, family, truth, integrity, compassion.

  • Governments organize themselves around three basic principles or values:

    • Freedom: Varies significantly across time and location.
      *In the US two hundred years ago meant White males
      *In North Korea it means the dictator.
    • Order: Governments define and maintain order, often conflicting with individual freedom; police power is key.
      *If government believes that order is more important than freedom, then we have an authoritarian government.
      *If government believes that freedom is more important than order, then we will have more individual conflicts in society.
    • Equality: Treatment of citizens; definition of citizenship is crucial. Historically unequal in the US.

  • Types of equality:

    • Political, social, and economic.

*Goals for equality:
* Equality of opportunity and equality of outcomes.

Summary

  • Governments are created to:

    • Preserve order.
    • Provide public goods.
    • Ensure individual rights (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness).

  • Political culture: Determines which rights are protected and how.

  • Government organization: Influenced by basic values and answers to fundamental questions.

  • Policies: Dictated by how governments define basic values and answer key questions, determining who governs, for what ends, and by what means.