The Five Principles of Politics

In the [[United States]], state and local governments have considerable independence. American political tradition values complexity for liberty and opportunity.

Government and politics involve observing what happens and understanding why.

Government:

• Formal arrangements by which a land and its people are ruled.

• #State: Source of public authority.

• Forms:

  • #Autocracy: Authority in one person.

  • #Oligarchy: Power in a small, wealthy group.

  • #Democracy: Citizens participate in government, usually through elections.

  • Restrictions:

  • [[Constitutional Government]]: Limits on government powers.

  • [[Authoritarian Government]]: Government not limited by law, but by social institutions.

  • [[Totalitarian Government]]: Government power unlimited, seeks to eliminate challenging institutions.

Politics:

• Conflicts over leadership, structure, and policies.

• Aims to influence government.

Five Principles of Politics

[[Rationality Principle]]:

• Political behavior is purposeful, instrumental.

• Weigh costs, benefits, risks.

• #Retail politics: Direct interaction with constituents.

• #Wholesale politics: Appealing to groups.

[[Institution Principle]]:

• Rules and procedures shape political behavior.

• Authority via jurisdiction, agenda and veto power, decisiveness, and delegation.

• #Jursidiction: Domain of authority.

• [[Agenda Power]]: Control of discussion topics.

• [[Veto Power]]: Ability to defeat proposals.

• [[Decisiveness Rules]]: Voting specifications.

• #Delegation: Transfer of authority.

• #Principals: Delegators.

• #Agents: Those acting on behalf of principals.

• [[Transactional costs]]: Costs of ensuring compliance.

[[Collective Action Principle]]:

• Politics involves combining individual goals; collective dilemmas are resolved via bargaining.

• [[Informal bargaining]]: Suitable for low-impact disputes.

• [[Formal Bargaining]]: Bargaining with established rules.

• Dilemmas:

  • Collective Action Problems

  • [[Free riding]]: Benefitting at others' expense.

  • [[Public good]]: Available to all.

  • [[private good]]s: Exclusive to contributors.

  • [[Coordination Problems]]: Cooperation desired, but solution unclear.

  • [[Prisoner's Dilemma]]: Uncoordinated individuals choose worst solution.

  • Principal-agent problems: Principal unable to ensure agent's actions align with task.

• Common values don't guarantee positive results (see [[prisoner's dilemma]] and [[game theory]]).

• [[Collective action]]: Pooling resources to achieve goals.

• [[Tragedy of the commons]]: Overuse of common resources.

[[Policy Principle]]:

• Outcomes result from preferences, procedures, and collective action.

[[History Principle]]:

• History explains current situations.

• [[Path dependency]]: Possibilities shaped by historical context:

  • Rules and procedures

  • Loyalties and alliances

  • Conditioned viewpoints