Chapter 1 - Introducing Government in America

Government and Politics (GOPO) 

Government; institutions

Politics; Who implements public policy

Voter turnouts -  seniors vote more statistically. White people also vote more than any other groups.

 \n The level of Education is what “decides?” if the voter will show up to vote.

 \n A policy-making model

The policymaking process has four stages:

  • Agenda setting   * Define the problem     * gun violence      * homelessness      * poverty     * domestic abuse     * immigration issues     * human trafficking      * Invasion of privacy     * pollution     * mass media
  • Policy formulation
  • implementation 
  • Policy evaluation   * How effective was the law made? It helps to figure out what to adjust, etc.

\

There are generally 3 categories:

  • Social policy
  • Economic policy
  • Foreign policy

Democracy

  • Direct - all citizens participate directly (Greek)   * Only at the state level      * propositions       * Initiatives - putting something       * Referendums - undoing something that the legislature did.
  • Indirect - representative democracy (a republic) ; elected representatives make policy (Romans) \n

Elite politics view: minority groups dominate policy making

  1. Marxist (Marx): government is influenced by economic elites; in the US, capitalists dominate the economy and therefore government.
  2. Power Elite (V. Wright Mills): a coalition of corporations, military, and government dominate (Eisenhower’s “military-industrial complex”
  3. Bureaucratic (Weber): government power is in the hands of the small group of bureaucrats who translate it into policy.
  4. Pluralist: no single elite dominates politics; resources are too widely spread out; too many institutions — Tocqueville Democracy in America

       1. Many groups compete with each other for control over policy     2. Policy, then the outcome of political haggling, compromise, and shifting alliances among groups

       2. Hyperpluralism - “pluralism went sour” there are so many groups with so much power that the government is weakened and unable to act. \n

Fundamental Democratic Values

  • Popular sovereignty
  • Respect for the individual, the state serves the individual, not vice versa
  • Liberty -they are not absolute. 
  • Equality (Of opportunity more than the result.) \n

Fundamental Democratic Process

  • Free and fair elections, with competing political parties
  • Majority rules with respect for minority rights
  • Freedom of expression
  • Right to assemble and protest. 

\

Fundamental Democratic Structure

  • Federalism
  • Separation of powers
  • Checks and balances
  • Constitutionalism

\