American Government and Civic Engagement Notes

What is Government?

• Government Defined: The means by which a society organizes itself and allocates authority to achieve collective goals and provide societal benefits.

• Governmental Functions:

  • Establish justice

  • Ensure domestic tranquility

  • Provide for the common defense

  • Promote the general welfare

  • Secure the blessings of liberty

• Politics Defined: The process of gaining and exercising control within a government to set and achieve specific goals, especially those related to resource allocation.

• Politics (Harold Lasswell): Who gets what, when, and how.

Political Philosophy

• John Locke and Natural Rights:

  • Argued that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property.

  • His ideas influenced the concept of individual liberty.

• Social Contract Theory:

  • People should freely consent to being governed.

  • Advocates for self-governance through elected representatives, rather than monarchy.

  • Only elected representatives have the right to make laws.

• Adam Smith and Free Markets:

  • Advocated for individuals' freedom to acquire property.

  • Argued that business and industry should operate freely, without government control, and individuals should keep the proceeds of their work.

  • Believed competition would ensure low prices and eliminate faulty goods.

Democracy and Capitalism

• Relationship: Representative government and capitalism have developed together in the U.S.

• Equating Democracy and Capitalism: Many Americans link democracy (a political system where people govern themselves) with capitalism (an economic system).

• Potential Conflict: A capitalist economic system might have negative effects on democracy.

Socialism as a Political Philosophy

• Socialism: An alternative economic system where the government owns factories, large farms, and banks.

• Wealth Redistribution: The government accumulates wealth and redistributes it through social programs like free or inexpensive healthcare, education, and childcare.

• Government Ownership: Often includes utilities, transportation, and telecommunications systems.

• Oligarchy: In many socialist countries, only members of a specific political party or ruling elite can participate in government.

Socialism as an Economic System

• Socialism and Democracy: Socialist countries can also have democratic forms of government (e.g., Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands).

• American Perception: Many Americans associate socialism with tyranny and loss of individual liberties, although this isn't always the case.

Democratic Government and Capitalism

• Interconnectedness: Democratic government works closely with the capitalist economic system, affecting the distribution of goods and services.

• Private Goods: Goods and services provided by for-profit private businesses (e.g., food, clothing, housing).

• Economic Inequality: People in poverty may not be able to afford these goods or may only be able to afford inferior quality goods.

Government and Public Goods

• Market Limitations: The market cannot provide everything, necessitating government provision of certain goods.

• Public Goods: Goods or services available to all without charge (e.g., national security, education).

• Public Education: Public schools offer education for all children regardless of background.

• Toll Goods: Available only to those who can pay (e.g., private schools).

Public Good and Common Good

• Government-Provided Public Goods:

  • Stability and security (military, police, fire departments)

  • Public education

  • Public transportation

  • Food, housing, and healthcare for the poor

• Common Goods: Goods used free of charge but with limited supply (e.g., fish in the sea, clean drinking water).

• Unequal Access: Questions whether all Americans experience these services equally.

Individualism and Egalitarianism

• Political Values: Politics involves choosing which values government will support.

  • Individualism: Loosening regulations on business and industry or cutting taxes.

  • Egalitarianism: Equal treatment for all and the destruction of socioeconomic inequalities.

• Citizen Input: The political process and citizen input help determine these choices.

Civic Engagement

• Civic Engagement: The participation that connects citizens to government.

• Citizen Influence: Citizens influence policies, values, initiatives, funding, and decision-makers.

Democracy and Representative Democracy

• Democracy: A government where political power rests in the hands of the people.

  • Direct Democracy: Citizens govern directly.

  • Representative Democracy: Citizens elect representatives to make decisions and pass laws on their behalf.

Majority Rule and Democracy

• Majority Rule: The opinions of the majority have more influence in government.

• Minority Rights: In the U.S., minority rights are protected, even if the majority thinks they should be deprived of those rights.

• Direct Democracy Examples:

  • Ancient Greece (for male citizens)

  • Voting on a ballot for a referendum or proposed law

  • New England town meetings

Democracy, Republic, and Monarchy

• Republic: The U.S. is a republic, also known as a representative democracy.

• Representative Government: Most countries now have some form of representative government.

• Monarchy: One ruler, usually hereditary, holds political power.

  • Limited Monarchy: Power is restricted by law, with a monarch ruling alongside an elected legislature.

  • Absolute Monarchy: Monarch's power is unrestricted (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates).

Other Forms of Government

• Oligarchy: A small group of elite members of society, often from a particular political party, holds all political power (e.g., Cuba, China).

• Totalitarianism: The government is more important than the citizens and controls all aspects of their lives.

  • Citizens' rights are limited.

  • The government does not allow political criticism or opposition (e.g., North Korea).

Elitism and Pluralism

• Elite Theory: A set of elite citizens controls the government, and others have no influence.

• Pluralist Theory: Political power rests with competing interest groups who share influence in government.

Pluralism

• Distribution of Power: Political power is distributed throughout society, not just among elite members.

• Interest Groups: People with shared interests form groups to make their desires known to politicians (e.g., environmental advocates, unions, business organizations).

• Competition for Influence: Various organized groups hold power, with some having more influence on certain issues.

• Group Membership: A significant percentage of Americans report belonging to at least one group.

The Tradeoffs Perspective

• Compromise: Government action results from compromises between elites and the people.

• Examples of Tradeoffs:

  • Central government supremacy vs. state government power

  • Freedom of speech

  • Conflicts between groups representing competing interests

  • Representatives balancing voting with their party vs. voting with their constituents.

Engagement in Democracy

• Importance of Participation: Citizen engagement is crucial for a functional democracy.

Why Participate?

• Influence on Government: Civic engagement empowers ordinary people to influence government actions.

• Historical Examples:

  • Abolition of slavery

  • Extension of voting rights

  • Civil rights movement

  • Women’s rights

  • LGBTQ rights

• Methods of Engagement: Protests, boycotts, speeches, letters to politicians, and acts of civil disobedience.

Participation and Partisanship

• Partisanship: The tendency to blindly support a particular political party alienates some Americans.

• Distrust of Opposing Party: Driven more by distrust of the opposing party than ideological commitment.

• Youth Disengagement: Young Americans are particularly turned off by partisan politics and increasingly identify as Independents.

Youth Participation

• Issue-Specific Concerns: Young Americans are more concerned about specific issues than committed to a party.

• Relevance: They often feel candidates don't address issues relevant to their lives.

• Ideology: Put off by the ideology of major parties.

Latent and Intense Preferences

• Political Involvement: Depends on the strength of feelings about political issues.

• Latent Preferences: Not deeply held and captured by public opinion polls.

• Intense Preferences: Based on strong, lasting feelings, leading to greater political engagement.

Key Terms

• Common goods

• Democracy

• Direct democracy

• Elite theory

• Government

• Ideology

• Intense preferences

• Latent preferences

• Majority rule

• Minority rights

• Monarchy

• Oligarchy

• Partisanship

• Pluralist theory

• Political power

• Politics

• Private goods

• Public goods

• Representative democracy

• Social capital

• Toll good

• Totalitarianism