Why Government Matters?

AP Government

Lecture #1

What is

Government?• The institution

in which decisions are made that resolve conflicts or allocate benefits and privileges.

• Ultimate authority in society

So….

• What is Politics?

Break it down into two

words…..

• Poly =

• Ticks =

• Politics = The struggle over power or

influence within organizations that

allocate benefits or privileges

Why Government Matters:

The oldest purpose of government is to

maintain order by protecting members of

society from violence and criminal

activity.

Why have a

government?

• Maintain social

order-preserve life,

liberty and protect

property

• John Locke vs.

Thomas Hobbes

• State of nature

• Locke-people are

naturally good – can

govern themselves

• Hobbes-people are

self-seeking

Natural Rights

• https://www.yout

ube.com/watch?

v=1aPnKCDArd

E

John Locke Primary Source

• Two Treatises of

Gov.

Social Contract

• Government will

protect it’s

people and the

people will obey

the government

(follow laws

implemented by

gov)

Popular Sovereignty

• The national government

has the right to govern its

people as it wishes,

without interference from

other nations - People

control themselves within

the boundaries of a

country

Limited Government

• The principle

that the powers

of government

should be

limited, usually

by institutional

checks

Republic and

Republicanism• A republic is a

society who

elects

individuals to

represent a

population in

the government

Which is Better???

• To live under a

government that

allows

individuals to do

whatever they

please OR to live

under one that

enforces strict

law and order?

• To let all citizens

keep the same

share of their

income OR to tax

wealthier people

at a higher rate

to fund programs

for poorer

people?

• Freedom

• Order

• Equality

Concepts that identify the values

pursued by government

Freedom • Freedom OF:

absence of

constraints on

behavior

(freedom of

speech or

freedom of

religion)

• Freedom FROM:

immunity (fear

and want)

Order

• Preserving life

• Preserving the social order of people

• Which can change

• Can use police power: the authority of a government to maintain order and safeguard citizen’s health, morals, safety, and welfare

Equality • Political

Equality

• Social Equality

• Equality of

Opportunity

• Equality of

Outcome

Equality:

RIGHTS

• The idea that every citizen is entitled to certain benefits of government, that the government should guarantee its citizens adequate housing, employment, medical care, and income as a matter of rights

Dilemmas

• Freedom vs. Order

• Freedom vs. Equality

Charlottesville

• http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2017/

08/16/charlottesville-video-

onlookers-orig-mss.cnn

• Freedom vs. Order?

Eminent Domain

• A power of the federal government

to take private property for public

use in return for “just compensation”

offered to the landowner

• 5th amendment gives federal gov.

this power

This shows Freedom v. Equality

Transfer of Property

Eminent Domain Link

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T

SJhyTa6fLk

• (60 Minutes Clip)

Kello Case Follow up

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

A3AsqUzVA0Q

What is a Democracy?

• Democracy-rule by the people

• Direct Democracy-A government in which all or most citizens participate directly

• Representative Democracy-A government in which leaders make decisions by winning a competitive struggle for the popular votes

Other Forms of

Government

Totalitarian – A form of government

that controls all aspects of political

and social life in a nation

Authoritarianism- A type of regime in

which only the government itself is

fully controlled by the ruler. Social

and economic institutions exist that

are not under the governments control

Other Forms of

Government

• Aristrocracy – Rule by the “best”

Procedural Democratic Theory

• Everyone should participate in decision making (universal participation)

• All votes should be counted equally (political equality)

• Majority rule (50% plus one-quorum)

• Government responsiveness to public opinion

Substantive View of Democracy

• Focuses on the substance of gov’t

policies, not the procedures

followed in making the policies

• Bill of Rights

• Civil Rights/Civil Liberties

• What has been done in the past,

not necessarily of what the

government should do?

Four different Schools of Thought

about political elites and how

power is distributed in America’s

Representative Democracy

• Majoritarianism

• Power Elite

• Bureaucratic

• Pluralist

Majoritarianism• elected officials

are the delegates of the people, acts as the people (or a majority of them) would act were there a popular vote

• Elected Officials should do what the people want!

Democracy for Everyone!

Power Elite Theory

• View that the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside of government

• Corporate leaders, top military officers, labor union officials

• Enjoy great advantages in wealth, status, etc.

Democracy for

the few!

Bureaucratic View • View that the government is dominated by appointed officials

• Max Weber

• Do not merely implement public policies, they

effectively“make” them as suits their own interests and ideas

Democracy for the few!

Pluralist View• The belief that competition among all affected interests shapes public policy

• No single group can dominate the political process

• Elites are divided and there are many categories of them

How is political power distributed?

• Majoritarian politics-elected officials

are the delegates of the people, acts as

the people (or a majority of them)

would act were there a popular vote

• Elite-persons who possess a

disproportionate share of the some

valued resource, like money or power

Political Ideologies

• Comprehensive

set of beliefs

about the

nature of

people and the

role of

government in

people’s lives

Ideologies most recognized in

U.S. Government

• Conservatives-limited role for government –more emphasis on individual responsibility –promotes the private sector over government

• Liberals-positive government action – promotes equality in opportunity

Less Recognized

Ideologies in American

Society Libertarian

- free market

belief

-less gov

regulation of

social values and

moral decisions

Ideologies that exist

Communism – A revolutionary variant of socialism that favors a partisan dictatorship, government control of all enterprises and the replacement of free markets by central planning

Fascism – A twentieth- century ideology-often totalitarian – that exalts the national collective united behind an absolute ruler. Fascism rejects liberal individualism, values action over rational deliberation and glorifies war

What about YOU??? Where

does your political ideology

fall?

• Where do your ideas come from?

• Where you live?

• Parents?Environment?

• Part of the country?

• Activity!