Politics and Government

Chapter 17

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Overview

• Fall 2006, over 100 nations met in Cuba to discuss terrorism– Discussed the definition– Condemned the al-Qaeda attacks on civilians– Directed strongest attacks against the U.S.• Sending troops around the world to other nations• U.S. condemns other nations for supporting terrorism

but invades Iraq

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Overview

• Palestinians called terrorists but Israel not when it attacked Lebanon

• Differences lead to strong talk and even violence

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Overview

• How do nations exercises power? – The systems is called

politics—also called “polity”

• Politics: the social institution that distributes power, sets a society’s goals, and makes decisions

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Power and Authority

• Max Webber– Every society is based on

power– Power: the ability to

achieve desired ends despite the resistance of others

– Most of the time, people respect what the government requires

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Power and Authority

• The use of power is the business of government– Government: a formal

organization that directs the political life of a society

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Power and Authority

• Governments try to make themselves legitimate in the eyes of the people

• It is important to have the “given” authority of the people

• Authority: power that people perceive as legitimate

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Power and Authority

• Webber says that governments transfer raw power into more stable authority in three ways– Traditional authority– Rational-legal authority– Charismatic authority

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Traditional Authority

• Traditional authority: power legitimized by respect for long-established cultural patterns– Hereditary– It has always been this

way– Historical rulers almost

godlike

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Traditional Authority

• Declines weaken as societies industrialize

• People need to share same beliefs

• Cultural diversity and immigration weaken tradition

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Traditional Authority

• Names like Bush, Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Rockefeller carry some traditional authority

• A form of patriarchy—the domination of women by men

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Rational-Legal Authority

• Rational-legal authority: power legitimized by legally enacted rules and regulations– Power legitimized

through lawful government

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Rational-Legal Authority

• Promoting bureaucracy also erodes traditional customs and practices

• Examples: classroom teachers, police, presidential power (comes from the office, not the person)

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Charismatic Authority

• Weber claimed that power can turn into authority through charisma

• Charismatic authority: power legitimized by extraordinary personal abilities that inspire devotion and obedience

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Charismatic Authority

• Depends more on personality than on ancestry or office

• Often challenge the status quo

• Leaders as differenct Gandhi, Hitler, Martin Luther King

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Charismatic Authority

• Survival of a charismatic movement (Weber) requires the “routinization of charisma”: the transformation of charismatic authority into some combination of traditional and bureaucratic authority– The death of Jesus Christ institutionalized his

teachings in a church

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Politics in Global Perspective

• Political systems have changed throughut history– From small agrarian

societies, etc

• Effectiveness of a state depended on the quality and availability of technology

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Politics in Global Perspective

• Complex technology brings larger-scale system of nation-states

• Political systems are inf four categories– Monarchy– Democracy – Authoritarianism– Totalitarianism

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Monarchy

• Monarchy: Greek: “one ruler”: a political system in which a single family rules form generation to generation

• Commonly found in agrarian societies– David and Solomon from

the Bible

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Monarchy

• Absolute monarchs in the Middle Ages claimed “divine right”—power from God

• Today, monarchs are in a few nations– Kuwait– Saudi Arabia– Bahrain

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Monarchy

• With industrialization, monarchies go away

• European nations– Constitutional

monarchies• Little more than symbolic

heads• Governed by elected

officials

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Democracy

• Historical trend has been toward democracy• Democracy: a political system that gives

power to the people as a whole• Representative democracy or republic:

authority placed in the hands of leaders chosen by the people and who compete for public office in elections

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Democracy

• Industrialization and democracies go together– Require a literate

populace

• Democracy and rational-legal authority are linked

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Democracy

• Pure democracy is not a fact in the U.S. and other high-income countries. Two reasons:– #1: The huge bureaucracy• Federal government has 2.7 million employees• Includes 1.4 million uniformed (military) personnel• Eight million employees with grants and special funding• Twelve million total at the federal level• Another 19 million in over 88,000 local government

across the country

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Democracy

• #2: The second reason for no pure democracy is economic inequality– Rich people have more power than poor people– Billion dollar corporations have great influence– The organization Move On, funded by billionnaire

George Soros and other wealthy progressives continue to influence millions of people

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Democracy

• And yet, with all the criticism that the U.S. may not be a perfect democracy– The Constitution guarantees our basic rights– All citizens 18 or over have the power of the vote.– Citizens can contact their representatives to

express their concerns– Citizens can form organizations to address

grievances– The media can be used to highlight problems

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Democracy

• According to Freedom House, an organization tracking political activities in the world, 90 nations were now considered “free” in 2006 verses 76 a decade earlier

•

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Democracy and Freedom: Capitalist and Socialist Approaches• The U.S. and even socialist nations (Cuba and

China) claim to operate as democracies• Our text suggests we look at political

economy, the interplay between politics and economics– The suggestion is that democracy (or the political

system) may be better defined by the influence of the economic system

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Democracy and Freedom: Capitalist and Socialist Approaches• The political lives of

those living in the U.S., Canada, Western European nations, etc., are shaped largely by the economic system of capitalism

• Capitalism is known as a synonym for “freedom”

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Democracy and Freedom: Capitalist and Socialist Approaches• Freedom of the market place requires that

“freedom” be defined in terms of the people’s right to pursue their own self interests

• Personal liberty is emphasized—the freedom to act in ways that legally maximize profit or other personal advantage

• People have the right to select leaders from those running for office

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Democracy and Freedom: Capitalist and Socialist Approaches• Inequality of income

and wealth are the main critique of capitalism

• Self interest pursuits allow some people more power

• The critique is that elites control society

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Democracy and Freedom: Capitalist and Socialist Approaches• Discussion – Where does the middle class play in all of this?– Do people normally remain in their social-

economic status all their lives? Are people expected to work at a McDonalds counter as a career?

– What opportunities exist in a democracy to rise well above your previous status?

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Democracy and Freedom: Capitalist and Socialist Approaches• As you turn 18 years old and go off to college,

would you consider yourself economically poor? Rich? Middle class? Why?

• Do you expect to be poor for some period in your life?

• What do you think is the economic status of the millions of college students most of the time?

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Democracy and Freedom: Capitalist and Socialist Approaches• Socialist systems claim

to be democratic because their economies (they claim) meet everyone’s “basic” needs for housing, schooling, work, and medical care

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Democracy and Freedom: Capitalist and Socialist Approaches• According to the text,

Cuba provides basic medical care to all of its people regardless of their ability to pay– Just how “basic” do you

think “basic” is?

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Democracy and Freedom: Capitalist and Socialist Approaches• Socialist governments like Cuba and China do

not permit their people to move freely within and across the borders

• No organized political organization is permitted

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Democracy and Freedom: Capitalist and Socialist Approaches• Can economic equality and political liberty go

together. If everyone makes the same amount of money, how is that achieved a through dictatorship

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Democracy and Freedom: Capitalist and Socialist Approaches• Socialism limits choices and capitalism has

broad political (thus economic) liberties– Don’t political liberties translate into economic

opportunities? Yes? No? How? – Do political liberties mean very little to the poor as

the author states? Why? Why not?

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Authoritarianism• Authoritarianism: a

political system that denies the people participation in government– Indifferent to people’s

needs– People don’t select

leaders– Puts down dissent

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Authoritarianism

• Contemporary authoritarian countries– Absolute monarchies

• Saudi Arabia• Bahrain

– Military Junta• Ethiopia

– Etc.

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Meles ZenawiPrime Minister, Ethiopia

Totalitarianism

• Chinese students may not “Google” terms like “democracy” or “Amnesty International”– Government denies such

searches

• In North Korea, students have no access to computers

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Totalitarianism

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Totalitarianism

• The most intensely controlled political form

• Totalitarianism: a highly centralized political system that extensively regulates people’s lives

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Joseph Stalin

Totalitarianism• The information

systems of the 20th century permitted governments to monitor its citizens– Vietnam – North Korea

• Population control helps totalitarian governments

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Vietnam

Totalitarianism

• Governments claim to represent the people, e.g. Cuba, but…– Government has total power– No organization opposition– Denying assembly and opposition– Atmosphere of isolation and fear

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Totalitarianism

• Final decades of Soviet Union, common citizen had no:– Telephone directories– Copy machines– Fax machines– City maps

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Totalitarianism

• In totalitarian societies, pictures of leaders and political messages are everywhere to remind people of their allegiance

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Kim Jong Il North Korea

Totalitarianism• President Clinton gave North Korea food, oil, and

nuclear reactors with the promise from Kim Jong Il that he would stop developing nuclear weapons capability

• Kim saw it as appeasement and continued development

• President Bush isolated North Korea and has an agreement for them to stop development of weapons—we shall see. Never negotiate without preconditions

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Totalitarianism

• Totalitarianism regimes are fascist and communist– both right and left

extremes of the political spectrum

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Fidel Castro Cub a

A Global Political System

• Large corporations operate world-wide– Nothing really new– Most economic activity

is international– Nation-states still exist

• Growing in influence—often more influence that nations

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A Global Political System

• United Nations, founded in 1945, took a step toward global government

• Information technology has made globalization much easier

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United Nations

A Global Political System

• Global political culture is expanding through nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)– Greenpeace– Amnesty International

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A Global Political System

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A Global Political System

• Summary– Can governments really

control what happens inside their borders?

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