Bell Ringer:What is the artist implying?

The Study of American Government

[Chapter 1]

What is Political Power? First of all—what is power? Who uses power? How do they use power?

In this course we will only focus on power as it relates to who will hold government office and how the government will behave We will predominantly focus on the federal

government

What is Political Power? What is authority? Who has authority when it comes to

using the military? Perhaps more important—who doesn’t?

When we talk about “formal authority” we are talking about the person/office that has the right to exercise a power

What is Political Power? Why do we accept someone’s authority?

Is “because they said so legit?” Hint—if it’s your parents, then the answer is yes

Reality is we accept authority because a body

of laws were accepted by us as a society making it legitimate While the Constitution has been changed 27

times since 1787 and is the shortest constitution in the world, it is something that most of us accept as legitimate laws for governing our society

What is Political Power? America has a long history of fighting over

what is considered legitimate authority The Civil War was an argument of the role of the

federal government in relation to states rights Many New Deal items were repealed by the

Supreme Court arguing legitimacy Perhaps the most recent argument on the topic

of legitimate power came with the challenge of Obamacare (which was upheld if you didn’t hear)

What is Political Power? One thing virtually every American

agrees on—power that is exercised in this country must be based in democracy

You’ve heard the term your whole life, so tell me, what is democracy? Direct v. Representative democracy—

what’s the difference? (POTENTIAL AP QUESTION)

How has democracy expanded throughout our history? Making it easier to register as a voter

(motor-voter laws) Getting rid of requirements like poll

taxes and property requirements (enfranchises the poor)

Passed the 15th, 19th, and 26th Amendments granting suffrage to minorities, women, and people from ages 18-20 who were previous blocked

A call to expand suffrage… F:\Video\Watch Video Bad Romance Wo

men's Suffrage YouTube at blinkx.flv

Is Representative the Best? It is funny—when your inline with the

winner you say the “will of the people was heard” but when your on the losing side it was “mass misunderstanding”

Another funny thing—the word “democracy” wasn’t used in the Constitution anywhere Why?

Is Representative the Best? For it to work we must have

1. Legit competition for leadership (presidential elections)

2. Communication must be free3. Voters believe there is a meaningful

choice Are these things happening?

Is Representative the Best? People who want direct democracy claim it is

the only way to ensure the “will of the people” Did the founding fathers just not care about the

will of the people since they went with representational democracy? NO! A common mistake among Americans is

believing that the Founders found the “will of the people” to be synonymous with the “public good” which is wrong

They sought to create a government that protected freedom and private property

Is Representative the Best? The Founders actually believed that most

people lacked the time, information, and/or expertise to make reasonable decisions Even highly educated people could be

manipulated by self-serving interests or those who played to their fears

The reason for representative democracy was to minimize the chance that power would be abused by either a tyrannical popular majority or by self-serving office holders

Is Representative the Best? The danger with any

democracy is that society can become an oligarchy or an autocracy

How does the situation in this cartoon lead to an oligarchy or autocracy?

How is Political Power Distributed? There are four theories on who controls

1. Class view—emphasizes the power of “the rich” or leaders of corporations

2. Power elite view—says that democracy is dominated by a few, private leaders who do not hold office

3. Bureaucratic view—appointed officials control everything, not elected officials

4. Pluralist view—political resources are so widespread (money, prestige, expertise, and access to mass media) that no one group can dominate

Which one is America?

Is Democracy Driven by Self-Interest?Are politicians just in it for themselves?

Are you in it for yourself when you go to work?

Is Democracy Driven by Self-Interest? A policy, much like any random product,

can be good or bad independently of the person/company who created it Motive doesn’t correlate to quality

No Child Left Behind is widely accepted as a failed policy Is the late Ted Kennedy a bad person for

sponsoring the bill? Is Bush a bad person for signing it?

What Explains Political Change? Before 1930 it was widely accepted that the

government was to play a small role in our lives What happened?

In the 1940s America attempted to be neutral in the European issues What happened?

The reality is, despite what we have “planned” major events can quickly and drastically alter the policies we believe in

The Nature of Politics Finding out what government does in a

given situation is easy (www.thomas.gov is a good source) Finding out who wielded the power and

why is an entirely different task Any number of groups can cause action to

be taken (lobbyists, interest groups, an ambitious congressmen)

Assignment Page 14 provides a scenario Please say whether you would ban

ballot initiatives or keep them In your answer please explain why with

specific support/examples.