Introduction to government

1. Introduction to government Chapter 1 The Democratic Republic

2. What is government & Politics • Key Terms: • Politics : “who gets what when and how” • Government : The institutions in which society makes and enforces public policy • What is public policy? • All those things that a government decides to do; Allocating benefits and privileges. • Examples?

3. State & Nation • State: • Population, territory, government, sovereignty • Nation • Group of people with a common cultural heritage • Nation-state, state-less nation

4. Why Is Government Necessary? (Functions) What is the absence of government? What is general characteristic of a place that has no government

5. Order & Security • oldest purposes Maintaining peace and security by protecting members of society from violence and criminal activity is the oldest purpose of government.

6. Provide public goods & services • Collective goods ; those that cannot be denied to anyone • Such as: clean water, public roads • Private sector • College, medical care

7. Socialize the young • Instill knowledge and encourage national pride in the system and the country’s values

8. Collect taxes • 1 in 3 dollars earned in America goes to national , state or local taxes. • Taxes pay for public goods and services that the government provides

9. Who participates in government? • Policy Making system Pg. 13 • People • Linkage institutions • Policy agenda • Policymaking institutions • Policy • People

10. How are governments classified? • By…. • How is power distributed? • What is the relationship between the legislative and executive branch • Who can participate.

11. Power Distribution • Unitary • Confederation • Federal

12. Relationship between Legislature and Executive Branches • Presidential Government • Parliamentary Government

13. Who has the power?Two extremes • Democracy • Totalitarian

14. Forms of Government • Totalitarian Regime—government controls all aspects of the political and social life of 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 government’s control.

15. Forms of Government (cont.) • Aristocracy—Rule by the “best”; in reality, rule by an upper class. • Democracy—A system of government in which political authority is vested in the people. Derived from the Greek words demos (“the people”) and kratos (“authority”).

16. Direct Democracy vs. Representative Democracy • Political decisions are made by the people directly, rather than by their elected representatives • Attained most easily in small political communities.

17. A Democratic RepublicRepresentative democracy • Democratic republic and representative democracy really mean the same thing—government based on elected representatives—except for the historical quirk that a republic cannot have a king. • We are really a Democratic Republic; sometime called a Federal Republic to denote that we have a sharing of powers between national and local governments

18. Direct Democracy Today • Initiative–a procedure by which voters can propose a law or a constitutional amendment • Referendum–an electoral device whereby legislative or constitutional measures are referred by the legislature to the voters for approval or disapproval • Recall–a procedure allowing the people to vote to dismiss an elected official from state office before his or her term has expired

19. Traditional Democracy Characteristics • Equality in voting • Effective participation • Enlightened understanding (freedom of the press) • Citizen control of the policy agenda • Inclusion • Majority rule; minority rights

20. Which theory is best represented by American gov? • Elite/class theory • Pluralism • hyperpluralism

21. 5 Elements of American Democracy • Liberty • Egalitarianism • Individualism • Laissez-faire • populism