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5. Structures and Institutions. Government Structures. Government structures are the basic functions that governments need to perform. They may take many different forms, but they will always be there.
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Government Structures • Governmentstructures are the basic functions that governments need to perform. • They may take many different forms, but they will always be there. • For example, since all governments must establish the rules of acceptable behavior, every government must have • Legislative structures, which create laws • Executive structures, which implement laws • Judicial and policing structures, which enforce laws
Structures or Institutions? • Structures are generic, whereas institutions are specific. • A legislature is a political structure; the British House of Commons is a political institution. • A judicial system is a political structure; the U.S. Supreme Court is a political institution. • Political institutions are the organizational structures through which political power is exercised.
Human Nature and Political Institutions • A society's political institutions reflect that society’s basic view of human nature. • James Madison and the U.S. Founding Fathers were pessimistic about human nature. • Consequently, they designed a system of interlocking institutions with checks on each other so that “ambition could be made to counteract ambition.”[1] [1] James Madison, Federalist No. 51, in The Federalist Papers, ed. Clinton Rossiter (New York: New American Library of World Literature, 1961), 322.
Human Nature and Political Institutions • The U.S. system is designed to make it difficult for the government to infringe on citizens’ rights. • But it also makes it hard to get much done at all.
Human Nature and Political Institutions • Taking a more positive view of humankind, many other governments have simpler systems that make it far easier to enact policy. • This may come at the cost of stability and may place the minority at the mercy of the majority.
The Reality of Political Institutions • Political institutions reflect the values of society. • Institutions can protect or weaken values such as democracy and personal freedom. • Similarly, institutions may bolster or impede the personal power and security of a leader. • Given the competing ideals and values in a society, the push for compromise quickly takes us away from anyone’s ideal institutions.
Context, Evolution, and the Unbearable Weight of History • Most government institutions have evolved over time. • They are rarely designed or created from scratch. • Even when intentionally designed, nations seldom, if ever, have anything close to a blank page when they start creating a government. • Almost every government’s institutions carry the legacy of generations.
Context, Evolution, and the Unbearable Weight of History • Even revolutions may not lead to dramatic changes in institutions. • A nation’s structures may have been imposed upon it by another source, such as a colonial power. • Even if a nation could plan its structures, plans do not always work out the way they are intended. • Government institutions are shaped by history, culture, necessity, and circumstance. • They are always imperfect.
Failed Institutions • Regardless of intentions, statements, and constitutions, institutions may often serve purposes that are not apparent. • Institutions can be hijacked by those with less-than-noble intentions. • They may simply be distractions or even charades, such as elections for a dictator.
Legitimacy, Information, and Human Nature • Institutions can enhance the voluntary acceptance of government. • They can also teach and shape public demands. • The types of institutions we utilize can shape our basic behavior in our day-to-day lives.
Legitimacy, Information, and Human Nature • For instance, governments demanding citizen participation also demand that citizens be more aware. • Governments that act paternally are likely to breed citizens dependent on strong leadership. • Institutions that hunt down and punish dissent will generate fear, isolation, and atomization.
Choosing Institutions: Picking a Terrain • The structures that are put into place will be affected by the basic political culture. • A nation’s political culture is composed of “the system of empirical beliefs, expressive symbols, and values, which defines the situation in which political action takes place.”[1] • This political culture can involve religious values, expectations, morals, ethics, and traditions. [1] Sidney Verba, “Comparative Political Culture,” in Political Culture and Political Development, ed. Lucian W. Pye and Sidney Verba (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965), 513.
Choosing Institutions:Selecting a Basic Form • Aristotle identified six basic types of government. • These were first divided by whether they worked for the benefit of all (good) or only for the ruling class (perverted). • The second major distinction was the size of the group in charge.
Choosing Institutions:Selecting a Basic Form • Some countries that have monarchs do not actually give them much power. • A country that does not have a monarch is, according to one very basic definition, a republic. • Many representative democracies are actually ruled, to a greater or lesser degree, by some form of an aristocracy made up of a small group of elites. • Many democracies also have some very undemocratic elements, such as constitutional courts.
Choosing Institutions: Connecting Your Government • The relationships among different levels of government can be more or less decentralized. • The three main systems are unitary, federal, and the confederal. • Most nations do not choose to have one system or another. • The makeup of the nation, its history, its culture, and its geography tend to determine the type of structure.
Choosing Institutions: Connecting Your Government • In a unitary system power is centralized at the national level. • The benefits of this type of system include simplicity, equality, and lack of redundancy. • Some local governing boards may have input, but only at the mercy of the national government.
Choosing Institutions: Connecting Your Government • In a federal system, sovereignty is shared between the national and the local government units. • This works well in diverse countries with variations in local conditions, economies, and cultures.
