Lecture 2 POLS 207 Outline of Last Lecture I Why Government is Necessary a Market definitions II American Political Philosophy III Value of a Life Outline of Current Lecture I Definition of Politics a Policy II What Type of Fairness III How should State and Local Governments Decide IV Anecdote a Scorpion and frog Current Lecture Definition of Politics need to know all different versions Webster definition The art or science of governing Easton definition Politics is concerned with the authoritative allocation of values Lasswell Who gets what when and how Professor s favorite version of definition Policy can be informal or formal there are penalties for deviation example speeding laws would be formal vs sniffing armpit would be an informal deviation of social norm What Type of Fairness Equality of outcome Example One student studies more than another and does better on the test but they get the same grade regardless Each person receives the same benefit Example in government everyone deserves a high school education Equality of opportunity Having the opportunity rather than everyone getting the same benefit Example getting a college education Example being better looking you tend to make more money in the course of your lifetime than someone that is not How Should State and Local Governments make decisions Majority rule A well informed minority Special interests not liked because its often associated with giving money Scorpion and frog Anecdote A scorpion comes to a river and can t swim so it was a frog to carry him across the river The frog says no because the scorpion will just sting and kill him But the scorpion reassures the frog that he won t because then the scorpion will fall in the river and can t swim so will die too So the frog agrees and carries the scorpion across the river Then halfway across the river the scorpion stings the frog and as the frog is dying he says why because now you re going to die too since you can t swim And the scorpion says It s in my nature