Government This is of course an intro page on government One of the things I tend to stress is that most everything we cover can be first broken down into what something IS and then what something DOES We can all pretty much agree on what something IS but there s often disagreement on what something DOES Read on What is a government A government is the set of institutions that make carryout and judge public policies This is a pretty standard definition Governments exist in different forms in different countries and even different states So take note of it you ll see this term quite a bit As I mentioned above we can all pretty much agree on what government is It s what it DOES that causes all the problems What does a government do Governments do a number of things One way to look at our governments is by looking at what the different levels or layers of governments do and then at what the different branches of governments do So here s that first rub Different levels of governments DO different things What are the different levels of governments In this country there are basically three levels of governments Each does some things on its own and some they do together as well like collect taxes https ecampusd2l blinn edu content enforced 3781011419 11429 11433 13811 201610 MRG Lect01 Government TW html ou 37810 Legislative makes policies There is the first branch that makes public policies Congress at the federal level They write and pass laws that we in the United States have to live under In Texas we have the Texas Legislature that takes care of that function just for those of us in this state And finally at the local level we have city councils that pass ordinances that govern things within the city limits All of the things listed above are policies some governments do them some do not These things vary from one country to the next Executive carries out policies For the second function the United States has a President and bureaucracy that is expected to execute or carryout the policies that Congress passes In Texas we have a governor and a bureaucracy the state agencies that executes the laws of Texas The same is true with local governments there are city managers and departments to carryout the laws of the U S Texas and of their city Judicial judges policies Finally there is a federal court system to judge the laws of the country and to judge people by the laws of the country Each state like Texas has its own court system and many cities also have their own courts Okay if you didn t get the question correct the little activity below has the same information in a more visual form If you search for checks and balances on the Internet you ll get a bunch of graphs usually for U S government that are different visualizations Political Socialization Political socialization is the process by which people acquire beliefs values and habits of thought and action related to government politics and society The process of political socialization goes beyond an individual learning information about how the world actually operates and instead relates to an individual developing a point of view about how people and institutions should operate Axioms like government is not the solution it s the problem absolute power corrupts absolutely people are competitive by nature and we have a responsibility to take care of those who cannot make it in society float about in our daily lives Narrowly these expressions reflect beliefs about certain issues More broadly they reflect some of the values of a political culture Your beliefs and values may often feel like obvious and indisputable truths but this is more a reflection of the power of the social forces that led to you having those ideas in the first place beginning almost at the moment you re born Agents of Socialization Social scientists have identified a number of so called agents of socialization which are the people and institutions responsible for teaching us the dominant values of the society we re raised in These include parents family friends church and the media they also include experiences with education employment government and other public institutions When you think of socialization learning proper table etiquette might come to mind Someone who sends a thank you note after staying with a friend and puts a napkin on her lap before starting a meal has learned these behaviors through some agents of socialization most likely her parents The activity of political socialization is similar It s a type of socialization that refers specifically to the process of acquiring ideas about people society and government Agents of socialization may teach us ideas regarding political rights life liberty and the pursuit of happiness or the ideal political structure government of the people by the people for the people Home Life We begin learning the basics of good behavior when we re young Similarly we also begin to pick up social and political attitudes at an early age Parents even apolitical ones usually start this process through their body language and the comments they may make about different individuals and influences in society the poor the rich corporations economic regulation political activism and so on A grunt here a nod there or repeated references to those crooks in Congress can make a strong impression on a young mind Because parents are usually the closest and most influential authority figures around children tend to internalize their parents views with relatively little questioning Parents also usually react to the first political forays of their children The extent of a child s exposure to an agent of socialization can determine how much or little impact on their political socialization the interaction causes Only very rarely do parents teach their children fully developed and elaborately articulated theories of politics or economics Instead they offer usually unconsciously snippets of political culture and ideology with significant gaps and possible inconsistencies children gradually fill those in later through subsequent contact with other agents of socialization As we mature we expand our circle of influencers all of whom are agents of socialization For instance other family and friends are more likely to reinforce the values and viewpoints we ve already absorbed from our parents One s family and friends often share similar political views usually because they belong to a common race ethnicity or socioeconomic class But individual