Week 1 Chapter 1 Introduction The Purpose of Government 1 Maintain Order Law and Order Hobbes and the anarchy of the state of nature o Our personal property and safety will be threatened without a government o Because of anarchy we need a government If men were angels no government would be necessary o Tendency to form factions with like minded people o Avoid the tyranny of the majority 2 Provide for the General Welfare like public goods Necessary role of government because of the free rider program We need someone bigger than individuals to control it instead of expecting people to do it like national defense It s not fair if some people pay for national defense but some people don t 3 Promote Equality Relatively new role for government 20th century Political equality voting rights vs Social equality education health care social welfare Politics is who gets what when and how Politics involves conflict over resources and also values 4 components of politics o Who will lead the government elections o How government will operate and make decisions including process rules and structure o Substance of government decisions policies and regulations the actual policies passed o How government will enforce those decisions Characteristics of American Democracy America is a representative democracy o At a federal level we are indirect people vote for leaders through elections and these elected leaders make the laws o At the state level there s direct democracy where voters vote directly America is a constitutional democracy o Key is a foundational document describing the structure of government its powers and its limits American Political Culture It is a permanent set of values beliefs of people towards the government unlike public opinion more specific can change American creed dominate political culture like equality democracy liberty Central principles Political equality o Plurality rule and minority rights o Equality before the law Sources of conflict in US Politics 1 Economic interests a Role of government vs individual redistribution and equality a Race ethnicity gender sexual orientation Notion of a melting pot 2 Culture Identity 3 4 Ideology Importance of rules in resolving political conflicts The US political system is based on rules Rules are not impartial and rules affect the outcomes Establishing the rules often involves conflict Week 2 Lecture 1 Chapter 3 Constitution and Founding The Colonial Experience There was NOT a direct democracy not a lot of participation The colonials wanted to revolt against Britain because o Dislike of monarchy and taxation without representation o Money from colonies were going to British Second Continental Congress 1775 started to build gov made army George Washington o Reconcile with British or go to war Declaration of Independence 1776 o Influence of political philosopher John Locke 1 People have natural inalienable rights life liberty pursuit of happiness 2 Legitimate political authority is based on the consent of the governed Political theories of the Framers Republicanism the theory not party o People are represented through elected leaders o Legitimacy of government is in consent of the governed o People have natural rights Human nature is o Distrust of mass public and popular majorities o Human nature as self interested recall discussion of Madison from last class o Importance of separation of powers and competition Economic interests o Think about the economic interests and perspectives of the Founders o Importance of protecting private property land owning people o Context of relatively fewer class distinctions but regional differences compared to British The articles of confederation 1781 1789 First basic governing document after Monarchy Power to states no strong central government Loose association of independent states Why did the Articles of Confederation fail o Too far in the direction of limited government o They didn t want central power to one group and instead spread out the power to states o Unfortunately this didn t give central US government enough power o Federal government didn t get to regulate tax regulate trade no standing national army etc Too much state power and too little for federal o Ex no president or national executive leader they wanted to avoid kings by making no national leader Congress could not require states to pay for revolutionary army Why was there a call for change o Public was dissatisfied under the Articles o Considerable debt and bankruptcy o Shay s Rebellion 1786 7 in Massachusetts Farmers protest to stop foreclosures on property by state courts State had no funds military to stop protests because they were no national resource Federal Convention 1787 o Called to improve the Articles of Confederation but turned into a call for a new structure of government o Became the Constitutional Convention of 1787 The Constitutional Debate 2 sides of debate Federalists Madison Franklin Hamilton Washington o IN favor of new Constitution wanted to rebalance power b w national and state Anti Federalists o Opposed to new Constitution and powerful national government o Did not want a clear national leader like King Public debate conducted via exchange of printed essays o The Federalist Papers No 10 concerned with threat of tyranny No 51 Concerned with checks and balances Ambition must be made to counteract ambition Key Constitutional Debate Majority vs Minority Concerned with protecting regional and economic minorities Minority factions could be controlled by majority rule tyranny The framers are the economic minority they are the elite but what could prevent majority We need separation of powers o Checks and balances across the three branches hard for masses to get things done It s to slow things down o Dividing power between state and federal Belief that with a large population interests will be diverse and will make it harder for a majority to dominate pluralism There s no direct democracy doesn t let them do whatever they want Key Constitutional debates Large vs Small states Virginia Plan Large States New Jersey Plan Small States The Connecticut Compromise Legislature Bicameral legislature House and Senate Unicameral legislature Single House Representation Proportion to population gives larger states more seats States have equal representation in Congress like Senate US H of Rep population and elected by people Us Senate state and elected by state legislatures Executive Congress selects president Congress