Jaymie TicknorPolitical Science 1050 Sect. 00216 January 2014Lecture #1Chapter #1 : Thinking About American Politics :What is Government ? Institutions that have authority and capacity to create and enforce public policies for a specific territory or peopleU.S. citizens are subject to federal, state, and local governmentsPolitics: individual and collective efforts to influence the workings of governmentIs government necessary? Yes; civil rights, provide order, help and provide for people, public goods and services, military enforcement, to prevent anarchy, or disorder due to lack of authorityPurpose of Government:To secure the provision of public goods: goods and services that are enjoyed by all citizens and unlikely to be provided by any organization other than government (schools, non-excludable goods that are easier to access than in private entities)Materials or services that are virtually impossible to secure through collective individual action, but all citizens enjoy, defense, streets, air, environmentProblems emerge due to “free-riding” (individuals solving the public problems, cannot secure benefit of actions because of lack of people actually working towards solving the issue)Functions of Government:Protect citizens from unlawful activity (most agree with)Defends the country from foreign aggressors (most people agree with)Regulates social and economic relations (controversial, more debate about, commerce, more/less involved)Provides services (controversial, more debate about, programs, invest more/less)Government of the Few:Monarchy: power is vested in one individual by virtue or by birthrightAutocracy: absolute and unlimited power is vested in one individual, not by virtue or by birthright, but by other characteristicsAristocracy: power is vested in a small group of people by virtue or by birthrightOligarchy: power is vested in a small group of people, not by virtue or birthright, but by other characteristics (South Africa)Government of the Many:Democracy: system in which governmental power is widely shared among the citizens, usually through free and open electionsU.S. is technically a constitutional republic, but is driven by democratic valuesTraditional Types of Democracy:Direct Democracy: directly involved in influencing and creating policies; ordinary people are the government and make all laws themselvesAdvantages: every individual have a voice, more active and engagedDisadvantages: bias towards groups of people who are involved more often than other groups, takes time, cost of getting information andparticipation overwhelming, mob of ideas tend to be messyRepresentative Democracy: form of indirect democracy, in which the people choose representativesAdvantages: faster process, cost of getting information more bearable on the citizens, more knowledgeable, efficient and narrowed downDisadvantages: popularity bias, discretion, opinions may not exactly match up preferences (principal agent problem), rely upon other things to do tangible tasks without knowing what is happening in the system, candidates worry about losing jobsDifferent Types of Democracy:Constitutional vs. Non-Constitutional Democracy:Constitutional Democracy: relies upon a formal document to define role of government; constrains and defines (example would be the US)Non-Constitutional Democracy: government does not have a single formal document to define role of government (examples would bethe UK, and Israel)Presidential System vs. Parliamentary SystemPresidential System: head of government is determined by an election and serves a fixed term; directly selectingParliamentary System: head of government is selected by majority party in the legislature; indirectly selecting; typically called the Prime Minister(Fundamental) Principles of American Democracy (evolved over time)Political Equality: equal opportunity to fully access the political processPlurality Rule: win the most votes, not so much the majority vote (not really working when standards are much higher; also when Senate does Supermajority by receiving ⅔ vote)Minority Rights: minorities’ rights are protected in ConstitutionEquality before the law: equal treatment to individuals under the lawTextbook: Social Contract: an agreement among members of a society to form and recognize the authority of a centralized government that is empowered to make and enforce laws governing the members of that societyAuthoritarian (Totalitarian) System: political system in which one person or group has absolute control over the apparatus of government, and in whichpopular input in government is minimal or nonexistentPolitical Culture: the values and beliefs of citizens toward the political systemand toward themselves as actors in itCausal Question: question regarding the factors responsible for a particular outcomeCorrelation: relationship between factors such that change in one is accompaniedby change in the otherCausation: relationship between variables such that change in the value of one is directly responsible for change in the value of the otherSpurious Relationship: relationship between variables that reflects correlation but not