POS1041 Chapter 1 The Logic of American Politics Notes Politics the process through which individuals and groups reach agreement on a course of common or collective action even as they disagree on the intended goals of that action o Each party needs to find a solution o Success involves bargaining and compromise Bargaining exchange of proposals and counterproposals Compromise a settlement in which each side concedes some preferences to secure others Preferences givens individuals and groups know what they want preferences must be reconciled to reach compromise o May reflect an individual s economic situation religious values ethnic identity or some other valued interest The Importance of Institutional Design Unstructured negotiation rarely yields a collective decision all parties can accept o May expose each side to too great a risk fear of reneging may foster mutual suspicions war may become the preferred alternative 1990s conflict Serbs Croats and Muslims in Bosnia Ethnic and religious rivals became trapped in a spiral of mutual suspicion fear and hostility b c there was no system in place o People were joining militias and killing one another Parties to a conflict will benefit from prior agreements on rules and procedures for negotiations o A stable community endures by establishing rules and procedures for promoting successful collective action Jan 1999 Bill Clinton Impeachment Senate endorsed a resolution that laid out impeachment trial s rules through an early closed door mtg involving all senators Desire for partisan and institutional comity made senators give majority and minority leaders able to reject any rule changes o Members of both sides could reach compromise w out fear that the other side would resort to trickery o James Harrison 1656 treatise two girls fighting over single slice of cake proposed a divide where one girl would divide the cake and the other would choose which slice she wanted Both girls able to pursue self interest metaphor for both parties compromising o Department of Education division 1977 Pres Carter proposed the division as a reward for early support from teacher organizations who wanted the separation calling that it would be a key to increasing federal funding for schools and teacher training Constitutions and Governments Rules and procedures guide an organization s members in making essentially political decisions decisions in which the participants initially disagree about what they would like the organization to do o Degree of success depends on whether the organization has developed constitutions and gov ts that work Constitution establishes a nation s governing institutions and the set of rules and procedures these institutions must and must not follow to reach and enforce collective agreements o Ex Highly formal document U S Const or unwritten U K informal understanding Government consists of institutions and the legally prescribed process for making and enforcing collective agreements outlined in the constitution o Forms monarchy representative democracy theocracy gov t of religious leaders dictatorship Authority vs Power responsibilities o Offices make up gov t institutions offices confer on their occupants specific authority and o Authority the acknowledged right to make a particular decision Ex Pres has authority to nominate fed Judges but Senate must confirm nomination o Power an officeholder s actual influence w other officeholders and over the gov ts actions Ex an officeholder s power includes the skill to deploy that authority when dealing w other officeholders and positions i e Pres must be persuasive to have Senate confirm fed judge appointment Institutional Durability o Institutions tend to resist change b c 1 Authority is signed to the office not to the individual in the office established institutions persist beyond the person holding the office 2 The people who are affected by offices make plans on the expectation that current arrangements will remain Ex changing Social Security 3 Even those who seek change typically find it hard to agree on a proposed alternative o Reform is undertaken to make institutions perform more efficiently o Reforms enable institutions to accomplish new collective goals 1970 consolidation of Environmental Protection Agency EPA by coordinating actions and centralizing authority these agencies could more effectively monitor and regulate polluting industries The Political System s Logic o Logic based on principles about how members of a community should engage one another politically to identify and pursue their common goals Collective Action Problems Collective action efforts of a group to reach and implement agreements o Reaching agreements comparing preferences finding some course of action that sufficient numbers of participants agree is preferable to proposed alternatives or doing nothing o Implementing agreements reassuring participants that everyone will share the costs and live up to the agreements o Coordination members of the group must decide individually what they want what they are prepared to contribute to the collective enterprise and how to coordinate their efforts w those of others o Prisoner s Dilemma arises whenever individuals decide that even though they support some collective undertaking they are personally better off pursuing an activity that rewards them individually despite undermining the collective effort Ex Neighbors petitioning City Hall for a stop sign legislators collaborating to strike budget deals in Congress Coordination o Coordination problems increase with the size of a group Large groups trying to reach a shared goal may designate and follow a leader 2 The Prisoner s Dilemma House of Reps delegates a Rules Committee that is responsible for scheduling the flow of legislation onto the floor and setting limits on deliberations and amendments o Rules Committee the leader o Coordination is vital if the chamber is to identify and pass the most preferred legislation Senate no Rules Committee informal discussions suffice o Politicians who society s collective decisions are generally delegated to intensively engage one another in structured settings namely gov t in order to discover mutually attractive collective decisions o Focal point some prominent cue that helps individuals recognize the preferences of others w whom they want to cooperate Internet based social networks 2006 L A union and church organized a protest march against anti immigration legislation under
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