Chapter 1 The Logic of American Politics 1 What is politics Why is it important pg 3 Politics is 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 about finding the rules and political decisions on how we make choices Politics matters because each party entity with differing preferences needs to find a solution to its conflict or disagreement A solution requires parties to cooperate even when cooperation is costly and difficult to achieve 2 Why are bargaining and compromise important to politics pg 4 Bargaining Prolonged exchange of proposals and counter proposals Compromise Settlement in which each side concedes some of its preferences in order to secure others Although successful bargaining could lead to the discovery that the contending parties actually agree with each other or possibly to one side s capitulation generally it ends in a compromise or a settlement in which each side concedes some preferences to secure the others 3 What are preferences pg 4 An individual s choices reflecting economic situation religious values ethnic identity or other valued interests Preferences may reflect these but not always For example millions of Americans oppose capital punishment but surely very few of those who do so expect to benefit personally from such a ban 4 What are institutions Why are they important pg 5 An institution is a set of rules or guidelines for negotiations 5 What is a constitution What does it do pg 6 7 the document itself outlines the formal rules as well as its limits when a nation establishes a set of rules and procedures these institutions must and must not follow to reach and enforce collective agreements to guide an organization s member in making political decisions degree of success depends on constitutions and governments that work set of rules and procedures these institutions must and must not follow to reach and enforce collective agreements 6 What is a government Why are they important pg 7 Government is the institutions and procedures through which people are ruled consists of institutions and the legally prescribed process for making and enforcing collective agreements some governments are very involved with constitutions while others are limited 7 What is authority How is it different from power pg 7 Authority acknowledged right of the office to make a particular decision for all the participants it s assigned to the office not the individual Power office holder s actual influence with other officeholders and subsequently over the government s actions power can be through public example 19th century presidents vs 20th century presidents 19th century power and authority was held mainly by congressional sectio n after 20th century presidents started to increase authority 8 Why have institutional reform and how does it generally occur pg 8 Usually we have reform because whatever it is we want to accomplish simply doesn t seem to be able to be accomplished Perhaps the rules are just not working and they need to be changed You can look at voting rights as an example Do you think that the U S rules regarding voting did not need reform change If so then men without property women African Americans and young people aged 18 19 20 would never have gotten the right to vote Sometimes we decide to change institutions not because they are not working as intended but because what they intended originally may be wrong Reform is undertaken to make institutions perform efficiently or to accomplish a new collective goal How does it generally occur Sometimes reform can happen quickly one law passed at the national level can change everything but sometimes laws change slowly Sometimes we see state to state change Sometimes it takes decades of work before the public decides enough is enough But usually rules change when minds change And there have to be enough people who think it is a good idea for it to actually change 9 What is collective action Why are there problems associated with collective action Why are they hard to overcome pg 9 An action taken by a group of like minded individuals to achieve a common good In democratic nations which are large and complex every instance of collective action presents participants with challenges They may involve comparing preferences agreeing on a course of action implementing and enforcing collective action Challenges participants to figure out what to do and how to do it Collective action brings with it the implication of an increased number of players thus increasing transaction costs In this way collective action brings about a multitude of conflicting interests 10 What is coordination Make sure you can define coordination and why it is an important aspect of collective action pg 9 10 Coordination is somtething that is needed for collective action For people to work together they generally need to coordinate their efforts i e work together in unified and efficient manner When there is no coordination collective action is likely to be much more difficult or to fail Coordination is when members need to decide individually what they want what they re prepared to contribute and how they re going to coordinate their efforts with others coordination problems arise from uncertainty and insufficient information mutual ignorance prevents participants from identifying and working together for a common goal Without proper coordination the prisoner s dilemma can result 11 What is the prisoner s dilemma What is free riding What is the Tragedy of the Commons How are they related and why would we study them in American Government You should be able to describe each of these and differentiate between them Also think of ways they can be solved pg 13 21 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 only when each party is sure that the other will live up to an agreement can they break out of this dilemma and work for mutual benefits solution 1 making going back on the promise reneging expensive ex politicians that make promises that they don t follow through on will lose credibility with voters and will lose in next election damaging their reputation 2 create institutions that guarantee that agreements are honored Free riding problem arises