POLS 206 Lecture 2Outline of Previous Lecture- What is government?- What is politics?- Political Participation- Policy Making Systemo People Make Policy- Traditional Democratic Theoryo Key Principles of the Democratic ProcessOutline of Current LectureI. Three Contemporary Theories of American DemocracyII. Challenges to DemocracyIII. American Political Culture and DemocracyIV. How active is the American Government?Lecture-Three Contemporary Theories of American Democracya. Pluralismi. Groups of minorities working togetherii. Good policy will prevail because groups must compromiseiii. Groups compete --> Compromise --> policy making --> Government is stronger than any individual groupb. Elitismi. Power is held by wealthyb. Hyper pluralismi. Too many groups try to control policyii. Government is too weak to do anythingiii. Leads to gridlock and nothing getting doneiv. *Key to pluralism is that groups compete and something gets done*-Challenges to Democracya. Increased complexity of issuesi. Requires the need of informed politicians and informed electorate b. Limited participation in governmenti. Only 55% voting participation in United States b. Diverse political interestsi. Policy gridlockii. Too many people want too many different things b. Escalating campaign costsi. Money is very important in elections-American Political Culture and Democracy a. Political culture based on American creed i. Liberty1. Liberty for allii. Egalitarianism1. "Equality"2. Equality under the laws ii. Individualism1. Limited government 2. Self reliant, life should based on self abilities and not what the government does for you ii. Laissez-Faire1. "Hands off" economy2. Free market or capitalism ii. Populism1. For the people -How Active is the American Government?a. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)i. Sum of all goods and services produced by the countryii. Government spends 1/3iii. Government employs 24 million people1. Number is growing and makes the US government the largest employer on the planet 2. Own 1/4 - 1/5 of land in the country b. Americans expect the government to solve problemsi. Unemployment, terrorism, illegal immigration, energy, education, lack of access to health care Chapter 2 - The Constitution -The Constitutiona. Does not set up neutral rules for politicsi. Has a conservative (not ideology) bias favoring status quo -2.1: Origins of the Constitutiona. Road to the Revolutioni. No taxation without representation1. Sending troops to protect colonies2. Colonists were not keeping any wealth, all was going to England 3. Starts very
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