POLS 1101 1st Edition Lecture 1Outline of Current Lecture I. Questions to reflect overII. Principal AssumptionIII. Logic IIIV. What is Politics?V. Logic of American PoliticsVI. The Importance of Institutional DesignVII. Constitutions and GovernmentsVIII. Power vs. AuthorityIX. Institutions are DurableX. Logic of the Political SystemXI. Problems with Collective ActionsCurrent LectureI. Questions to Reflect over What good is politics in helping people solve their problems? Do Institutions matter? In a democracy, when a majority agrees on a course of action, how do the institutional arrangements really affect the majority’s ability to do what it wants? Are politicians the servants of the public, as they say in their campaign ads, orare they just self-serving? Why do we need them?II. Principal Assumption Every political actor is rationalo They always have more than once choiceo But they always choose their preferenceo Their choices usually tend to reflect here economic situation, religiousvalues, ethnic identity, or some other valued interestIII. Logic II When politicians conflict over different choices it usually is because ofo Conflicting Interesto Conflicting Valueso Conflicting beliefso Conflicting ideas about how to allocate limited resourcesIV. What is Politics Politics is how people attempt to manage conflicto There are processes through which individuals and groups reach agreements on a course of common or collective action Politics is importanto When it fails there is Anarchy Civil WarV. Logic of American Politics Bargaining and Compromise is required The politicians know what they want but they must make sacrifices to reconcile if you are to agree to some common course of action The fundamental problem of government is that the Government is devised to represent and reconcile society’s man. Diverse preferences that are “sown in the nature of man” – MadisonVI. The Importance of Institutional Design Political Institutions that are effectiveo Has a set of rules and procedures for reaching enforced collective agreementso Unstructured negotiation rarely yields a collective decision that everyone can accept An example would be Obama and Boehner trying to fix the fiscal cliff in 2011 and 2012 Institutional designs is a product of politics If we look forward to the future the Constitution is a product of political compromiseVII. Constitutions and Governments Constitutionso Establish a nations governing institutionso Is a set of rules and procedures that these institutions must and must not follow to reach and enforce collective agreementso Sometimes it is a highly formal documento Or it may be an informal “understanding based on centuries of precedent and law” Governmento It consists of these institutions and the legally prescribed process for making and enforcing collective agreements It assumes various forms: monarchy, republic, democracy, theocracy, or dictatorshipVIII. Power Vs. Authority Offices: confer on their occupants specific authority and responsibilityo Rules and procedures prescribing how an institution transacts business and what authority relations will link offices together Authority: the acknowledged right to make a particular decision Power: Refers to an officeholder’s actual influence with other officeholders, and over the government’s actionsIX. Institutions are durable They usually tend to be stable and resist chance because:o Institutions persist beyond the tenure of officeholders who occupy themo The people who are affected by them make plans on the expectation that current arrangements will remain the status quoo Those who seek change typically cannot agree on alternativesX. Logic of the Political System Our institutions are embedded with certain core valueso Such as popular ruleo Our institutions are balanced with equally fundamental rules that the government must protect certain individual liberties even when a majority insists otherwise Logic embedded in our institutionso Members of a community usually engage with another community politically so they can identify and pursue common goalsXI. Problems with collective action In every instance of collective action either nations, particularly democracies will face challengeso Comparing preferenceso Agreeing on a course of action that is preferable to doing nothingo Implementing and enforcing the collective
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