pols unit 1

• Power


  Having others act as you would have them act
• Bases of power


  • Money
  • Authority (states, police, parents, etc)
  • Religion
  • Morality
  • Violence
  • Size (number of people) & solidarity
  • Knowledge
  • Charisma
  • Celebrity/Fame
• Politics


  Who gets what, when, and how
• Government


  Systems Analysis (David Easton)
• Substantive Policy


  • Responding and listening to demands
  • Neglect
  • Symbolic Policy
  • Political Repression
  • Cooptation
• System Values


  • Constitution
  • Capitalism
  • Religion (Christianity)
• Origins of Government

  • Conflict
  • Conquest Theory
  • Social Contract Theory
• John Locke


  Government only does what it needs to do to secure the natural rights
• Thomas Hobbes


  Government must do more because life is bad/not civilized in nature so a Leviathan is needed (more powerful entity)
• Class Struggle


  Government was created to protect private property, exists as a result of class struggle (intrasocietal conflict) between those with property vs those without
• Democracy


  A process of decision-making by many people
• Forms of Government


  • Anarchy
  • Autocracy
  • Oligarchy
  • Aristocracy
  • Plutocracy
  • Democracy
• Procedural Democracy


  Who should participate in decision-making, how much should each participant's vote count, how many votes are needed to reach a decision
• Substantive Democracy


  Focuses on the substance of government policies, not the procedures used in making them
• What if a majority of people voted to make a religion the official state religion? Would the policy be considered democratic? Procedurally yes, substantively probably not
• Purposes of Government


  • Order
  • Freedom
  • Public goods
  • Equality
• Constitution


  A basic law that includes the architecture of government, powers, and limits
• The Enlightenment advanced four principles: a law-like order of the natural world, the power of human reason, natural rights of individuals and self-government, and a progressive improvement in society
• John Locke


  Advocated for natural rights, self-government, and a rejection of the doctrine of the divine right of kings
• Charles Montesquieu


  Advocated for a written constitution that included a separation of powers to ensure the rights of the people
• Road to Revolution


  1. Britain imposed taxes on colonists

  2. Colonists opposed taxation without representation

  3. First Continental Congress

  4. Second Continental Congress declared independence
• Declaration of Independence


  Rooted in the writings of John Locke, approved on July 4, 1776
• From Independence to Constitution


  1. Revolutionary War

  2. Articles of Confederation

  3. Shay's Rebellion

  4. Constitutional Convention
• Articles of Confederation


  • Unicameral legislature, each state got one vote, required 2/3 of the states and unanimous consent to amend, no national courts
• The Articles of Confederation failed because the national government could not raise revenue, lacked direction, could not regulate commerce, and required unanimous consent to amend
• Shay's Rebellion showed the national government was unable to support the requisition to put down the rebellion
• Constitutional Convention


  • 12 states sent 55 delegates, wealthy, creditor/merchant class, half had a college degree, agreed to hold the convention in secret and not discuss it outside the hall
• Human Nature


  Delegates believed most people are driven by ambition, so they needed a structure that promotes the good aspects while suppressing the bad
• Forms of Government


  • Monarchy
  • Aristocracy
  • Democracy
• Structure of Government


  • Monarchy: President (Executive)
  • Aristocracy: Senate (Legislative)
  • Democracy: House of Representatives (Legislative)
  • Courts (Judicial)
• 10-15% were able to vote, 18% of population was enslaved
• Republicanism


  A form of government in which the power resides in the people and is exercised by representatives
• Drawbacks of democracy: Tyranny of the majority tramples over the minority, John Adams called democracy "Mobocracy"
• Constitutional Convention: Structure of Government


  1. Founders believed that combining all three forms of government into one system might offset the drawbacks of each form

  2. In order to promote separate forms of government and factions, they created separate branches elected or appointed by different groups of people
• Monarchy


  President (Executive), Elected by electors chosen by state legislatures, 4 year term
• Aristocracy


  Senate (Legislative), Elected/chosen by state legislatures, 6 year term
• Democracy


  House of Representatives (Legislative), Elected by the people in each state or district, 2 year term
• Courts (Judicial)


  Chosen by the president/confirmed by senate, Lifetime appointment, "good behavior"
• Federalism


  The division of power between a central government and regional (state) governments
• Separation of Powers


  The assignment of the law-making, law-enforcing, and law-interpreting functions to distinct branches