WHAT IS GOVERNMENT? WHAT ARE POLITICS?

WHAT IS GOVERNMENT?

WHAT ARE POLITICS? What’s the difference?

AN INSTITUTION THROUGH WHICH

A SOCIETY…

MAKES AND…

ENFORCES

PUBLIC

POLICIES

“POLY” – MANY “TICKS” – Blood sucking

parasites

HAH, HAH – JUST KIDDING

POLITICS

“Polites” (Greek) – Citizen

“the art of governing” …to express what the government

should or should not do.”

I.E. - POWER!

POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

• Identifying YOUR political views - Political Spectrum (Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian, Statist)

• Why do certain groups behave a certain way? Political Behavior Tendencies

• Why do we have political parties? The Functions of Political Parties

• How do Americans behave politically? – The 2 Party System – Minor Parties

GOVERNMENT IS AN INSTITUTION THROUGH

WHICH A SOCIETYMAKES AND ENFORCES

PUBLIC POLICIES

PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT

1. What makes governments RECOGNIZED as “nations?”

2. How is government ORGANIZED?– Federal, Unitary, Confederate

3. How is POWER DISTRIBUTED?– Presidential, Parliamentary

4. Who can PARTICIPATE? – Democracy (Direct/Representative),

Dictatorship

NATION – STATES?What do the following have in common?

What are their differences?

•NORTH KOREA •PENNSYLVANIA•AL QAEDA•PALESTINE•ISRAEL

NATION - STATES HAVE 4 CHARACTERISTICS

1. POPULATION 2. DEFINED TERRITORY 3. GOVERNMENT4. SOVEREIGNTY

• How has the perspective of nation states changed in the 21st Century?