Introduction to US Government and PoliticsPreview liberty, equality, and democracyExplore relationship between government and its peoplePrinciples of government and politicsAmerican political culture

Key American Values

•Liberty▫Personal freedom▫Govt whose powers are limited

•Equality▫Right to participate in political life and

society on equivalent terms•Democracy

▫Considerable political power in the hands of ordinary people

•Principle verses practice

What American’s Think About Government•Reluctance to grant too much power•But crisis, we turn to govt for support•How much do we rely on government in

our daily lives?

Trust in Government•Fluctuates•After 9/11, 60% of college students said they

trusted the govt to do the right thing 60% of the time.

•Before 9/11, only 36% expressed a similar view

•Trust can also differ according to context like in 2002 an ABC poll▫68% in national security▫38% had the same trust for social issues like the

economy, health care, education, etc…

Does it matter if citizens trust their government?

Political Efficacy• Very important trend• Defined as: the ability to influence government

and politics▫Take action▫Government will listen

• 2000- 56% govt officials don’t care what people think

• 1960- 25% felt the same• 2004- 56% felt “govt is run by a few big

interests only looking out for themselves”• This applies across the age spectrum

Political Knowledge

•Prerequisite to increase political efficacy•Tackling political indifference•Dismal

What Americans Know• 60% know there are 2

senators from each state• 32% know that 2/3rds

majority of both houses of Congress is needed to overturn a presidential veto

• 19% correctly identified their state’s 2 US senators

• 15% correctly named one U.S House representative from their own congressional district

• 35% correctly identified the position held by Tony Blair

• 11% correctly identified the position held by William Rehnquist

• 30% had never heard of the Patriot Act

• 30% knew Congress had enacted a medicare prescription plan

Comedy Shows21% of 18 to 29 year olds in 2004 reported that they learned most of their knowledge about the 2004 presidential campaign from comedy shows.

Ted Koppel“A lot more television viewers, more, quite frankly, than I’m comfortable with get their news from the comedy channel on a program called the Daily Show.”

AnalysisCould the political content on late-night comedy television have a beneficial effect on political knowledge?Does the blurring of the line between news and entertainment mean Americans are less politically active?

Citizenship

•Enlightened political engagement•To be politically engaged in a meaningful

way, citizens require resources, especially political knowledge and information

•Democracy functions best when citizens are informed

Three kinds of political knowledge

•Knowledge of government•Knowledge of politics•Knowledge of democratic principles

What do you know?• Who is your representative? District? Party

affiliation?• Who are your state senators? What committees are

they on? What legislation have they worked on? Who are their main supporters? Party affiliation?

• Who are the major leaders from both parties in both houses of Congress?

• Who makes up President Obama’s cabinet?• Name our Supreme Court justices?• Name the leaders of the following countries: Great

Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Mexico, Canada, China, and India.

GovernmentInstitutions and procedures through which a territory and its people are ruled

Forms of Government

•Vary in their structure, size, operation•Who governs?•How much government control is given?

Autocracy

A form of government in which a single individual like a king, queen, or dictator rules

Oligarchy

A form in which a small group like landowners, military officers, or wealthy merchants controls most of the governing decisions

Democracy

A system of rule that permits citizens to play a significant part in the governmental process, usually through the election of key public officials

Constitutional government

A system of rule in which formal and effective limits are placed on the powers of the government

Authoritarian Government

A system of rule in which the government recognizes no formal limits buy may nevertheless be restrained by the power of other social institutions.

Totalitarian government

A system of rule in which the government recognizes no formal limits on its power and seeks to absorb or eliminate other social institutions that might challenge it.