US Politics

Introduction

Overview1. Power

– Definition– Types

2. Exercising Power– Authority– Legitimacy

3. Politics4. Political Culture and Socialization5. Government

I. Power

Power– How do we define power?– How can we tell when

someone has power?– Is power connected to individuals or

institutions?

I. Power

Power: Definition– The ability to get

others to take

actions they

would not

otherwise take

I. Power

We find many different types of power in play in the world in various institutional contexts

• How is it acquired?• How is it exercised?• Let’s look at

power in the family

I. PowerTypes of Power

– Physical Coercion– Parents use greater

strength to coerce compliance

I. Power• Governments rely

on the same• Governments

routinely maintain a monopoly on the legitimate use of force

I. Power

Types of Power– Physical Coercion– Economic

Threats/Rewards– Use the promise of

financial gain or thethreat of financial loss to coerce compliance

I. Power

• Economic threats and rewards are also key parts of the government’s power arsenal

I. Power• Types of Power

– Physical Coercion– Economic– Psychological– Instill proper emotions

so that people act theway you want because they believe that is what they wantto do

I. Power

Psychological Power– This type of power is

essential to governments

– It is vital that the vast majority of the population obeys laws because they believe it is the right thing to do

II. Exercising Power

How do people and institutions come to acquire power?

How do we determine the limits, if any on the exercise of power?

II. Exercising Power

• The legitimate exercise of power rests on the idea of authority– The right to exercise power and compel

obedience

• Does everyone have authority? • How does a person or institution gain

authority?

II. Exercising Power

• Authority relies on the idea of “legitimacy”

• Legitimacy– Right to exercise authority– Rests on popular support for authority

II. Exercising PowerIs this permissible?

Police dogs attack civil rights protesterBirmingham, Alabama, 1963

II. Exercising Power

• Legitimacy places limits on how power may be exercised

• It helps us to determine what is and what is not a legitimate use of power

US military interrogation in Abu Ghraib prisonBaghdad, Iraq, 2004

III. Politics

• Politics– Definition– Importance

Why Politics?

Let’s look at the way of the world…

III. Politics

Scarcity Competition Conflict Violence

Politics intervenes here

Politics is what we practiceto help prevent conflict from

becoming violent

III. Politics

• Politics: Definition• Peaceful resolution of conflict• Allocation of scarce resources in a peaceful

manner• The process of deciding who receives the

benefits in society and who is excluded from those benefits

III. Politics

• To practice politics at a societal level most societies of any scale have adopted a specific institution -- government -- to handle the broad-based allocation difficulties encountered.

• It rules (exercises power) through laws and by maintaining a monopoly on coercive force

Which of course raises the questions…

III. Politics

• How do governments gain that legitimacy and authority?

• Why would a people agree to allow an institution to have so much control over their lives?

IV. Political Culture

• The complex interaction between a people and its government can be explained by the idea of a political culture

• Political CultureWays of life that bind and unite a people

politically

IV. Political Culture

• Basic Components of Political Culture– Symbols

• Shared ways of communicating political ideas

Examples

Flag

Music

MonumentsBuildings

ClothingIcons

IV. Political Culture

• Components– Symbols

• Shared ways of communicating political ideas

– Beliefs• Shared understanding of the basics of political life

– Values• Shared understanding of what is good or desirable

– Mores• Shared understanding of acceptable behavior

All of this is learned behavior, which gets us to …

IV. Political Socialization

• Definition– The process by which the elements of the

political culture are transmitted from one generation to the next

– Political Culture is a learned process

IV. Political Socialization

• Factors in socialization:– Family Peers/Public

Opinion– Media Religious Groups– Government Current Events

Let’s take a closer look at “government”

V. Government

• Governments are sovereign institutions within a politically defined area

• That means they are the final arbiter of disputes, the final decision maker

• Governments are the most powerful institutions we create

V. Government

• If governments are going to wield such power over us, then we need to examine questions like:– How should this institution be organized?– How much power should it have?– Who should rule? In whose interests?

V. Government

V. Government

• Given the power of this institution, we need to determine the best possible arrangement

• The problem is that governments have two somewhat contradictory challenges:– Security/Order – Personal Liberty

V. Government

We need to settle several related questions:– Who decides who the leaders should be?– How are the leaders chosen?– How much power/authority do they

possess?

Broadly speaking we have three types of government:

VI. Government

Monarchy– Single Ruler– Hereditary Title– Absolute authority– Most common form

of government in world history

VI. Government

Dictator – Single ruler– Power usually

acquired through violent means

– Line of succession not clearly established

VI. Government

Oligarchy– Rule by small group of

people– Usually military leaders

or economic elite

Pluralism: multiple such groups compete for political power

VI. Government

Democracy– Rule by “the people”

Republic– People elect leaders

who represent them

Derives from the Greek:demos = peoplekratos = rule by

VI. Governments

How are decisions made?– Totalitarian system

• no “real” checks or limits on power of political establishment

– Authoritarian• no “formal” checks or limits on power of political

establishment; any checks are “political” (that is, come from other groups competing for power)

– Constitutional• Formal and political checks on political establishment

VI. Governments

So at the founding, the political actors of the period had to reach consensus on a series of crucial questions

The Founding

• We need to examine the solutions they arrived at and the rationale for those solutions

• Why did we go with a republic? • Who did they decide to “represent”? • How?

The Founding

• How do we balance liberty and order?

• How much power do you we give to the government?

• Why did they choose to limit governmental power and how did they implement those limitations?