Philosophies of U.S. Government

AP UNIT ONE

PART I: WHAT GOVERNMENT DOES

government - an institution that makes public policies (decisions) for society

PURPOSES OF GOV’T:1.) Maintain national defense to protect its citizens2.) Provide public goods and services (+ collective

goods - services that cannot be denied to anyone)

3.) Preserve order and keep the peace4.) Socialize and teach younger generations what it

means to be a citizen5.) Collect taxes from its citizens to fund public

services

What are Politics? politics - how we choose our leaders and

the policies they end up creating.

political participation - how citizens participate in gov’t to influence the outcome of politics (ex: voting, contacting gov’t officials, protesting, being members of single-issue groups, etc.)

single-issue group - people who are focused on one political issue they want to see advanced in government

Getting Political political issue - a disagreement on how to

fix a problem (ex: green energy vs. coal energy, who gets taxed more, etc.)

public policy - a government decision aimed at solving a political issue

policymaking system - how the people influence the creation of policies that affect them

Steps in the Policymaking System

1.) policymaking starts with the people (their concerns, wants, needs, etc.)

2.) the people “connect” to their gov’t to influence it through linkage institutions (ex: political parties, elections, the media, etc.)

3.) these groups encourage the creation of a policy agenda - the issues the gov’t decides are important enough to be solved

4.) The policy agenda is carried out by policymaking institutions - gov’t institutions that make public policy– Congress (legislative) - makes laws– Presidency (executive) - decisions and

policies of the President– Courts (judicial) - rulings to interpret the

law– Bureaucracy - enforce and regulate the

laws

5.) These institutions make public policy through gov’t laws, decisions, and rulings.

6.) Public policies are enforced and affect the people.

IT’S A POLITICAL CYCLE!

Types of Public Policies

Congressional statute/law- a law passed by Congress

Presidential action - a decision by the president

Court decision - a ruling of a court Budgetary action - Congress passing laws to

tax and spend money Regulation - agencies that regulate/make

rules for how laws are enforced

PART II: DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA

Democracy - a system of government that derives its power from the people; thus, its leaders represent and work to fulfill the wants of its citizens

Democratic Theory

The ideas that define a democracy:– Everyone has an equal vote (“one person, one

vote”)– Citizens must have equal opportunity to

participate in making gov’t decisions– Society should encourage the free expression of

a variety of ideas– Citizens control gov’t policymaking– Gov’t rights are given to everyone, and

citizenship is available to all

Majority Rule

Democracy is based on majority rule - the side with the most people (over half the population) makes the policies/decisions

However, minority rights must be protected (the majority can’t do whatever it wants); ex: the Bill of Rights protects minority rights

Our Democracy

our population is too large for all the people to make all gov’t decisions (pure democracy)

We have a representative democracy - the people make gov’t decisions through elected officials who speak for them (people are indirectly involved)

Representation - a few leaders act on behalf of many people

Who Has the Power in a Democracy?

3 Theories:1.) Pluralism - people who think alike

will work together to influence gov’t to do what they want. Many groups want the gov’t’s attention, but one group doesn’t dominate.

2.) Elitism - upper-class elite hold the most gov’t power and basically run it (esp. influences of money, etc.)

3.) Hyperpluralism - too many groups are competing for the gov’t’s attention and confuse the political process; the gov’t has to satisfy too many groups so its policies are slowed and weakened

American Political Culture political culture - the political ideas/values

that are shared by a society

U.S. political culture holds to:• Liberty - the freedom to live and act as one

wishes• Egalitarianism - (think equality) everyone

has an equal opportunity to participate in society and government

• Individualism - everyone can and should make their own successes in society

• Laissez-faire - let the economy take care of itself without government interference

• Populism - the gov’t answers to the will of the common people; they are the gov’t’s priority

The Declaration of Independence

Main writer: Thomas Jefferson adopted by the Second Continental

Congress on July 4, 1776 Pronounces the founding ideas of American

political philosophy lists the offenses of the British king (King

George III) against the colonies Declares the colonies to be independent

states with a gov’t of their own, absolved of rule by Britain

The Articles of Confederation (1776-1787)

Our first attempt at government (rough draft) Set up the new 13 states as a “league of

friendship” States largely independent and would come

together only in times of emergency

Setup Under the Articles

National gov’t was run by a unicameral (one-house) legislature to make laws for the country

Each state got one vote No executive or judicial branches Congress could make and maintain

army and navy

Weaknesses Under the Articles

National gov’t had no power to tax or regulate trade

Weak national gov’t could not make states obey the Articles

State gov’ts had the most power (were afraid of tyrannical national gov’t)

U.S. not a united country (more like 13 little separate countries)

Changes to the Articles required all 13 states to agree

National gov’t couldn’t put down rebellions (ex: Shays’ Rebellion) or deal with civil unrest over bad economy