Course Conclusion

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Course Conclusion Who Governs? To What Ends?
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Who Governs?
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THEME A - Distribution of Costs and Benefits - A
Review Majoritiarian Politics - Social Security
Act, Sherman Antitrust Act, Foreign
Policy Interest Group Politics - Laws regulating
labor-management relations Client Politics -
dairy subsidies, "loopholes" in tax laws,
licensing laws Entrepreneurial Politics -
Regulation of drug industry, environmental
policies. The media and courts play an important
role in entrepreneurial politics
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THEME B - Power in American Society - Marxist
Theory, Elitist Theory, Bureaucratic Theory,
Pluralist Theory Marxist Theory - consistent
with client-serving policies
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Elitist Theory - power of the courts and the way
foreign policy is made
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Bureaucratic Theory - applicable when the
bureaucracy gains broad discretionary authority
as in the case of weapons procurement,
enforcement of civil rights laws, regulation of
business..
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Pluralist theory - description of interest group
politics.
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To What Ends?
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THEME A - The Growth of Government The most
striking change in American government in recent
times has been the expansion of the scope of its
activities.
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For most of the history of the Republic,
government has been very limited. The prevailing
interpretation of the Constitution limited the
federal government. Finally, the separation of
powers, and other checks and balances made it
difficult to enact policies.
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Americans are particularly prone to define
relationships in terms of rights. Elaborate
procedures protect individuals from the arbitrary
exercise of power and make it more difficult to
make governmental decisions or manage large
institutions.
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Relaxing the Restraints

• Changes in Constitutional interpretation
• Bill of Rights incorporated to the states
• Special protection of property rights reduced,
  business regulation increased
• Congress allowed to give broad discretionary
  powers to administrative agencies
• Changes in public opinion
• Public demand for government action during Great
  Depression
• Opinions of political elites changed even faster
• Some programs have been popular with the masses
• Changes in the distribution of political
  resources
• Number and variety of interest groups have
  increased
• Funds from organization pursuing causes have
  grown
• Greater access to the federal courts
• Technological advances have enhanced the power to
  communicate ideas
• The Old System v. the New System

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As the government gets bigger, its members must
devote more time to managing (and paying for)
existing programs and less time debating new
ideas.
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THEME B - The Idea of "American Decline" This
school of though says that the United States is
facing a period of relative decline both
domestically and internationally. Causes of this
decline include public and private debt, poor
leadership, entrenched interest groups and lack
of saving.
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Consequences of activist government

• Consequences of activist government
• Need to assess costs and benefits of programs
• General political consequences of the enlarged
  scope of activity
• Bureaucratization of all organizations
• Rise of competing policies
• Less control by the electorate through the
  decline of parties and turnout and of public
  confidence
• Greater risk of government failure

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As we ask more of the government, the more we
will be disappointed. Activist government must
have some failures. A government that does
nothing will never fail.
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The influence of structure

• Parliamentary model if adopted here, would do
  the following
• Fewer legislative restraints on the executive
• More bureaucratic centralization
• Less citizen participation to challenge or block
  policies
• Higher taxes and more secrecy
• U.S. model
• More local authority
• Greater citizen participation

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The influence of ideas

• Preoccupation with rights
• Assumption that affected groups have a right to
  participate in policy formation
• Willingness to resort to courts
• Effects of rights on government functions
• Harder to make government decisions
• More red tape
• Elite opinion influences which rights have
  priority
• Favors freedom of expression over management of
  property
• Mass opinion less committed to freedom of
  expression
• Freedom versus equality an enduring tension
• Advantages of freedom are remote
• Advantages of equality are obvious
• Fragmentation of political system increases role
  of ideas
• Widespread enthusiasm for an idea can lead to
  rapid adoption of new programs
• Competing ideas make change difficult change
  today may require the persuading of thousands of
  special interests
• Fundamental challenge to restore confidence in
  the legitimacy of government itself

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SELF TEST