AP Government Chapter One

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AP Government Chapter One

• Introducing Government in America

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• Thomas Jefferson once said that there has
• never been, nor ever will be, a people who are
• politically ignorant and free.
• Government Institutions that make
• Authoritative decisions for any given society
• 1. Maintain national defense
• 2. Provide public services
• 3. Preserve order
• 4. Socialize the young
• 5. Collect taxes

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Key Terms

• Politics Who gets what, when, and
• howHarold D. Lasswell
• Linkage Institutions Policymaking
• systems that transmit the preferences
• of Americans to the policymakers in
• government (i.e.. Parties, interest
• groups, media, elections)

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Has our nation become more or less democratic
over the past 200 years?Discuss with your
neighbor.

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Writers of the Constitution had no fondness for
democracy as many of them doubted the ability of
ordinary Americans to make informed judgments
about what government should do --Lineberry
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Our Views have Changedor have they?

• Roger Sherman, delegate to Constitutional
  Convention, said the people Should have as
  little to do as may be with the government
• Much later, Americans came to cherish democracy
  and believe that all citizens should actively
  participate in choosing leaders

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• Abraham Lincoln stated in the famous Gettysburg
  Address, government of the people, by the
  people, and for the people
• Moving us closer to our democratic, all inclusive
  society today

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Traditional Democratic Theory

• According to Robert Dahl, democracy, ideally,
• should satisfy 5 criteria
• Equality in voting One person, one vote
• Effective Participation
• Enlightened Understanding
• Citizen Control of the Agenda
• Inclusion Must include and extend rights to all
  subject to laws

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Democratic Terms

• Majority Rule in choosing among alternatives,
  will of over half the voters should be followed
• Minority Rights Basic principles such as freedom
  of speech and assembly are inviolable minority
  rights, which the majority cannot infringe upon

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Theories of American Democracy

• Theories about who has power and influence in a
  society
• Who really governs in our nation?
• Three Theories
• 1. Pluralist Theory
• 2. Elite and Class Theory
• 3. Hyperpluralism

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Pluralism
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Pluralist Theory

• Groups with shared interests influence public
  policy by pressing concerns through organized
  efforts
• NRA, NOW, UAW are examples of organized groups
  that compete with one another for control over
  policy and yet no one group or set of groups
  dominates the political arena
• Generally optimistic that public interest will
  eventually prevail in making public policy
  through a complex process of bargaining and
  compromise
• Groups of minorities working together

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Thoughts on Pluralism

• Robert Dahl All active and legitimate groups in
  population can make themselves heard at some
  crucial stage in the process
• Alexis de Tocqueville (1830s) nation of
  joiners which he attributes high levels of
  associational activities as a crucial reason for
  success of American democracy
• Robert Putnam argues that many of the problems of
  American democracy stems from a declines in
  group-based participation because technology (TV,
  Internet) has served to increasingly isolate
  Americans

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• PTA, Elks, Shriners, League of Women Voters all
  have been declining for decades
• Believes that Americans activities are becoming
  less tied to institutions and more self-defined
• Bowling Alone explains that membership in
  bowling has dropped sharply while at the same
  time, more people are bowling

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Elite and Class Theory
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Elite Class Theory

• Contends that our society is divided along class
  lines and that upper class elite pulls the
  strings of government
• Wealth (property, stocks, bonds) is the basis of
  this power
• 1/3 of nations wealth held by 1 of population
• Wealthy 1 control most policy decisions because
  they can afford to finance election campaigns and
  control key institutions, such as large
  corporations
• Dont merely influence policymakers but are
  policymakerspower

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Hyperpluralism
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Hyperpluralism

• Pluralism gone sour Groups are so strong that
  government is weakened
• Many groups are so strong that the government is
  unable to act
• Too many ways for groups to control policy (any
  policy requiring the cooperation of national,
  state, and local levels of government can be
  hampered by reluctance of any one of them

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• Groups have become sovereign and government is
  merely their servant
• These powerful groups divide the government and
  its authority
• Government gives in to every conceivable interest
  and single issue group
• When this happens, policies are confusing
  contradicting and muddledif policy can be
  created at all