Todays Menu

1
Todays Menu

• The Foundation of American Democracy
• Ideology and Political Culture
• A Distaste for Government

2
Why Government?

• The Problem of Public Goods
• What are public goods?
• Left to the marketplace public, who will provide
  them?

3
The Foundations

• Who governs and to what purpose?
• Potential forms of government
• Theocracy
• Monarchy
• Aristocracy
• Oligarchy
• Democracy
• Direct v Indirect
• Which is the best form?

4
The Greeks Respond

• Government should exist for the moral betterment
  of society
• Here there is a disagreement
• The Greeks assumed that there existed a natural
  order in the universe (including the political
  universe).
• The question was how was that order best
  implemented

5
Platos Republic (360 BC)

• Plato suggested that, although Democracy had much
  to recommend it, there were dangers. Namely that
  Democracy would eventually lead to tyranny.
• Therefore, the best form of government was a
  Republic (rule by philosopher kings).

6
Aristotles Defense of Democracy (340 BC)

• Plato focused his attention on the actions
  government took.
• Aristotle was concerned with government as a
  process.
• Acknowledged problems of Democracy
• Benefits
• The creation of a better form of human being

7
Hobbes and Locke

• Thomas Hobbes Best known for Leviathan
• The natural state of humanity was not the
  blissful condition envisioned by the Greeks, but
  a state of nature in which the strong would
  continually prey on the weak.
• The war of all against all
• Life in such a state was solitary, poor, nasty,
  brutish, and short.
• The answer was government.

8
Hobbes II

• The Problem was that the strong would never
  willingly give up power.
• The answer was an all powerful government imposed
  from outside the Leviathan

9
Locke

• Locke was more optimistic
• Agreed that the state of nature was dangerous
• Argued, however, that the answer must come from
  within society
• Members of society would enter into a social
  contract with the goal of securing individual
  life and property.
• Focused on Consent of the Governed

10
American Democracy

• Indirect v direct
• The Foundations of American Political Thought
• Popular consent
• Popular Sovereignty
• Majority Rule
• Individualism
• Equality
• Personal Liberty

11
American Politics

• Ideology and Culture

12
Political Ideology

• A coherent set of political beliefs
• who ought to rule
• what principles rulers ought to follow
• what policies rulers ought to pursue

13
Liberals

• What does it mean to be a liberal?
• Why does government exist?
• What should government do?

14
Conservatives

• What does it mean to be a conservative?
• Why does government exist?
• What should government do?

15
Conservatives v. Liberals

• Conservatives
• limit the size/scope of national government
• limit government role in economy
• limit government role combating soc. prob
• allow government enforcement of moral conduct

• Liberals
• national government as a positive influence
• govt.regulation of the economy
• use govt to deal w/ social problems
• poverty
• discrimination
• limited involvement in conduct

16
Issues

• Increase govt services
• guarantee access to a job and std of living
• universal health care
• social/economic assistance to minorities
• abortion as a matter of personal choice
• gays in the military
• opposition to the death penalty

17
Political Culture

• A general set attitudes toward the political
  system and the role of the individual in it.
• Daniel Elazars Three Categories
• Moralistic
• Traditionalistic
• Individualistic

18
American Political Culture

• Basic Features
• Liberty
• Equality
• Democracy
• Civic Duty
• Individual Responsibility

19
Political Subcultures (Elazar)

• Moralistic (e.g. upper Mid-west)
• politics as noble pursuit
• government exists to elevate its citizens
• Individualistic (Ohio river valley/Alaska)
• democracy as a marketplace
• government role severely limited
• Traditional (Deep South)
• limited public role in government
• Government by/for elites

20
Congress as Public Enemy or a Parliament of
Whores?

• The two phrases in italics are the titles of two
  recent books about American government.
• Why do Americans have such dislike of government?