AP AMERICAN GOV

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AP AMERICAN GOVT

• DILEMMAS OF DEMOCRACY

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Government

• Government is the legitimate use of force within
  specific geographic boundaries to control human
  behavior.
• The oldest objective of government is to protect
• Public goods are those things provided for
• Examples include sanitation, education, highways,
  etc.

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DEMOCRACY

• Democracy was originally considered undesirable.
  It meant .
• Govt derives its power from the governed.
• The word is not used in the or
  the Declaration of Independence.

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SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• Thomas Jefferson (based on
  principles)
• We, as citizens, enter into an agreement with the
  government allowing it to create rules that set
  boundaries for our behavior and protect our life,
  liberty, and property.
• If the govt goes too far w/ that power, we as
  citizens can dissolve that government.

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TWO TYPES OF DEMOCRACY

• Direct- used in Ancient Greece. People en mass
  decide every issue regarding the govt. Fairly
  impractical in larger societies.
• Representative- ( form of
  govt) - the people elect leaders to represent
  them in govt and make decisions on their behalf.

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REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

• If those who we elect do not listen to our
  wishes, we have the ability, and responsibility
  to vote them out of office.
• Unfortunately, we do not participate, for various
  reasons, so our elected officials generally
  ignore us.
• James Madison had a take on representative
  democracy that he noted in

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FEDERALIST 10

• Madison said that factions ( )
  would arise, and form, in an effort to take
  control of the government.
• This would be good because all ideas would be
  presented, and the system would not allow any
  faction to garner too much power.
• Due to the lack of participation of the people,
  modern times views these factions as groups
  who influence most policies passed by government
  officials.

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DEMOCRACY AS AN IDEAL

• - most powerful
  value in American history.
• Self determination- everyone must have the
  opportunity to succeed.
• Americans favor equality of opportunity equality
  of outcome.
• We are for economic equality.
• Popular consent- govt dervies all of its power
  from the consent of the governed.

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ELEMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTION

• - this
  established the individual powers of the three
  branches.
• - this prevents
  any of the three BRANCHES from gaining too much
  power.
• - established the power
  of the LEVELS of govt (Federal vs. State)
• - All citizens are
  treated equally by the law

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THREE CONCEPTS OF GOVERNMENT

• The three concepts of government are freedom,
  order, and equality.
• The original dilemma of democracy pits
• VS.
• As citizens, how much of our freedom should we
  give up to ensure that we are protected by the
  government.
• How has this changed since 9/11?

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FREEDOM

• FREEDOM FROM VS. FREEDOM OF
• Freedom of rights that cannot be taken from
  you.
• Examples- freedom of ,
  , etc.
• Freedom from what the govt is responsible to
  provide for you.
• Examples- freedom from fear, want, hunger.
• The government is responsible to provide things
  equally to all of its citizens

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ORDER

• The government maintains order and security for
  your person and property.
• Based on John Lockes 2nd Treatise on
  Government.
• Basic objective of government is to protect
  , , .
• HUGE influence on Declaration of Independence and
  the founding fathers.

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EQUALITY

• TWO TYPES
• equality- one person, one vote
• equality- determined by wealth,
  education and status.
• Those with more social equality have more power.

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Modern Dilemma of Govt

• VS.
• How much of our freedom should citizens give up
  to ensure that all citizens are treated equally.
• Very controversial
• Examples school busing, ADA of 1990, social
  services (entitlements)
• People favor Freedom over equality

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Two theories of government

• Procedural view (process democrats)- concerned
  with how government makes decisions.
• 3 questions
• 1) who participates? All citizens
• 2) How much should each vote count? Political vs.
  social equality
• 3) How many votes are needed to make decision?
  vs
• Responsiveness of elected officials based on
  participation of citizens.

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Substantive view of democracy

• Also known as principle democrats
• Substance of government policy- what is the
  government doing?
• It requires that all government policies must
  meet a basic criterion- they must guarantee civil
  liberties and civil rights.
• Liberty- behavior (speech,expression)
• Right- power of privilege (vote)

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Models of Democracy

• Majoritarian- government by the people
• Key is popular election
• 1) choose wisely
• 2) re-elect or vote out based on performance
• FLAW- assumes citizens are knowledgeable and want
  to participate
• Closest we have at national level is during
  presidential elections (gt50 voter turnout)

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Majoritarian democracy

• Three examples at the STATE level
• 1) - puts policy issue
  on ballot by gaining signatures
• 2)Referendum- creates a vote to remove a law
  based on signatures.
• 3) recall- removing an elected official through a
  vote of the people (after petition)
• States differ in which they allow.

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Pluralist Model

• Pluralist model of democracy is government by
  of the people
• Groups compete against each other to gain power
  and influence policy.
• They form based on shared religion, ethnicities,
  culture, occupation, beliefs, etc.
• They usually form into interest groups
• They spend money, time, and resources to
  influence policies to benefit their group.
• They can have influence at all levels of govt
  (fed, state, or local).

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ELITE THEORY

• Small identifiable group makes most important
  govt decisions.
• Examples
• 1) Wealthy corporations control the agenda
• 2) Military industrial complex- they trump all
  groups in time of conflict
• 3) - controls flow of
  information pushes liberal agenda

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Summary of theories of democracy
Majoritarian RARE Most common Elitism Most powerful
Government by all the people Government by some of the people Government by a few of the people
Citizens band together to control policies. Interest groups compete for power based on policy. Same powerful group controls policies when it wants to.
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Political Ideology

• Definition- consistent set of values and beliefs
  about the proper purpose and scope of government.
• The continuum stretches from anarchy (no
  government) to totalitarianism.
• Most of the argument in American politics takes
  places in the of this ideological
  continuum.

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Main ideologies of USA

• - Equality gt freedom gt order
• Support social programs, environmental policies,
  stronger federal government
• Conservatives-ordergtfreedom gtequality
• Support national defense, stronger state
  government, free enterprise

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Other ideologies

• - Freedom gt Equality
  Order
• Oppose all govt action except which is necessary
  to protect life and property.
• Communitarians- Order Equality gt Freedom
• More socialist in nature.