Tabakian Pols 1 Fall/Spring 2014 Power 2

Dr. Tabakian’s Political Science 1 US Government – Spring/Fall 2014

Week #2

• Defining Political Science • Theory Defined • Rational Choice • Elitism & Pluralism • Spheres of Influence • Manipulation • Interdependency Theory • Power Theory • Transparency

COURSE LECTURE TOPICS

WELCOME TO CLASS! New semesters bring various hiccups for everyone. This also goes for your instructor. We are all adjusting to new situations, course schedule conflicts and other adjustments. This course utilizes various methods to deliver information. Many of our materials are media driven. You will find many to be humorous, thought provoking , or even interesting. This first clip is presented merely for fun. It is titled “Welcome To School”.

SCHOOL FRUSTRATION

POLITICAL MESSAGE All citizens are allowed to author campaign rhetoric in order to influence public policy. Here is an example from Campchaos.com. The purpose may be solely comical without any political purpose. However, we must remember that all individual actors are part of the system. All actions influence “The System”.

BUSH-CHENEY CARTOON

WHAT IS POLITICAL SCIENCE? - 1 • Political science is a branch of the social sciences

• Just like Sociology

• Each branch is interested in individual and group behavior • Fundamental difference is the foundational theory

• Sociologists are biased towards elitism • Political scientists are biased towards pluralism

• Elite theory is still utilized in the political sciences • In contrast with pluralism

• Political scientists examine influences of political behavior • Result of competing interests • End result of conflict and compromise

• Sociologists looks at individual behavior • According to elite influence in general

ROLE OF THEORY - 1

• Everyone uses theory • Whether they know it or not

• Many of us devise our own theories • Through childhood socializations

• Up to adulthood

• Disagreements over basic theories • Foundation of social sciences

• Elitism / Pluralism / Rational Choice Theory also helps researches to classify certain variables. It may be thought of as

ROLE OF THEORY - 2

• Foundation of political science • Pluralism / Rational Choice Theory

• Think of theory as a pair of sunglasses • Filtering unwanted information • Helps us “see” the truth

EXAMPLE OF THEORY - REALISM

• Human nature is the predominant factor • In a nation-state’s foreign policy • These policies are focused upon self-interest • The inherent motive for man is survival

• Applied policies are determined according to political determinations

• Considered to be a synonym for power politics • Construed as pragmatic and wrought with simplicity • Abrupt philosophy focused on the inherent evils of mankind

The following clip is from the movie “Failsafe”. Walter Matthau plays the role of National

Security Advisor who applies rational choice and realist theory to explain why striking at the

Soviet Union is necessary to survive.

FAILSAFE

RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY - 1

• What is the primary goal of the individual? • The answer may be summed up in one word: Survival.

• The foundation for all action

• Individual parties make decisions based on rationality • Assuming that individuals base all decisions on self-interest

• Requirements to make a rational choice • Perfect information • Balancing our emotions

• Rational choice in one sentence: • “Decisions are based on self-interest…as we define our

self-interest to be.”

RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY - 2

Who Is Acting Rationally In This Example? We have a nun and a real-estate mogul. The nun gives up all her worldly possessions and dedicates herself to helping those in poverty. Her justification may be great rewards in the afterlife. The real-estate mogul does not believe in an afterlife, but does believe in making as much money as , spending it all on an overly extravagant and abusive lifestyle. Who is acting rationally? Both individuals are for they are fulfilling their self-interest…as they define their self-interest to be.

ELITISM

• Elitism does not promote elite rule • The rules of a society obstruct social progress of masses • Elites are needed due mass ignorance and apathy • Elites have two main goals

• Preserve and enhance their positions of power

• Masses open to demagogues • When the economy is doing poorly • The country is fighting a war that it is losing

• Demagogues come from the far left or far right • The Founding Fathers were against national referenda

ELITISM SUMMARIZED - 1 1. Society is divided between the powerful few and the

majority weak. 2. Governing few are not typical of the governed masses.

Elites are not drawn mostly from the upper class socioeconomic section of society.

3. Non-elites have to be given the opportunity to rise up to elite positions. The masses have to believe that the process is continuous or revolution may occur. Barriers prevent finite elite positions from being overtaken by unqualified individuals. This is a rat and cheese scenario.

Sufficient Cheese Sufficient Cheese Lack Of Cheese

ELITISM SUMMARIZED - 2 1.Elites share a common belief on the basic values of

the elite. Any change of public policy will be incrementally slow rather than revolutionary.

2.Elites may base their actions either on narrow, self-serving motives and risk undermining mass support, or they may initiate reforms, curb abuse, and undertake public-regarding programs to preserve the system.

3.Active elites are not typically influenced from apathetic masses. Elites influence masses more than the masses influence elites.

ELITISM SUMMARIZED - 3

ELITISM / INFORMATION FLOW - 1

• Information flows from opinion elites down to opinion leaders who are looked to the public for information

• News is first “created” by opinion elites and then sent to opinion leaders to help disseminate the information

• Those at the very top of the elite network decide what information is deemed as necessary to offer society

• These elites may be news makers themselves or in charge of large media corporations

• Opinion leaders may be thought of as journalists, news anchors, expert pundits or even celebrities who possess legitimacy among those in society.

ELITISM – INFORMATION FLOW

Governmental elites find it necessary to manipulate the masses if doing so serves a vested interest. Here is a great example of how a safety video can serve as a tool for manipulating the masses from childhood. Who does the monkey represent?

MANIPULATION EXAMPLE

DUCK AND COVER

MIRROR MYTH – 1

• News media outlets “decide what will be decided”

• Bias is exhibited throughout the mainstream and nontraditional news sources

• The news media stress that they are nonbiased since they only reflect reality

MIRROR MYTH – 2

• Their choice of news subjects proves their bias

• All news is biased

WHAT WE CALL THE NEWS - 1 Securing market share is vital, for without it, the major media would lose advertising revenue. It is really our fault that the major news networks willfully focus on sex, violence and various negative pieces. Enjoy this video, “What We Call The News.”

WHAT WE CALL THE NEWS – 2

PLURALISM & SPHERES – 1

• Pluralism insures that groups are restricted from single handedly influencing public policy

• cross-cutting cleavages would form, as groups seek compromise with others to build coalitions that would succeed in affecting change

• Minorities are protected from an overwhelming majority • Majority power-holders are essentially “checked”

• Cross-cutting cleavages balance against overwhelming forces


• Pluralism insures that groups are restricted from single handedly influencing public policy

• cross-cutting cleavages would form, as groups seek compromise with others to build coalitions that would succeed in affecting change

• Minorities are protected from an overwhelming majority • Majority power-holders are essentially “checked”

• Cross-cutting cleavages balance against overwhelming forces

PROPAGANDA – CITIZEN BASED “The War On Terror” sparked a great deal of media distributed via the Internet. Elites no longer maintain total control over distribution. These videos are meant to produce an “Us” versus “Them” mindset.

CLASSIFIED DOCUMENT

PLURALISM SUMMARIZED – 1

1. Society is divided into numerous groups with all making demands on government while none of the participants are able to dominate all decision-making.

2. Citizens do not directly participate in decision-making, but they are able to vote for leaders to make decisions through a process of bargaining, accommodation, and compromise.


3. Competition among leadership groups helps protect individuals’ interests. Countervailing centers of power – for example, competition among business leaders, labor leaders and government leaders – can check one another and keep each interest from abusing its power and oppressing the individual. Each of these individual “spheres of influence” allies themselves with other spheres that possess similar goals. See “Spheres Of Influence”.

4. Individuals may not participate directly in decision-making, but they can exert influence through active participation in organized groups, political parties and elections.


5. Leadership groups are open; new groups can form and gain access to the political system.

6. Political influence in society is unequally distributed, but power is widely dispersed. Access to decision making is often determined by how much interest people have in a particular decision. Because leadership is fluid and mobile, power depends on one’s interest in public affairs, skills in leadership, information about issues, knowledge of democratic processes, and skill in organization and public relations.


7. Multiple leadership groups operate within society. Those who exercise power in one kind of decision do not necessarily exercise power in others. No single elite dominates decision making in all issues.

8. Public policy does not necessarily reflect majority preference, but is an equilibrium of interest interaction – competing interest group influences are more or less balanced, and the resulting policy is therefore a reasonable approximation of society’s preferences.

ELITISM VERSUS PLURALISM – 1

1. Elitism asserts that the most important division in society is between elites and masses.

2. Elitism emphasizes the importance to leaders to maintain their position of power – Pluralism emphasizes this devotion to their group interests.

3. Elitism asserts that mass membership of organizations rarely exercises influence on elite leadership. That these organizations have no democratic processes and are controlled by leaders who operate for their own self-interest. Pluralists offer no evidence that the giant organizations represent the interests of their individual members.

ELITISM VERSUS PLURALISM – 2

4. Elitism takes into account of all power holders – private and public. Pluralism focuses on governmental leaders and those who interact directly with them.

5. Elitism emphasizes shared characteristics of leaders on top of their interest in preserving the social diversity among leaders, differences in backgrounds, ideologies, and viewpoints. Pluralism also argues that decisions made by leaders are a product of their role perception, institutional constraints, interest group pressure, public opinion, etc. Elitism focuses on leadership consensus – Pluralism focuses on elite conflict.

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE

• Competing spheres of influence protect minority rights against majority factions

• Alliances will form among once competing spheres in order to “check” another sphere or individual elite base that acquires too much power

• Individual spheres of influence are always on the alert for one of their peers assuming too much power.

COMPETING SPHERES

• Competing Spheres of Influence essentially check each other within the political system

• This is essential for the protection of minority rights especially as it pertains to majority factions

• Elites are those who hold positions of power in society

• Our Founding Fathers considered the protection of minority rights as those few individuals who retained control over society

TRANSITIONAL EFFECTS – 1

• Competition produces great returns for humanity • The result has been America progressing from a

predominantly agricultural society to an industrial, nuclear, and information based society

• Innovation has led to advancements that have greatly influenced every aspect of society.

• Society has benefited from constant advancements in energy harvesting, computers, communication, water purification, medicine, etc.

TRANSITIONAL EFFECTS – 2

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

Every significant discovery has in turn greatly influenced societal norms of behavior Masses today view internet

communications as a vital necessity. It is nearly impossible to operate in a complex society without easy access to the web. The majority of masses did not have this belief fifteen years ago. Only society determining that the internet allowed for

greater efficiency was it adopted as a societal norm. Those not willing to adapt became obsolete.

STABILIZATION

• Sudden instability is the greatest threat to humanity • It threatens to cause irreparable harm to the individual

• Elimination of one’s sustenance throws the individual into a state of war, because their survival is now threatened

• Nation-states consist of multiple spheres of interest in turn consisting of individual units consisting of people

• Survival is the primary goal of man and nation-states • The primary concern is that of stability • This philosophy has prevented a major war for over 70 years • Instability is the primary cause of all conflict

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE

• Spheres consist of individuals who share a common set of interests and/or belief systems

• Individual participants are the absolute micro-level • Family, work, school, political

parties, religion, etc. • The individual member serves as

the conduit between spheres • Various social interactions

influence individual behavior

ELITE STAGES

• Elites are the true minority • True for all societies

• Elites possess large capacities of power • The example shows maximum education

PLURALISM ALLIANCES

• Alliances will form among once competing spheres in order to “check” another sphere or individual elite base that acquires too much power

• Certain situations may also call for spheres realize they share a common agenda with one or more of their respective peers

Individual

Interdependent Spheres

Government Business

POLITICAL MESSAGE

Those activists who work with both major parties are either much more liberal or conservative than the average typical voter. Democratic activists are more liberal and Republican activists are more conservative.

CAMPAIGN 2000

POWER THEORY – 1

• To exert power one must first possess adequate reserves • This is defined simply as “capacity of power”

• Achieving higher positions is dependent on various factors that may include: education; wealth; profession; charisma and other talents either developed or engrained from birth

• This “capacity of power” is not determined according to a single resource, ability or possession

• It is a combination of different variables that serve to make up the individual

• This is just like a battery consisting of energy resources drawn upon when it comes time to draw power in order to achieve a set objective.

POWER THEORY – 2

• To exert power one must first possess adequate reserves • This is defined simply as “capacity of power”

• Achieving higher positions is dependent on various factors that may include: education; wealth; profession; charisma and other talents either developed or engrained from birth

• This “capacity of power” is not determined according to a single resource, ability or possession

• It is a combination of different variables that serve to make up the individual

• This is just like a battery consisting of energy resources drawn upon when it comes time to draw power in order to achieve a set objective.

POWER THEORY – 3

Like a battery powering a flashlight so does one’s

individual “capacity of power” serve to assist one in achieving a

set goal or in this case influencing or affecting political behavior to maintain, expand or protect one’s standing in order

to survive in society.

POWER THEORY – 4

Power equals resources (capacity of power) times compliance squared, divided by force. Every accounting of power theory is taken into consideration in the construction of this formula. We have explored the contention that the pursuit of self-interest encourages man to engage in political behavior. This serves as the foundation for rational choice theory, which in turn has led us to power theory. One may argue that the pursuit of power maintains the never ending cycle of political: conflict; compromise; alliances; and wars.

POWER THEORY – 5

Many have countered this argument with a direct assault on the statement that “there is no morality in politics”. These critics are both right and wrong. It is true that morality has no direct correlation with political science if the pursuit of self-interests and power resources maintains utmost priority. On the other hand they may be correct if one party sells their pursuit as a moral cause in order to achieve their agenda. For example, one may argue that good may come from conflict even if it leads to the destruction of a nation-state and the slaughtering of thousands or millions of people if the seed of democracy is planted and nurtured to maturity.

TRANSPARENCY – 1 America has grown from the days of a colony to major power, superpower, and hegemon, to its present empire status. American power is felt throughout the international community. Playing poker requires one to adopt what is commonly known as a “poker face”. Players will hide their true emotions, even faking their true intentions to catch other players off guard. Some have even taken to wearing sunglasses. The exact opposite tactic that the United States has adopted is “Transparency”. This involves disclosing all routes the nation-state will undertake with regards to all forms of public policy pertaining to its political, economic and military strategies.

TRANSPARENCY – 2 Alexander Hamilton initiated this policy as the chief financial philosopher of the United States even if he did not coin the term. Hamilton is regarded as the chief architect of our economic policy, which in turn was developed in order to win the confidence of domestic US business and financial elites as well as gaining the confidence of international business.

TRANSPARENCY EXAMPLE – 1 America possesses the most technologically advanced military hardware. This video demonstrates one of the first deployable force fields for light armored vehicles (LAVs). Welcome to the 21st Century.

TROPHY

TRANSPARENCY EXAMPLE – 2 America is not the only nation that utilizes Transparency. This video shows the Israeli Defense Force demonstrating a new type of gun that can shoot around corners. A brief interview with the inventor of this amazing weapon follows the demonstration.

CORNER SHOT

TRANSPARENCY EXAMPLE – 3 Some forms of transparency are both political and military in nature. The military sponsored the development of the Massive Ordinance Aerial Burst (MOAB). It is commonly referred to as “The Mother Of All Bombs”. It is the largest conventional bomb in our arsenal. There is a psychological component to this bomb. A mushroom cloud forms following successful detonation. It looks somewhat like a nuclear device being detonated.

TRANSPARENCY EXAMPLE – 4 Javelin is a fire-and-forget missile with lock-on before launch and automatic self-guidance. The system takes a top-attack flight profile against armored vehicles (attacking the top armor which is generally thinner) but can also take a direct-attack mode for use against buildings or fortifications. This missile also has the ability to engage helicopters. Javelin is supplied by Raytheon/Lockheed Martin's JAVELIN Joint Venture.

JAVELIN

Tabakian Pols 1 Fall/Spring 2014 Power 2

Education

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