Welcome to American Government! Prof. Denise Scheberle Steve Haskell

big card, first name little card:name, who you are, fun

or interesting fact about you, what you want to learn from this class, xerox a picture and put it on the back

getting to know you

Nature of the class Civic engagement and political

participation Lecture, discussion and involvement

We’re learning together What’s in the news Levels of learning

Facts, opinions, evaluation

More information… Syllabus and books

Test and assignment dates will probably NOT change

Phoenix Forum April 7 (normal class time)

Reading schedule may vary snow days

Thursday, January 20 Cards/ reflections on government Inauguration, confirmation hearing

s for Rice, upcoming elections in Iraq, others?

America is divided 49% approval rating for President Bush

(89% in September 2001) 42% approve of foreign policy/ economy

(75%; 64% in October 2001) 44% approve of how Congress is doing its job

(67% in October) 28% have favorable opinion of Vice President

Cheney, with 33% unfavorable, but 22% don’t know

More than half believe America will remain divided in the next four years

Questions

What is government? Why have it? How do you feel about

government?

Government defined…

legitimate use of force to control behavior.

formal institutions through which a land and its people are ruled.

mechanisms that people use to protect themselves and to establish policies that provide favorable conditions for pursuing their lives.

Policy

purposeful course of action to solve a problem

Private (business) v. public (government) policies

laws are the most common instruments of public policy

Politics

Process of influencing government—results in a determination about whose values will prevail

Struggle over power within organizations or groups that can grant or withhold privileges or benefits

“who gets what, when, and how much.”

Harold Lasswell

democracy “people have authority” direct or indirect Republic: indirect democracy, a

representative form of government with the consent of the governed

How do we measure democracy? Procedural: universal

participation, political equality, majority rule

Substantive: people live free, civil liberties and rights are protected

Challenges facing government?

Values desired by citizens

Freedom Order Equality

Freedom

to speak and write freely

practice own religion

have liberty to pursue our lives

Individuals

Social order

To be protected from ourselves and external threats

Equality

Political equality one person, one

vote Social equality

equality of opportunity

equality of outcome

Which value is the most important to you? Why?

For Tuesday

Chapter 1 and Chapter 2Reactions to the inaugural address

www.cspan.orgHow would you describe the U.S.

constitution?

Review Government—what it is and how

we feel about it; definitions Three values (freedom, order,

equality) Today—inaugural address, values,

philosophies of Locke and Hobbes, political ideologies

Inaugural address How would you describe the event? What were some messages/themes

you remember from the address? What are your reactions?

freedom, order, equality

Freedom v. Order

The original conflict of government is between freedom and order

Thomas Hobbes Leviathan (1651) job of government is to protect

individuals from each other leave a state of nature to come into

social community single ruler to protect the weak

against the strong

John Locke

Second Treatise, of Civil Government (1690)

Government is necessary to protect property

Man in a state of nature is generally good

Government should be limited Government can be dissolved if it

breaks the social contract

Freedom v. Equality A more modern conflict is between

freedom and equality.

Reconciling the two dilemmas Every citizen has a different

opinion about how much freedom she/he is willing to give up to ensure social order or promote equality

Often, how we feel about these dilemmas helps establish our ideology

Political Ideology

A consistent set of values and beliefs about the purpose and scope of government.

Usually thought of as a continuum with liberal on one end and conservative on the other.

Liberal vs. Conservative LIBERAL larger government,

more intervention for social programs

Doesn’t always want more government

CONSERVATIVE smaller government,

less intervention in economy

Doesn’t always want less government

Typology of Ideologies

Instead of a continuum created by trading levels of

freedom, order and equality Liberals Libertarians Conservatives Communitarians

Quick quiz Who is Mr.

Michael J. Badnarik?

                               

What is your ideology? http://www.lp.org/

Writing assignment option #1

Take the quiz and discuss whether the quiz accurately reflects your ideology. Have someone else take the quiz. Do you have similar or different ideologies? Was your ideology reflected in your voting decision? Why or why not?

Due next Tuesday

Let’s review

1. Define political equality, ideology 2. What did Locke say about the

need for government? Did Hobbes agree?

3. What is the original dilemma of government?

4. What do liberals tend to believe about government?

The founding of America

How would you describe our constitution?

Iraq election process (courtesy BBC news)

An Empire of Reason What were the failures of the

Articles of Confederation? what were the arguments in favor

of ratification? what were the arguments against

ratification? Shay’s rebellion

For Tuesday… Iraq elections Chapter 2: What truths did

Jefferson hold to be self-evident in the Declaration of Independence?

What is the structure of the Constitution?

Bring books—looking at the Declaration, Constitution and Federalist #51