Mr. Woods - A.P. Government and Politics

Constitutional Underpinnings of the

United States GovernmentUnderstanding American

Politics

A. Functions of Government

B. Policy Making System

C. American Political Culture

Discussion Questions1. How knowledgeable are people in America about matters of public

policy (if so do they apply that knowledge to their voting choices)?

2. How are American elections designed to facilitate public participation? What improvements can be made to our election system to ensure more public participation?

3. Do political parties provide voters with clear choices, or do they intentionally obscure their stands on issues in order to get as many votes as possible?

4. What role does the media have in providing voters with clear choices? Does the media help citizens understand the choices that they have as voters?

5. Is Congress representative of American society, and is it capable of solving societies problems?

Mr. Woods - A.P. Government and Politics

Functions of GovernmentUnderstanding American Politics

Four Key Institutions

Historical Purposes of Government

Common Functions of Government

Provide Order - Hobbes

• Hobbes argued that people needed an absolute monarchy. Without government, there would be no laws-people could do whatever they wanted. Even if people tried to develop informal rules, there would be no way to guarantee that these rules would be enforced. This crucial governmental role was noted by the Founders in the preamble to the Constitution.

Provide Order - Madison

• Without government, we would quickly be headed toward Hobbes’s nasty and brutish state of nature. Madison’s view of human nature might sound pessimistic, but it is also realistic. He assumes that people are self-interested: we want what is best for ourselves and our families, and to satisfy those interests, we tend to form groups (factions) with like-minded people.

Promoting the General Welfare - Hume

• It is easy for two people to tackle a common problem without the help of government, but a thousand people, to say nothing of the more than 300 million in the United States today, would suffer from the free rider problem: because it is in everyone’s interest to “lay the whole burden on others,” and because everyone thinks this way, the meadow would never be drained. Hume notes, “political society” – government – can “remedy those inconveniences” by draining the meadow and providing the desired public good.

Mr. Woods - A.P. Government and Politics

Policymaking SystemUnderstanding American Politics

Two Dilemmas of Government

Policymaking

Mr. Woods - A.P. Government and Politics

American Political CultureUnderstanding American Politics

5 Elements of American Political Culture

Democracy

• A Culture War?– James Q. Wilson believes that America is

a more polarized nation today than at any time in living memory.

– Other scholars believe that there is relatively little evidence of a so-called culture war going on among ordinary American citizens.

How Active Is American Government?

– Spends $3.8 trillion yearly

– Employs 2.8 million civilians and 1.4 million in the military

– It owns one-third of the land in the United States

– It occupies 2.6 billion square feet of office space

Political Ideologies

Center

ConservativesRepublicans

LiberalsDemocrats

Socialist Tea PartyCommunist FascistsNeo-Nazi

United Kingdom

United States

Cuba, China, &Vietnam

Hitler’s Nazi-Germany &Mussolini’s Italy

North Korea?

Political Ideologies

For Social Intervention

Against EconomicIntervention

For Economic Intervention

Against Social Intervention

Political Attitudes