Origins and Purposes of American Government and

Political Culture

Origins and purposes of government

• Evaluate the statement: “Government is a necessary evil.”

• Purpose of government• Examine the Preamble

• Who?• Why?• What?• Extent of success?

• Define “politics.”• Politics in your life?

Types of government

• Explain Aristotle’s classification system, including definitions and examples of the six forms of government in your explanation

Roots of American Government

• Classical Greece and Rome• Enlightenment

• Reformation (Luther, Calvin, Pilgrims)• Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan)

• Life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”• Strong government vs. life in the “state of nature” ie war

• John Locke (Second Treatise on Civil Government; Essay Concerning Human Understanding)

• Consent of the governed• Social contract• Natural rights

• Influence on Declaration of Independence

Early American experiments and experiences with governance

• Self-government• Mayflower Compact• House of Burgesses• Town Meetings

• Types of democracies: Compare, considering strengths and weaknesses of each• Direct• Indirect• Republic• What would Locke, Hobbes prefer?

• Strong or weak central power• Articles of Confederation• Constitution

American Political Culture

• Personal liberty• From “freedom from” to “freedom to”

• Equality – “one person, one vote”• Popular consent and majority rule

• Consent of the governed –Locke• Majority rule and minority rights

• Popular sovereignty• Power to the people• Uses in history

American Political Culture (continued)

• Civil Society• Created when people have the right to openly

organize and debate public policy

• Individualism• Each individual possesses unalienable rights• Rugged individualism changes – for the better?

• Religious faith• Role in politics • Impact on social issues

Attitudes towards Government: Take this True false quiz for a class profile:

1. Our government does a good job, given the many responsibilities it has

2. Government is generally ineffective in its efforts to improve societal concerns

3. Some government programs are very effective at resolving the issues they target

4. I will definitely vote regularly in the future5. Most of the people in the senior class care about political

issues6. Individuals and local charities should take primary

responsibility for addressing social issues7. Politicians are most interested in getting re-elected or

improving their own economic situation so they are not concerned with helping the people

8. Less government is better9. Government must get involved otherwise certain problems will

never be addressed10.Frequent news about scandals reflects both better

governmental oversight and media hype

American Attitudes Towards Government

• High expectations• Dwelling on the negatives• Mistrust of politicians• Voter apathy

Identify a significant trend.

Develop theories concerning the significance and impact of the numbers

The Impact of American Demographics:http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/briefs.html has great summaries of data!

• Increased population• Changes in racial and ethnic

composition• Role of immigration• Impact of Hispanic-Americans

• Changes in the age pyramid• Impact on Social Security

• Families: size and structure

Political Ideologies: Go to www.politicalcompass.org to find out where you stand!• Functions

• Explanation• Evaluation• Orientation• Political Program

• Common American Ideologies• Liberalism• Moderate• Conservativism• Libertarian

• Labels can gloss over divergent views• i.e. a social liberal who is fiscally conservative

Political Ideologies

Video on libertarianism: see hotchalk.com nbcnews-gov/pol – polbeliefs –libertarian – ed clark

Listen to the roundtable discussion on self-government to fill in the chart

FalconReeceObasohanProfessor

Evidence

Ideology

Consider the relative merits as well as the weaknesses in their respective arguments.

As you think about the arguments given by each, consider the strategies

employed to convince the listener: emotional appeal, appealing to your values, using facts and reason, or

using humor (inc. satire, parody, or irony)