John Paul Tabakian, Ed.D.Political Science 1 – US Government

Spring 2018 / Fall 2018 – Power Point 1

1. Professor Introduction2. Defining Political Science3. Theory Defined4. Rational Choice5. Elitism & Pluralism6. Spheres of Influence7. Transitional Effects8. Manipulation9. Interdependency Theory10.Power Theory11.Transparency

Course Lecture Topics

Welcome To Class!New semesters bring varioushiccups for everyone. This also goesfor your instructor. We are alladjusting to new situations, courseschedule conflicts and otheradjustments. This course utilizesvarious methods to deliverinformation. Many of our materialsare media driven. You will find manyto be humorous, thought provoking ,or even interesting. This first clip ispresented merely for fun. It is titled“Welcome To School.”

School Frustration

What Is Political Science?1. Political science is a branch of the social sciences.

• Just like Sociology2. Each branch is interested in individual and group behavior.

• Fundamental difference is the foundational theory3. Sociologists are biased towards elitism.4. Political scientists are biased towards pluralism.

• Elite theory is still utilized in contrast with pluralism5. Political scientists examine influences of political behavior.

• Result of competing interests• End result of conflict and compromise

6. Sociologists look at individual behavior.• According to elite influence in general

Role Of Theory (1)

1. Everyone uses theory whether they know it or not.2. Many of us devise our own theories

• Through childhood socializations up to adulthood.3. Foundation of political science

• Pluralism / Rational Choice Theory4. Think of theory as a pair of sunglasses

• Filtering unwanted information• Helps us “see” the truth

Rational Choice Theory (1)1. What Is The Primary Goal Of The Individual?

• The answer may be summed up in one word: Survival. • Survival is the foundation for all action.• Individual parties make decisions based on rationality.• It Assumes individuals base all decisions on self-interest.

2. Requirements To Make A Rational Choice:• Perfect information• Balancing our emotions

3. 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 allher worldly possessions and dedicates herself to helping thosein poverty. Her justification may be great rewards in the afterlife.The real-estate mogul does not believe in an afterlife, but doesbelieve in making as much money as possible, spending it allon an overly extravagant and abusive lifestyle. Who is actingrationally? Both individuals are for they are fulfilling their self-interest…as they define their self-interest to be.

Example Of Theory: Realism1. 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

2. Considered To Be A Synonym For Power Politics• Construed as pragmatic and wrought with simplicity• Abrupt philosophy focused on the inherent evils of mankind

RealismThis clip is from the movie“Failsafe.” Walter Matthauplays the role of NationalSecurity Advisor who appliesrational choice and realisttheory to explain why strikingat the Soviet Union isnecessary to survive.

Failsafe

Elitism1. Elitism does not promote elite rule.2. The rules of a society obstruct social progress of masses3. Elites are needed due mass ignorance and apathy.4. Elites have two main goals:

• Preserve and enhance their positions of power5. Masses are open to demagogues:

• When the economy is doing poorly• The country is fighting a war that it is losing

6. Demagogues come from the far left or far right.7. 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 classsocioeconomic section of society.

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

Sufficient Cheese Sufficient Cheese Lack Of Cheese

Elitism Summarized (2)4. Elites share a common belief on the basic values of the

elite. Any change of public policy will be incrementally slowrather than revolutionary.

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

6. Active elites are not typically influenced from apatheticmasses. Elites influence masses more than the massesinfluence elites.

Elitism Summarized (3)

Elitism / Information Flow (1)1. Information flows from opinion elites down to opinion

leaders who are looked to the public for information.2. News is first “created” by opinion elites and then sent to

opinion leaders to help disseminate the information.3. Those at the very top of the elite network decide what

information is deemed as necessary to offer society.4. These elites may be news makers themselves or in charge

of large media corporations.5. Opinion leaders may be thought of as journalists, news

anchors, expert pundits or even celebrities who possesslegitimacy among those in society.

Elitism – Information Flow (2)

Mirror Myth1. News media outlets “decide

what will be decided.”2. Bias is exhibited throughout the

mainstream and nontraditionalnews sources.

3. The news media stress thatthey are nonbiased since theyonly reflect reality.

4. Their choice of news subjectsproves their bias.

What We Call The News (1)Securing market share isvital, for without it, themajor media would loseadvertising revenue. It isreally our fault that themajor news networkswillfully focus on sex,violence and variousnegative pieces. Enjoythis video, “What We CallThe News.”

What We Call The News (2)

Pluralism & Spheres (1) 1. Pluralism insures that groups are restricted from single

handedly influencing public policy.2. Cross-cutting cleavages would form, as groups seek

compromise with others to build coalitions that wouldsucceed in affecting change.

3. Minorities are protected from an overwhelming majority.4. Majority power-holders are essentially “checked.”

• Cross-cutting cleavages balance against overwhelming forces.

Pluralism & Spheres (2)

Pluralism Summarized (1) 1. Society is divided into numerous groups with all making

demands on government while none of the participants areable to dominate all decision-making.

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

Pluralism Summarized (2)3. Competition among leadership groups helps protect

individuals’ interests. Countervailing centers of power – forexample, competition among business leaders, laborleaders and government leaders – can check one anotherand keep each interest from abusing its power andoppressing the individual. Each of these individual“spheres of influence” allies themselves with other spheresthat possess similar goals. See “Spheres Of Influence”.

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

Pluralism Summarized (3) 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 isoften determined by how much interest people have in aparticular decision. Because leadership is fluid and mobile,power depends on one’s interest in public affairs, skills inleadership, information about issues, knowledge ofdemocratic processes, and skill in organization and publicrelations.

Pluralism Summarized (4) 7. Multiple leadership groups operate within society. Those

who exercise power in one kind of decision do notnecessarily exercise power in others. No single elitedominates decision making in all issues.

8. Public policy does not necessarily reflect majoritypreference, but is an equilibrium of interest interaction –competing interest group influences are more or lessbalanced, and the resulting policy is therefore a reasonableapproximation 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 devotionto their group interests.

3. Elitism asserts that mass membership of organizationsrarely exercises influence on elite leadership. That theseorganizations have no democratic processes and arecontrolled by leaders who operate for their own self-interest.Pluralists offer no evidence that the giant organizationsrepresent 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 andthose who interact directly with them.

5. Elitism emphasizes shared characteristics of leaders on topof their interest in preserving the social diversity amongleaders, differences in backgrounds, ideologies, andviewpoints. Pluralism also argues that decisions made byleaders are a product of their role perception, institutionalconstraints, interest group pressure, public opinion, etc.Elitism focuses on leadership consensus – Pluralismfocuses on elite conflict.

Spheres Of Influence 1. Competing spheres of influence

protect minority rights againstmajority factions.

2. Alliances will form among oncecompeting spheres in order to“check” another sphere orindividual elite base that acquirestoo much power.

3. Individual spheres of influence arealways on the alert for one of theirpeers assuming too much power.

Competing Spheres1. Competing Spheres of Influence

essentially check each otherwithin the political system.

2. This is essential for the protectionof minority rights especially as itpertains to majority factions.

3. Elites are those who holdpositions of power in society.

4. Our Founding Fathers consideredthe protection of minority rights asthose few individuals whoretained control over society.

Transitional Effects – 1 1. Competition produces great returns for humanity.2. The result has been America progressing from a

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

3. Innovation has led to advancements that have greatlyinfluenced every aspect of society.

4. Society has benefited from constant advancements inenergy harvesting, computers, communication, waterpurification, 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.

Stabilization1. Sudden instability is the greatest threat to humanity.

• It threatens to cause irreparable harm to the individual.2. Elimination of one’s sustenance throws the individual into a

state of war, because their survival is now threatened.3. Nation-states consist of multiple spheres of interest in turn

consisting of individual units consisting of people.4. 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 Influence1. Spheres consist of individuals

who share a common set ofinterests and/or belief systems.

2. Individual participants are theabsolute 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 Stages1. Elites are the true minority.

• This is true for all societies.2. Elites possess large capacities of power.3. The example shows maximum education.

Pluralism Alliances1. Alliances will form among once

competing spheres in order to“check” another sphere orindividual elite base that acquirestoo much power.

2. Certain situations may also callfor spheres realize they share acommon agenda with one ormore of their respective peers.

Individual

Interdependent Spheres

Government Business

Power Theory – 1 1. To exert power one must first possess adequate reserves

• This is defined simply as “capacity of power.”2. Achieving higher positions is dependent on various factors

that may include: education; wealth; profession; charismaand other talents either developed or engrained from birth.

3. This “capacity of power” is not determined according to asingle resource, ability or possession.

4. It is a combination of different variables that serve to makeup the individual.

5. This is just like a battery consisting of energy resourcesdrawn upon when it comes time to draw power in order toachieve a set objective.

Power Theory – 2 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 – 3 Power equals resources (capacity of power) times compliancesquared, divided by force. Every accounting of power theory istaken into consideration in the construction of this formula. Wehave explored the contention that the pursuit of self-interestencourages man to engage in political behavior. This servesas the foundation for rational choice theory, which in turn hasled us to power theory. One may argue that the pursuit ofpower maintains the never ending cycle of political: conflict;compromise; alliances; and wars.

Power Theory – 4Many have countered this argument with a direct assault onthe statement that “there is no morality in politics”. These criticsare both right and wrong. It is true that morality has no directcorrelation with political science if the pursuit of self-interestsand power resources maintains utmost priority. On the otherhand they may be correct if one party sells their pursuit as amoral cause in order to achieve their agenda. For example,one may argue that good may come from conflict even if itleads to the destruction of a nation-state and the slaughteringof thousands or millions of people if the seed of democracy isplanted and nurtured to maturity.

Transparency – 1 America has grown from the days of a colony to majorpower, superpower, and hegemon, to its present empirestatus. American power is felt throughout the internationalcommunity. Playing poker requires one to adopt what iscommonly known as a “poker face”. Players will hide theirtrue emotions, even faking their true intentions to catch otherplayers off guard. Some have even taken to wearingsunglasses. The exact opposite tactic that the United Stateshas adopted is “Transparency”. This involves disclosing allroutes the nation-state will undertake with regards to allforms of public policy pertaining to its political, economic andmilitary strategies.

Transparency – 2 Alexander Hamilton initiated thispolicy as the chief financialphilosopher of the United Stateseven if he did not coin the term.Hamilton is regarded as thechief architect of our economicpolicy, which in turn wasdeveloped in order to win theconfidence of domestic USbusiness and financial elites aswell as gaining the confidenceof international business.

Transparency Example – 1 America possesses the mosttechnologically advancedmilitary hardware. This videodemonstrates one of the firstdeployable force fields forlight armored vehicles(LAVs). Welcome to the 21stCentury.

Trophy

Transparency Example – 2 America is not the only nationthat utilizes Transparency.This video shows the IsraeliDefense Force demonstratinga new type of gun that canshoot around corners. A briefinterview with the inventor ofthis amazing weapon followsthe demonstration.

Corner Shot

Transparency Example – 3 Some forms of transparency areboth political and military innature. The military sponsoredthe development of the MassiveOrdinance Aerial Burst (MOAB). Itis commonly referred to as “TheMother Of All Bombs”. It is thelargest conventional bomb in ourarsenal. There is a psychologicalcomponent to this bomb. Amushroom cloud forms followingsuccessful detonation. It lookssomewhat like a nuclear devicebeing detonated.

MOAB

Transparency Example – 4 Javelin is a fire-and-forget missilewith lock-on before launch andautomatic self-guidance. Thesystem takes a top-attack flightprofile against armored vehicles(attacking the top armor which isgenerally thinner) but can alsotake a direct-attack mode for useagainst buildings or fortifications.This missile also has the ability toengage helicopters. Javelin issupplied by Raytheon/LockheedMartin's JAVELIN Joint Venture.

Javelin