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The Study of American
Government UNIT 1
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What Is Political Power?■ Power–the ability of one person to get
another person to act in accordance with the first person’s intentions
■ Authority–the right to use power
■ Legitimacy–political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution
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What is Government?■ Composed of formal and informal
institutions, people, and processes used to create and conduct public policy
■ Public Policy is the exercise of government powering doing those things necessary to maintain legitimate authority and control over society
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Purposes of Government■ Create a Strong Union While
Maintaining State Sovereignty ■ Establish Justice: reasonable, fair,
impartial law ■ Preserving Public Order ■ Protect / Maintain National Defense ■ Promote Individual Freedom
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Forms of Government■ Anarchy: lack of government ■ Autocracy: rule by one (monarch v
dictator) ■ Oligarcy: rule by a few (aristocracy v
theocracy) ■ Democracy: rule by the people
(representative v direct)
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What Is Democracy?■ Democracy–the rule of many ■ Direct or participatory democracy–
government in which all or most citizens participate directly
■ Representative democracy–a government in which leaders make decisions by winning a competitive struggle for the popular vote.
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Influences
■ Aristotle defined democracy as rule by ordinary people, most of whom would be poor
■ John Locke argued against powerful kings and in favor of popular consent
■ Thomas Hobbes argued that an absolute, supreme ruler was essential to prevent civil war
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How Is Political Power Distributed?
■ Majoritarian politics – elected officials are the delegates of the people, acting as the people
■ Political elite – 4 descriptions
• elites reflect a dominant social class • a group of business, military, labor union,
and elected officials control all decisions • appointed bureaucrats run everything • representatives of a large number of interest
groups are in charge
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How Is Political Power Distributed?
■ Class view–the government is dominated by capitalists
■ Power elite view–the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside of government
■ Bureaucratic view–the government is dominated by appointed officials
■ Pluralist view–the belief that competition among all affected interests shapes public policy
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The Problem of Liberty■ The Colonial Mind
• Men will seek power because they are ambitious, greedy and easily corrupted
■ The Real Revolution
■ Weaknesses of the Confederation
• Articles of Confederation 1781
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Declaration of Independence
■ Theory of government based on social contract and rights
■ List of grievances against the King and Parliament
■ Statement of colonial unity and separation from Britain
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Articles of Confederation ■ COULD ■ coin money ■ create post office ■ declare war ■ create army/navy ■ sign treaties with foreign
governments
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Articles of Confederation Weaknesses
■ Could NOT ■ tax ■ regulate commerce ■ enforce ■ one vote per state ■ 9/13 need to pass ■ unanimous to amend ■ no judiciary
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The Challenge
■ The Virginia Plan–proposal to create a strong national government
■ The New Jersey Plan–proposal to create a weak national government
■ The Compromise
• popularly elected house based on state population
• state elected Senate, with two members for each state
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Basic Principles Within the Constitution
■ Limited Government ■ Popular Sovereignty ■ Separation of Powers ■ Checks and Balances ■ Federalism
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The Constitution and Democracy
■ Republican Form of Government
• Key Principles ■ Federalism ■ Enumerated powers ■ Reserved powers ■ Concurrent powers
■ Government And Human Nature
• Separation of powers • Checks and balances
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■ The Antifederalist View
■ Need for a Bill of Rights
■ The Constitution and
Slavery
The Constitution and Liberty
Ratification of the Federal Constitution by State Conventions, 1787-1790
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Liberties Guaranteed in the Original Constitution
■ Writ of habeas corpus protected !
■ No bills of attainder
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■ No ex post facto laws !
■ Right of trial by jury
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Liberties Guaranteed in the Original Constitution (cont’d)
■ Citizens of each state entitled to the privileges and immunities of the citizens of every other state !
■ No religious test or qualification for holding federal office !
■ States cannot pass laws impairing the obligation of contracts.
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!■ Reducing the Separation of Powers
• Increase presidential authority • Lengthen terms for members of the U.S.
House of Representatives ■ Making the System Less Democratic
• Balanced Budget Amendment • Line-item veto
Constitutional Reform: Modern Views
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Marbury v Madison (1803)■ Established Judicial Review: the right
of the Supreme Court to decide the constitutionality of Congressional or Presidential acts
■ Involved Adams’ judicial appointments to retain Federalist control
■ Challenged by Jefferson
Why Federalism Matters
■ Federalism is a system in which the national government shares power with state/local governments.
■ State governments have the authority to make final decisions over many governmental actions.
■ The most persistent source of political conflict is between national and state governments.
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Figure 3.1 Lines of Power in the Federal System of Government
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Figure 3.1 Lines of Power in the Federal System of Government
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Figure 3.1 Lines of Power in the Federal System of Government
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The Founding
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■ A Bold New Plan: A “federal republic” for which there was no precedent
■ Elastic Language
!Congress shall have the power to “make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.” -from Article I
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The Debate on the Meaning of Federalism
■ The Supreme Court
Speaks (Chief Justice John Marshall was an advocate of Federalism)
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1819 - McCulloch v Maryland
• referenced “necessary and proper” powers of Congress
• confirmed “Supremacy” of the federal (national) government
The Debate on the Meaning of Federalism
■ Nullification - theory advanced by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson suggesting that states had the right to declare federal law “null and void” (nullify) if they felt it violated the Constitution • newspaper • slavery
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The Debate on the Meaning of Federalism
■ dual federalism - a constitutional theory that the national government and the state governments each have define areas of authority, especially over commerce • interstate v. intrastate
■ state sovereignty - ultimate authority rests with the states in matters not enumerated in the Constitution (police power - health, safety, moral)
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Governmental Structure■ Federalism: Good or Bad?
■ Increased Political Activity
■ What the States can do
• Initiative - voters submit a law to popular vote
• Referendum - submitting an existing law to popular vote
• Recall - voters can vote to remove an elected official from office
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Federalism has permitted experimentation. Women were able to vote in the Wyoming Territory in 1888, long before they could do so in most states.
The Granger Collection, New York
Federal-State Relations!
■ Grants-In-Aid: funds provided to states and localities (airport, roads)
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■ Meeting National Needs
■ Intergovernmental Lobby
■ Categorical Grants: funds for specific purpose defined by law (require some state matching)
■ Rivalry Among the States
Some of the nation’s greatest universities, such as Penn State, began as land-grant colleges.
Figure 3.2 The Changing Purpose of Federal Grants to State and Local Governments
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Federal Aid and Federal Control■ Mandates: rules imposed by the
federal government as a condition for obtaining a federal grant (civil rights oriented - required)
■ Conditions of Aid: federal rules attached to grants states receive (voluntary)
A National Guardsman watches over the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. The Guardsmen cannot make arrests but can call the Border Patrol.
A Devolution Revolution?
■ Devolution shifts many federal functions to the states.
• second-order = states to local • third-order = local to nonprofit
■ Most Americans favor devolution, but not if that means cuts in government programs that benefit most citizens.
■ What have been the consequences of devolution?
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