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Ch. 1 notes.

Vocabulary Power: The ability of one person to get another person to act

in accordance with the first persons intentions

Authority: The right to use power Legitimacy: Political authority conferred by law or by a state

or national constitution

Democracy: The rule of many Direct or participatory democracy: A government in which all or

most citizens participate directly.

Representative democracy: A government in which leaders makedecisions by winning a competitive struggle for the popular vote

Elite: Persons who possess a disproportionate share of somevalued resource, like money or power

Marxist view: View that the government is dominated bycapitalists

Power elite view: View that the government is dominated by afew top leaders, most of whom are outside of government

Bureaucratic view: View that the government is dominated byappointed officials

Pluralist view: The belief that completion among all affectedinterests shapes public policy

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What is Power?

Power is found in all human relationships.

People who exercise political power may or may not have the authority

to do so.

Formal authority is the right to exercise power is vested in a

government office.

In the US today, the constitution is accepted as the source of legitimate

authority.

What is democracy?

As towns have become larger and issues more complicated, many town

governments have abandoned the pure town meeting in favor of either

the representative town meeting or representative government.

Joseph Schumpeter stated: The democratic method is that institutional

arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire

the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the peoples

vote.

Is Representative Democracy Best?

For representative government to work there must be an opportunity for

genuine leadership competition.

This requires:

Individuals and parties run for office Communication be free

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Voters perceive that a meaningful choice existsIn the US many offices (Executive, judicial, legislative) are elected and

most of the money the candidates use comes from industry, labor

unions, and private individuals.

To reclaim the virtues of direct or participatory democracy can be done

either by allowing individual neighborhoods in big cities to govern

themselves (Community Control) or by requiring those affected by some

government program to participate in its formulation (Citizen

Participation).

The Framers of the Constitution favored representative democracy over

direct democracy.

They believed that government should mediate popular views and that

elected officials should represent majority sentiments.

They saw representative democracy as a way of minimizing the chances

that power would be abused.

How is Political Power Distributed?

Representative democracy is defined as any system of government in

which leaders are authorized to make decisions.

Majoritarian politics:

Leaders constrained to follow wishes of the people very closely

Applies when issues are simple, clear, and feasible

Elitism: Someone who possess a disproportionate share of some valued

resource, like money or power.

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Four theories of Elite Influence:

Marxism: government merely a reflection of underlyingeconomic forces

C. Wright Mills: power elite composed of corporate leaders,generals, and politicians

Max Weber: bureaucracies based on expertise, specializedcompetence

Pluralist view: no single elite has a monopoly on power;hence must bargain and compromise

Is Democracy Driven by Self-Interest

A policy may be good or bad independent of the motives of the person

who decided it.

The self-interest of individuals is often an incomplete guide to their

actions

Some act against long odds and without the certainty of benefit

What Explains Political Change?

Necessary to refer frequently to history because no single theory is

adequate

Government today influenced by yesterday

Government today still evolving and responds to changing beliefs

Politics about the public interest, not just who gets what