C1: Freedom/Order/Equality

Politics: the authoritative allocation of values for a society

Reflects choice between conflicting values (norms)
Globalization: increasing interdependence of citizens and nations across the world
Increasing importance between domestic and international
Government: legitimate use of force to control human behavior; the organization or agency
authorized to exercise that force
National sovereignty: political entitys externally recognized right to exercise final authority over
its affairs
Basis of international affairs
-national law theoretical, no sovereign power over nations
National sovereignty threatened by globalization, global pressure threaten
sovereignty
Purpose of Government: (Requires citizens to surrender freedom)
Maintaining order (established ways of social behavior; maintaining order is oldest purpose of
gov.)
Leviathan (1651 Thomas Hobbes): life w/o gov. = state of nature
State of nature = violent free for all
Hobbes suggest single sovereign of unquestioned authority (Leviathan)
Authoritarian rulers capitalize on fear, become established order
Gov. = means of guarantee survival
Two Treatises on Government (1690 John Locke): Gov. Protect life, liberty, property
Influence DoRs unalienable rights
Defense of property rights -> guards for individual liberty = liberalism
Liberalism: belief that states should leave a individuals free to follow their
individual pursuits
Karl Marx: Reject private ownership of property
Communism: Political system where ownership of all land and productive
facilities is in the hands of the people and all goods shared;
production/distribution controlled by authoritarian gov.
Providing Public Goods (benefits and services available to everyone)
Public goods: benefits and services such as parks and sanitation that benefit all citizens
but are not likely to be produced voluntarily by individuals
Promoting Equality
Government role in redistribution of income is key for economic/social equality
Western charity (religious) vs. state (Marx)
Social equality may clash with social values
Conceptual Framework of Government
Concept: generalized idea of a set of items of thoughts ; groups events/objects/qualities under
classification
Values pursued by gov.: freedom, order, equality
Models of democratic gov.: majoritarian, pluralist

Concepts of Freedom/Order/Equality
Freedom
Freedom of: absence of constraints on behavior, as in freedom of speech
Freedom from: immunity, as in freedom from want
Order
Social order (established patterns of authority in society/traditional behavior)
As opposed to simply preserving life/liberty
-Enforced through police power: authority of government to maintain order and
safeguard citizens health, morals, safety, welfare
-Book order: preserving life, protecting property, maintaining traditional social
relationships
Equality
Political equality: equality in political decision making (one equal vote)
Social equality: equality in wealth, education, and status
Equality of opportunity: Idea that each person guaranteed same chance of success
in life
Equality of outcome: Society must ensure people equal, government policies
redistribute wealth/status for economic/social equality
Rights: benefits of government to which every citizen is entitled
Two Dilemmas of Government
Oldest objectives of government: maintaining order and promoting equality (w/o sacrifice
individual freedom)
Freedom v. Order (Original)
-Original purpose of government: Protect life and property and make citizens safe from
violence
-Communism opposite, effective takes away freedom
Freedom v. Equality (Modern)
-Government policies for social equality
Ideology and Scope of Government
Political ideology: Consistent set of values and beliefs about proper purpose and scope of
government
Totalitarianism: philosophy that advocates unlimited power for government to enable it to
control all sectors of society
Reference in 1984, anchors one side of continuum
Socialism: central government plays strong role in regulating existing private industry and
directs economy, allows some private ownership of productive capacity
Also based on Marxist theory

Democratic socialism: guarantees civil liberties such as freedom of speech and religion,
citizens determine extent of government activity through free lections and competitive
political parties
Capitalism: government favors free enterprise (private business w/o government
regulation)
Friedman: necessary for free politics
Libertarianism: ideology opposed to all government action except as necessary to protect
life and property
Libertarian: opposed to using government to promote either order or equality
Laissez faire: economic doctrine opposes any form of government intervention in
business
Anarchism: political philosophy opposes government in any form
Middle = liberals and conservatives
Liberal = favor government, government support of programs, activism, oppose
regulation
Conservative = small government budget and few programs, free enterprise, against
government programs, support government regulation
American Political Ideology and Purpose of Government
Liberals v. Conservatives (Difference in attitude towards government)
Conservatives: willing to use government to promote order but not equality, preserve
traditional social relations
Liberal: willing to sue government to promote equality but not order, tolerant of alternate
lifestyles
2 Dimensional Classification of Ideology
Communitarian: willing to use government to promote both order and equality
Liberal
Favor: gov. to promote equality
Oppose: gov. restrict individual liberty
Libertarian
Oppose: Gov. interfere with market
Oppose: Gov. restrict individual liberty

Communitarian
Favor: Gov. promote equality
Favor: Gov. impose social orer
Conservative
Oppose: Gov. that interfere with market
Favor: Gov. impose social order

C2: Majoritarian/Pluralist Democracy

Theory of Democratic Government

Autocracy: system of government where power to govern concentrated in one individual
Oligarchy: System of government where power concentrated in hands of few people
Democracy: System where people rule direct or indirectly
Meaning/Symbolism of Democracy
Demos = people
kratos = power
Used to be unpopular (Greece)
Procedural View of Democracy: view of democracy as being embodied in decision-making
process that involves universal participation, political equality, majority rule, and
responsiveness
Universal participation: everyone should participate in gov. decision making
Political equality: one vote/person, all votes equal
Majority rule: principle that decision of group must reflect preference of more than half
of participants (Majority)
Plurality = if more than 2 choices
Direct v. Indirect
Participatory democracy: rank and file citizens rule themselves rather than electing
representatives to govern on their behalf
Origins in Greece, participation not universal
Rare in U.S., assumed few people participate, need full time gov. to study large
population/society
e-government: online communication enable citizens to obtain info from gov. and
facilitate expression of opinions to gov. officials
Representative Democracy: citizens elect public officials to govern on their behalf (U.S.)
Responsiveness: decision making principle implies elected representatives soudl do what
majority wants
Substantive View of Democracy
Substantive democratic theory: view that democracy is embodied in substance of government
policies rather than policy making procedure
Defines principles underlies democracy (civil liberties, civil rights)
Issue with social rights and social equality
Procedural v. Substantive
Substantive no precise criteria
Procedural disregard minority rights (benefits of government that cannot be denied to any by
majority decision)
Book favor procedural b/c classic definition of democracy

Institutional Models of Democracy

Majoritarian Model of Democracy: classical theory of democracy in which government by
people is interpreted as government by majority of the people
Popular election of officials
Election as means of deciding gov. policy
Referendum: election on policy issue
Initiative: Citizens petition and gather required minimum signatures to put policy
question on ballot
Recall: Force special election in up/down vote of state governor or judge
No provision for referenda at federal level
Problem: Hurts minority, most Americans uneducated in government
Pluralist Democracy: interpretation of democracy in which government by people is taken to
mean government by people operating through competing interest groups
Pluralism: modern society consists of innumerable groups that share interests
Interest group: Organized group of individuals seek to influence public policy
(also called lobby)
Decentralized structure of government for access to public officials and open to haering
groups arguments
Emphasis on multiple centers of power, focus on authority, decentralization, open access
Majoritarian v. Pluralist
Majoritarian: mass public controls government, citizenry must have understanding of
government and participate; relies on electoral mechanism, use parties
Pluralism: requires specialized knowledge from groups, limits majority action so groups are
heard, more favorable towards minorities
Undemocratic Model: Elite Theory
Elite Theory: view that a small group of people actually make most of the important government
decisions
-Derive power from corporations by controlling key financial, communication, industrial,
government power
Claims U.S. oligarchy, but difficult to prove
-Elitists defend that power from keeping people from questioning assumptions about
American capitalism
Elite v. Pluralist
Key difference: pluralist no define government conflict as minority v. majority but as interests;
elitists favor money of corporation for influence
Pluralism is elitist to extent b/c richer interest groups more influential
Global Trend Toward Democracy

Establishing Democracy
Democratization: Process of transition from authoritarian to democratic government
Occurs in stages and smaller categories, not straight transition
Ethnic/religious impediments (Iraq)
Leads to military revolt
Democracy addresses ethnic conflict through pluralism/majority rule
American Democracy More Pluralist Than Majoritarian
2 parties become more homogenous lately, promotes majoritarian government
Flaw of criticized as partisan and extreme