Lecture Series Prof. Julie Alfaro

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Lecture SeriesProf. Julie Alfaro

• Forces of Change in the Twenty-First Century

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Political Change in the United States.

• In 1996 and 1998 the nation chose a divided
  government, when the executive is of one party
  and the Congress is of the other.
• Do we have a divided government today?

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What is politics?

• Individuals and groups compete with one another
  in a society? Scarce resources, values,
  priorities within the society
• David Easton the authoritative allocation of
  values
• Harold Lasswell who gets what, when and how.
  People are in conflict over values. Society needs
  to have a set of procedures to resolve the
  question of who gets what.

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• Most definitions refer to the struggle over the
  distribution of benefits
• According to scholars, politics is who gets
  what, when and how. the authoritative
  allocation of values.

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Why is conflict always present in society?

• Differences of belief or ideology
• Differences in perceived goals of society.
• scarce resources that prevent society from
  satisfying every want and need.

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Why does society need government and power?

• Government refers to the institutions that 1)
  resolve conflicts and allocate values, and 2)
  possess power to enforce those rules.

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What do these institutions require in order to
accomplish their purpose of resolving conflict?
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Who Governs?
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Pure Democracy may lead to mob rule.

• Thus, this danger has lead society to create a
  Republic or representative democracy.
• Elected representatives make and enforce laws.

Rock the Vote
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Three principles are essential for a democratic
form of government in our society.

• Majority rule and the protection of minority
  rights
• Limited government-government authority is
  limited by a written document or widely held
  beliefs.
• Universal suffrage-the right of all adults to
  vote for their representatives.

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Do we have a Democracy? Theories of Democracy

• Elite Theory the idea that society is ruled by
  a small group who exercise power in their
  self-interest
• Pluralism a theory that views politics as
  conflict among interest groups, where decisions
  are made through bargaining and compromise
• Hyperpluralism when interest groups are so
  powerful that they dominate decision-making,
  making individual input impossible

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What is political culture?

• The collection of a beliefs and attitudes (ideas
  and values) toward government and the political
  process held by a community or nation
• Individuals learn political culture through
  political socialization
• political socialization occurs in many settings,
  including the family and schools

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What are the fundamental values of the of
American political culture?

• Liberty the greatest freedom of individuals
  that is consistent with the freedom of other
  individuals in society
• Equality all people are of equal worth
• Property anything that can be subject to
  ownership

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Why has political culture been important?

• Holding society together by persuading people to
  support the existing political process.

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Essay Ideology, Conservatism and Liberalism

• Ideology can be defined as a comprehensive and
  logical set of beliefs about the nature of
  people, and about the institutions and role of
  government.
• American ideology has been dominated by two
  moderate ideologies liberalism and conservatism.

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Compare and Contrast

• Liberals
• Positive government action to solve social
  problems
• Advocates for civil rights
• Advocates for social change

• Conservatives
• faith in the private sector to solve most social
  problems.
• Advocates for individual action to protect
  rights.
• Advocates for a return to traditional values.

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What is ideology?

• a comprehensive set of beliefs about the nature
  of people, institutions and the role of
  government
• American ideology tends to be moderate
• liberals advocate government action to improve
  the welfare of individuals
• conservatives advocate a limited role for the
  national government.

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Elderly Population by Age
Almost 13 of population was 65 years old or
older in 2000,
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Racial and Ethnic Composition of the U.S.
Population
Hispanics, African Americans, and Asians have
become a larger portion of the population because
of birthrates and immigration.