Defining Relevant Terms

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Defining Relevant Terms

• GOVT 2306

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As we did in 2305, I want to clarify broadly
what is meant by some of the key terms and
concepts we will be using in this class. The
purpose is to ensure that we can have an
efficient conversation about the subject matter
at hand.
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The terms are Government PoliticsSovereigntyP
ublic Policy
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Here are some simple definitions of eachNotice
that there are multiple possible definitions for
each of them.
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Here are three definitions of sovereignty1 -
supreme power, especially over a body politic 2
- the quality of having supreme, independent
authority over a territory 3 - the power to do
everything in a state without accountability
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Here are two, of the many, definitions of
Government- The institution, or institutions,
with the monopoly on the legitimate use of
coercion in society.- The institutions and
procedures through which a land and its people
are ruled.
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And here are three of the many definitions of
Politics1- The authoritative allocation of
values in society.2 - The struggle over who
gets what when and how.3 - Intrigue or
maneuvering within a political unit in order to
gain control or power
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And a couple for Public Policy1 - Public
policy is a course of action adopted and pursued
by a government. 2 - Public policy is a
purposive and consistent course of action
produced as a response to a perceived problem of
a constituency, formulated by a specific
political process, and adopted, implemented, and
enforced by a public agency. - click here for
the source.
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Try committing these to memory
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Lets unpack these a bit more.Again, this
should help you make sense of some of the
upcoming material.
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What is Sovereignty?
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This is simply the concept that refers to where
legitimate power lies in a community.It refers
to whatever entity in fact has the power to rule.
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In the United States, and Texas along with the
other states governmental power rests with the
people. This is referred to as popular
sovereignty.
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We can find proof by reading the preamble of the
U.S. and Texas Constitutions.
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The U.S. ConstitutionWe the people of the
United States, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
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The Texas ConstitutionHumbly invoking the
blessings of Almighty God, the people of the
State of Texas, do ordain and establish this
Constitution.
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The authority of the government of each level
rests on the population.There is an interesting
reason for this. It has to do with the problem
posed by the assumption that people in the U.S.
and Texas are equal before the law. If everyone
is equal, no one has the authority to rule over
anyone else.
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A monarchic system does not have this problem. If
power rests with the monarch, he/she gets to
rule. But if everyone is equal then an
alternative must be established. That alternative
is the consent of the governed, and it matters
because it is their authority which grants
governments the power to do what they do.
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Heres the key part from the Declaration of
Independence, if you recall
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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these
rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed.
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Here is a key problem with the concept of popular
sovereignty.How close a connection exists
between the government and governed? How much
direct control does the sovereign have?
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Does the sovereign have immediate, direct control
over the operations of the government or is it
indirect? Does the sovereign only have the
ability to impact government by electing, and
holding accountable in periodic elections,
officeholders?
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And in a federal system like the United States,
where people provide the basis for both the
national and state governments, sovereignty can
be a bit confused. Which level takes priority
over the other?A lot of the conflict we will
cover this semester between the US and Texas
governments stems from the concept of dual
sovereignty. The national and state governments
to a degree have equal status. This allows for
conflict when one attempts to interfere with the
activities of the other.
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This is a central fact of American government and
will occupy much of what we cover this semester.
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What is Government?
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This is the term used to define the institutions
that have evolved to establish, implement, and
adjudicate rules that determine how a group of
people will live together in some agreeable way.
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Here are the definitions listed above.- The
institution, or institutions, with the monopoly
on the legitimate use of coercion in society-
The institutions and procedures through which a
land and its people are ruled.
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The simplest way to think of a government as the
institution that can compel you to do stuff.
What that stuff is, is a function of the
political process, which we will discuss below.
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Governments - at their best are the
institutions that allow groups of people to live
together in some peaceable manner. They
establish the rules which allow for transactions
between people often strangers to proceed
smoothly.
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Think of how you share the road with people you
do know. If everyone knows the rules and abides
by them no one gets hurt.
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Governments have problematic aspects as well.
By controlling the powers of government,
certain groups or individuals can dominate
others. So the big trick has always been to
design governments strong enough to implement
what is necessary in order for a society to
function, but limit it so that it does not
undermine individual rights and freedoms.
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The problem is that people are not always in
agreement over what government ought to do, and
what it means for rights and liberties to be
unduly undermined. This is the stuff of
political conflict which we will hit in a
moment.
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In 2305 we discussed the factors related to the
development of governments, its major components
and different types of governing systems.The
constitutional democratic republic that the U.S.
is governed by is just one of a variety of
different governing systems.
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A few things worth remembering from that section
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First, Governments, historically, have evolved
either due to coercion or consent. The historical
record provides more evidence of governments
established by coercion, but the American system
is based on the idea that governments actually
evolve due to agreements people enter into
voluntarily in order to better provide for mutual
security. In this arrangement, people consent to
rule rather than being coerced into it.
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Second, in order to in fact rule, government
shave to be able to do two things collect
revenue and coerce people to follow the law. If
a government can do neither, then its not really
a government.
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Third, governments can be arranged in one of
three basic ways depending on where sovereignty
is located Autocratic, Oligarchic and
Democratic. Respectively these are referred to as
the rule of the one, the few and the many.
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Fourth, we mentioned that governments tend to do
three things. They make, implement and adjudicate
the law. These powers are vested in each of three
separate institutions in order to limit
governmental power. Recall that James Madison
argued that the concentration of these three
powers in one person or institutions is the very
definition of tyranny.
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Separated Powers
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The term government specifically and in a
general sense refers to the institutions
created in the three branches of government that
each respond to the three unique powers of
government.
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These are the legislative, executive and
judicial. They are separated because any one
person or entity that possesses all of these can
essentially do what they choose.
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In the case of Texas
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The legislative power is vested in a bicameral
legislature composed of a 150 person House of
Representatives and a 31 person Senate.
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The executive is vested in plural executive
consisting of a governor and a handful of other
separately elected executive officials with
certain defined functions.
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The judiciary is composed of independently
elected judges and justices for a variety of
positions in courts with certain defined
functions throughout the state.
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Each has the ability to negate what the others
do. This is the heart of the theory of the
separated powers.
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When we discuss each of these institutions more
thoroughly later on, the nature of their powers
will expanded.
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Constitutions
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Before we go to much further, let define one more
term ConstitutionWhat is a Constitution?
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Here are some definitions - The system of
fundamental laws and principles that prescribes
the nature, functions, and limits of a government
or another institution.- a body of fundamental
principles or established precedents according to
which a state or other organization is
acknowledged to be governed.
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The term can be defined in many ways, but in
essence a Constitution establishes basic
governing institutions, defines their powers and
limitations, and clarifies the relationship
between the government and the people.
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In 2305 we spent time discussing the nature of
the US Constitution, in 2306 we look at state
constitutions and the Texas Constitution. We
will note distinctions between the two as we go
forward.
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Here is a crucial point, one that helps us
understand what makes the constitutional
structure of Texas and other similar states
different than that of the US.Its a point we
will make repeatedly throughout the semester
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While the US Constitution was designed to place
barriers between the people and the government in
order to give the government leeway in performing
its functions, the Texas Constitution is designed
to constrain it.
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Recall that the US Constitution replaced the
confederated system established in the Articles
of Confederation which the Federalists judged to
be too weak to govern the newly formed
nation.The Anti-Federalists if you recall
disagreed.
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The US Constitution features centralized
executive power, appointed positions and long
terms lengths where the Texas Constitution
divides power and establishes a sizeable number
of elected position with short term lengths.
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This seemingly simple distinction matters.The
former design allows for more government power,
while the latter limits it.
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The design of the Texas Constitution gives the
general population specifically the majority
the ability to control it. It is a far more
democratic constitution at least in terms of
majority, not necessarily minority rights.
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Its probably not a bad idea to think of the Texas
Constitution and government as being designed and
run by people who are more in line with the
legacy of the Anti-Federalists than the
Federalists. Keep this in mind as we go forward.
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We will look at this more deeply as we look at
each institution separately.
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Autocracy,Oligarchy,Democracy,and the
Separated Powers
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We mentioned in 2305 that each of these systems
had advantages and disadvantages.And that each
is to some degree written into the governing
system on the national level.
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Heres a brief preview Autocracies are
efficient, but arbitraryOligarchies are
knowledgeable, but biasedDemocracies are
legitimate, but unstable
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Autocracy
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Autocracies where one person is in charge - are
efficient. They are the best systems for getting
things done.But they are prone to arbitrary
rule. Autocrats can do what they please because
there are no meaningful limits on what they
choose to do. They are by definition tyrannical.
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But again they can ensure that things get
done, laws get implemented. Executive branches
in the US tend to have an autocratic character in
order to ensure that laws are implemented
effectively.
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In the American system of checks and balances,
there are limits that are imposed on executive
power, but Alexander Hamilton argued that having
a single person on top of the executive branch
would ensure the efficient operations of the
government.
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A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of
the government. A feeble execution is but another
phrase for a bad execution and a government ill
executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be,
in practice, a bad government. - Federalist 70
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We will define executive power in the state of
Texas more thoroughly in later sections, but on
the state level the chief executive is the
governor, but other functions of the state
executive are held by offices that are separately
elected.
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On the local level the chief executive of cities
is the mayor or city manager depending on the
nature of the specific design of the
government.Counties are headed by a county
judge, who heads the county commissioners court.
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Again, more on these soon enough.
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Oligarchy
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The simplest definition of oligarchy is
government by the few.This can take many
different forms depending who those few happen
to be and why they are in charge.
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Perhaps the most commonly recognized oligarchy is
an aristocracy where governing is deliberately
restricted to a ruling class which is generally
selected by birth. The British aristocracy is the
best example, and was part of what the American
colonists rebelled against in the late 18th
Century. This social class had special governing
privileges including a birth right to membership
in the House of Lords. See this section on the
landed gentry.
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This form of aristocracy was established by
primogenitor and entail. Both policies are
prohibited in states constitutions including
Texas Heres a bit from the History Channel on
Georgia abolishing the practice in 1777.
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A more contemporary type of oligarchy is a
plutocracy, which is a governing systems that is
dominated by a nations wealthiest citizens.
Usually the wealthy are able to use existing
rules to increase their influence over a
government, this includes campaign finance and
lobbying rules.
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The United States and especially Texas is
argued to be increasingly plutocratic. For an
example Millionaires' Club For First Time, Most
Lawmakers are Worth 1 Million-Plus.
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Plato among other philosophers have argued
that society works more smoothly if people are
divided into groups based on their abilities.
Some are meant to rule, others to hold skilled
positions, others to be laborers.
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Leaders must promote The Nobel Lie to convince
people that social stratification is the best way
to organize society.The question of whether the
US is in fact a class based system despite the
fact that it is not legally so is ongoing.
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The point is that oligarchies are argued to have
advantages despites the fact that it violates
basic principles of political equality.
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Oligarchies allow for knowledgeable rule, but are
subject to bias.
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The courts in the US tend to have an autocratic
design so that we have judges who have the
knowledge to be able to make just decisions on
the controversies that come before them.
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They are the system designed to be insulated the
most from public pressures. This is to ensure
that judges rule fairly, based on the facts at
hand, not subject to public pressure.
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Democracy
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The simple definition of democracy is rule by the
many, but there are many different types of
democracy.Well just look at two Direct
Indirect
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In a direct or pure democracy people rule
directly, meaning that the general population has
the opportunity to vote directly on public
mattersIn an indirect or representative
democracy people select representatives that then
vote on public matters.
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The US and Texas are the latter type of
democracy.This is what it means to be a
republic. One difference between the states is
whether they allow opportunities for the
electorate to vote directly for some items.
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When we cover this further in a future lecture we
will make a distinction between states that were
impacted by the progressive movement in the early
20th Century and those that were not.
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Those states altered their constitutions to allow
for statewide initiative, referenda and recall
elections. While local government in the state
allow for them, they are not allowed statewide.
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For more detail click on the site on the website
of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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In 2305 we spent time discussing different ways
to define democracy the simplest being majority
rule. A more expansive definition also includes
the requirement that democracies include
universal adult suffrage and protection for
minority rights.
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Universal Adult SuffrageMajority RuleMinority
Rights
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We will discuss aspects of each over the course
of the semester.
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Suffrage has expanded over the course of U.S.
history and has generally involved the national
government compelling the states to expand who
they allow to vote.
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Tension exists between the values of majority
rule and minority rights.Majorities commonly
attempt to minimize the rights of minorities
through the democratic process. Majorities can
control democratic institution and turn them
effectively into tyrannies.
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This is called tyranny of the majority.
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Enhancing the rights of minorities often involves
limiting the majoritarian democracy.This is one
of the ways that we see tension between the
government f the state of Texas and the national
government. Well discuss this further later in
the semester.
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In 2305 we read through Federalist 10, which was
Madisons attempt to explain how the US
Constitution addresses the problem of tyranny of
the majority by allowing for the establishment of
a republic over a large territory, which includes
many interests and reduces the change that a
majority group can rally around a single interest
and control all branches of government.
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Permanent majorities will be unlikely to form at
the national level since they can be easily
broken apart. The story is different when it
comes to states and local governments.
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A question we will ask throughout this semester
is whether same dynamic works in Texas.Madison
thought that tyrannical majorities were more
likely to form at the state, and especially the
local level.
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One party can more easily control a state or
local government.Texas has a history of one
party rule. Does that make Texas prone to
majority tyranny?
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The one pervading evil of democracy is the
tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party,
not always the majority, that succeeds, by force
or fraud, in carrying elections. Lord Acton.
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Democratic Legitimacy
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Its suggested that the principle benefit of
democracy is that it allows for a direct
connection to be drawn between the electorate and
the government.This makes the government at
least in theory more susceptible to the
preferences of the general population, which
means that it is more likely to be considered to
be legitimate.
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But while democracies offer legitimacy, but can
be unstable and prone to mob rule.
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Legislatures are the institutions designed to
provide that connection between the people and
the law.So it becomes the democratic branch of
government.
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Legislatures are intended to be where diverse
viewpoints are heard publicly and policies are
debated and if the majority accepts them -
adopted.
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But legislative assemblies are also where
conflicts over policy are most likely to come to
a head.They can appear remarkably unstable due
to the debate that is commonly heard in them
but remember that this is part of what they are
all about. This is what legislatures are for.
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That should be enough to outline how we will be
using the term government. Again, it will
refer to the legislative, executive, and judicial
institutions on the national, state and local
levels.
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Several segments in this class are focused on
Texas governing institutions, specifically how
each is outlined in the Texas Constitution and
how they have evolved over time.
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Now well turn to the institutions responsible
for determining what governments do these are
the political institutions.
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What is Politics?
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Now lets switch to the termPolitics.
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Earlier it was defined as follows
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1- The authoritative allocation of values in
society.2 - The struggle over who gets what
when and how.3 - Intrigue or maneuvering within
a political unit in order to gain control or power
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Simply put, its the battle over what the
governing institutions will do, how they will do
it, and who will do it.
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These can be struggles over what people can be
allowed to do (have abortions, use
contraceptives, enter into gay marriages), what
benefits people or groups can receive (where does
the tax burden fall, what businesses receive
incentives and subsidies) and what activities
help certain groups and parties control governing
institutions.
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Politics refers to the external forces that
influence what the people in governing
institutions do.
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Notice that each definition above touches on
conflict of some type.
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Values what sorts of things are right and
wrong. Think of poverty programs, abortion, gay
marriage, etc . . . .
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Interests where and how is revenue collected
where and how is that revenue spent. Think of
this as a pocketbook issue. Whose interests are
served and whose are not by government
programs, both real and proposed?
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And perhaps the most important aspect of politics
is the ongoing struggle to control the
institutions that then make decisions on values
and interests.
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Generally this involves competing in elections to
win control of the legislative, executive and
judicial branches.
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Here is a key point
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The political process is where people offer or
withhold - consent to what governments do.
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Politics the political world in general -
exists because our constitutions establish
elections. People are then allowed the ability to
participate in them. Consent is offered or denied
through elections.
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In a more direct sense, politics exists because
people are free.
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We should reflect on this because not all
governments are based on the people.
Authoritarians and totalitarian systems do not
allow popular input and can even make it
illegal. We can engage in political activity
because we live in a system that allows for
individual freedom, including the ability of
people to speak, use the press, form groups and
petition for a redress of grievances.
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Think about that the next time you complain about
politics.It could be worse you could live in
a system that does not allow political
participation.
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In the US and Texas, various institutions have
evolved over time in order to influence
governments.Many of which have roots that go
back to colonial and British times.
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In 2305 I argue that the political world began to
expand considerably once the arbitrary power of
the monarch was contained following the signing
of the British Bill of Rights and the imposition
of limits on governing power.
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The executive power was no longer able to use
arbitrary power to punish people who disagreed
with the government.
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People became free to hold and articulate their
own points of view, and to engage in activities
that allowed them to promote preferred
policies.As we will see, this is a
simplification. Limits still existed, but they
began to be eroded.
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Just who is able to participate politically
effectively is an ongoing question.
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There are three dominant political
institutionspolitical partiesinterest
groupsthe media
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Ill introduce each below, but first a word or
two on public opinion, Texas, like the other
states and the nation as a whole, is a democratic
republic which rests on the general population.
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The policies Texas adopts are assumed to be based
on the general preferences of the public.But
governing officials are actually more attuned to
the interests of those who participate actively
in politics. This isnt necessarily the same as
the majority.
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This is an important point that we will touch on
repeated throughout the class. Its not the
people that count when it comes to determining
what Texas government does, its what the
participants want that really matters.
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As we will see in an upcoming set of slides,
Texas statewide contains majorities that tend
to support conservative policies. And even when
clear majorities do not support these policies,
the dominant political institutions do.
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Texas tends to be a low tax, low services state,
that also supports conservative social policies.
But there is no consensus on this.
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A quick comment on ideology.
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In 2305 we defined ideology as a set of issue
positions based on an underlying value.A value
being a sense of right and wrong and an issue
position being an opinion on a topical issue.
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We focused attention on the importance on the
importance of three dominant values Liberty,
Equality, and Tradition.
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In Texas, the values of liberty and tradition
tend to dominate the value of equality. This
isnt the case in other states or, depending on
who controls national institutions, the national
government. As we will see, this is the source of
the bulk of political conflict in the US.
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Many people do not spending too much time
figuring out how they should be positioned on
different issues and therefore adopt a primary
value and use cues received from trusted sources
to determine how they should position themselves
on specific issues.
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They often adopt a primary media source because
is confirms their value system and allows them to
interpret events in a manner that conforms to
that value.Again, this creates conflict. People
who watch for example Fox News have a
different world view than those who watch the
mainstream media.
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At this writing (5/20/12) gay marriage is a
dominant issue due to President Obamas recent
statement of personal support for it.
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People whose primary value is equality or liberty
are generally in favor of gay marriage.It
allows different people to be treated equally
before the law, as well as the freedom to enter
into relationships they chose.
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Traditionalists which also refers to the
religious see this as an affront to the
traditional definition of marriage.
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They are all correct within their own spheres.
The question is, how have a given value system
and how many then come to the conclusion about
the policy due to their value system?
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To complicate things further, not all local areas
especially the large metropolitan areas share
these positions, so areas of conflict do exist.
The cities of Austin, Houston and Dallas tend to
be more liberal than the state as a whole.We
will also dig into the conflict this creates
later.
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More on this conflict later.
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Interests also matter.
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As with other states, certain issues are more
important in Texas, based on which interests are
dominant within the state, and the content of the
political culture which we cover more fully
elsewhere.
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No surprise, but energy, commerce, aerospace and
a handful of other issues are especially
important in the state and local areas. In the
local area, this includes medical and high tech
research.
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Now lets introduce ourselves to some of the
dominant political institutions in the state and
local areas.The goal is to become familiar with
these terms so you can use them fluently as we
proceed.
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Political parties are groups of individuals
organized formally who unite to compete in
elections. By winning office they can control
governing institutions and are in a good position
to implement their desired policies.
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As is the case nationally, and in each of the
states, the two dominant parties in the state are
the Democratic and Republican parties. But the
state parties are very different than the
national parties and can compete with it to
determine what the party really stands for.
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Whereas each party competes with each other
relatively evenly nationally, Texas has a
tendency to be controlled by one party.
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Until the 1960s, the Democratic Party dominated
politics utterly, but shifts in the national
Democratic Party led conservative members to
gradually leave and join the Republican Party.
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By the early 1990s, the Republican Party became
the dominant force in the state. They are not as
strong as the Democrats were at their peak, but
they dominate state wide offices like the
governor, and other executive offices, the US
Senator. They have also recently had comfortable
majorities in the Texas Legislature.
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Rule of thumb There is a party organization in
every level of government where there is an
election. This is true down to the precinct.
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Point to remember Each party is not only
organized at the state level, but also at the
county and precinct levels. Conflict between each
is common.
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In addition to looking at the state Democratic
and Republican Parties, we will be looking at
area county parties as well as local clubs.
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While state elections including county
elections are partisan (meaning that candidates
run with party labels), city elections are not.
City and single purpose government elections
(ISDs, etc) are non-partisan.
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Interest groups are also defined as groups of
people organized to pursue a shared policy goal,
but interest groups are narrowly organized to
obtain that goal not to contest in elections.
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While diverse groups operate within the state,
business groups and those affiliated with social
conservatives the Christian Right are
especially influential within the state.
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The power of those affiliated with liberal causes
unions, trial lawyers, the public sector have
been minimized in recent decades.But they are
still influential.
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Two dominant think tanks also exist which churn
out ideas, policy proposals and talking points
for other political organizations.
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The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a source
for conservative policy proposals.
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The Center for Public Policy Priorities is a
source for liberal policy proposals.,
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The press in Texas is dominated by a handful of
newspapers, none of which has a huge impact
nationally.
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Austin American StatesmanDallas Morning
NewsHouston Chronicle
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A recent entry in the market is the online
newspaper The Texas Tribune.
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As with all newspapers and media sources, they
contain editorial boards that take positions on
policy issues and make recommendations for
candidates for various elected offices.
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Public Policy
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No surprise, but there are several definitions of
public policy.Here are a couple
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And a couple for Public Policy1 - Public
policy is a course of action adopted and pursued
by a government. 2 - Public policy is a
purposive and consistent course of action
produced as a response to a perceived problem of
a constituency, formulated by a specific
political process, and adopted, implemented, and
enforced by a public agency. - click here for
the source.
179
Public policy is the stuff government does (or
chooses not to do) to deal with a problem that
has emerged on the publics agenda.Here are
examples
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Energy PolicyEducation PolicyDefense
PolicyHealth PolicyCriminal Justice Policy
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Another way we can define government is those
institutions that are responsible for
establishing and implementing those policies.
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In 2305s discussion of federalism, we mentioned
that certain policies tend to fall more squarely
on the national, state or local level.
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National policies tend to be those that are
delegated to the national government in the
Constitution. These are mostly commercial and
military in nature. Foreign policy is almost
fully controlled by the national government.
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The constitution also contains the Tenth
Amendment which establishes that powers
(policies) not restricted to the states are
reserved to them which carries the assumption
that the national government cannot pass laws
about them.
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These are often referred to as the police
powers.The power to regulate the health,
safety, welfare and morals of a community.
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Sometimes these policies impact commerce, which
the national government has used to justify
passing laws that affect police powers. Crime,
for example, impacts the flow of commerce. The
national government has been able to justify
getting involved in interstate crime on that
basis.
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The point being the public policy process in the
United States (like all aspects of American
government) is very complex and involves multiple
actors motivated with often competing goals.
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Nevertheless, there are certain types of policies
that are mostly contained within Texas. We will
look at some of these. Especially Education
PolicyCriminal Justice PolicyEconomic
Development Policy
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Part of what we will be looking at is the public
policy process which outlines what it takes for a
policy item to be passed into law and
implemented. There are five steps in the
process which we will illustrate in more detail
soon enough.
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Agenda SettingPolicy FormulationPolicy
AdoptionPolicy ImplementationPolicy Evaluation
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Not surprisingly, since new issues emerge and one
solution to a policy can create other problems,
the public policy process in never ending. Some
problems poverty, crime, etc - seem to never
have solutions.
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The public policy process is where all the
different governing and political institutions
come together to address with various degrees
of success the problems of the state.
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Summary
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The simple purpose of this section was to get you
comfortable with the basic terminology and
concepts we will be using throughout this class.
This provides a taste of what we will be
hitting harder over the next few weeks.
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Try to memorize as many of these terms and
concepts as you can.The better you do so, the
easier the rest of this class will be to follow.