Chapter One: Politics, the Political System and You

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Chapter One Politics, the Political System and
You
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American Political System

• Includes Congress, the President, Courts,
  Governmental bodies.
• Also includes
• political parties,
• voters,
• interest groups,
• demonstrators, and the like

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Systems Model

• Map that can help us to sift through political
  information and recognize how one part of the
  political system relates to other parts and how
  the political system as a whole relates to other
  systems
• See pp. 11-15

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A System

• Has different parts or units, distinguishable
  from one another
• Can also function together as part of a team or
  unit

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Function

• The result or consequence of a systems
  activities
• Can be intentional or unintentional

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Boundaries

• Does a given unit contribute to the systems
  function?
• See figure 1.1 (page 12)

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Subsystem

• Also has differentiation and integration as
  different parts interact to perform functions
• For example, the political system functions to
  make authoritative public policy decisions, but
  the judicial subsystem functions to make
  authoritative judicial decisions.

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Systems

• Dynamic
• Affected by environment
• Inputs can be converted by outputs
• Result is feedback
• Demandsactions that people want government to
  take or reject

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Conversion Functions(Inputs that are converted
into policy outputs)

• Interest Representation
• Rule Initiation
• Rule Application
• Rule Interpretation

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System Maintenance Functions

• Conflict Resolution
• Generation of Support
• Creation of legitimacy

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Political Culture

• Conventional (voting, interest group
  participation, political party activities, letter
  writing)
• Less conventional (strikes, boycotts, protests)
• Illegitimate (Terrorism, blackmail, bombs,
  assassination)

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Functions that Political Structures Perform

• See Figure 1.2 (page 16 of text)

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