CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION: THE CITIZEN AND GOVERNMENT
GOVERNMENT IS HOW WE ARE RULED: Government is the term generally used to
describe the formal institutions through which a territory and its people are ruled. A
government may be as simple as a town meeting in which community members make
policies or as complex as the vast establishments found in many large countries today,
with extensive procedures, laws, and bureaucracies. In the history of civilization,
thousands of governments have been established. The hard part is establishing one
that lasts. Even more difficult is developing a stable government that is true to the core
American political values of liberty, equality, and democracy. Though in principle these
three values are endorsed by most Americans, in practice each of them means different
things to different people, and they often seem to conflict with one another. This is
where politics comes in. Politics refers to conflicts and struggles over the leadership,
structure, and policies of governments.
o IS GOVERNMENT NEEDED?: Government is needed to provide basic services,
sometimes called “public goods,” that citizens all need but probably cannot
individually provide adequately for themselves. These include defense against
foreign aggression, maintenance of public order, a stable currency, enforcements
of contractual obligations and property rights, and some measure of economic
security. Government, with its powers to tax and regulate, is viewed as the best
way to provide public goods. However, there is often disagreement about which
public goods are essential and how they should be provided. Much of what
citizens have come to depend on and take for granted as part of their everyday
environment is in fact created by government. Throughout the day, for example,
a typical college student relies on a host of services and activities organized by
national, state, and local government agencies.
o DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT ARE DEFINED BY FREEDOM AND
POWER: Two questions are of special importance in determining how
governments differ: Who governs? And how much government control is
permitted?
AUTOCRACY: Some nations are governed by a single individual – a king
or queen for example. The system is called autocracy.
OLIGARCHY: Where a small group – perhaps landowners, military
officers, or the wealthy – controls most of the governing decisions, that
government is said to be an oligarchy.
DEMOCRACY: If citizens or the general adult population have the power
to rule themselves, the government is democracy.
o Governments also vary considerably in terms of how they govern.
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENTS: In the United States and a
number of other nations, constitutions and other laws limit what
governments can do and how they go about it. Governments limited in
this way are called liberal or constitutional governments.
AUTHORITARIAN: In other nations, including Latin America, Asia, and
Africa, the government recognizes no formal limits, but its nevertheless
kept in check by other political and social institutions that it cannot control
– such as self-governing territories, an organized religion, business
organizations, or labor unions. Such governments are generally called
authoritarian.
TOTALITARIAN: In a third group of nations, including the Soviet Union
under Joseph Stalin, Nazi Germany, and North Korea today, governments
not only lack legal limits but also try to eliminate institutions that might
, challenge their authority. These governments typically attempt to control
all of a nation’s political, economic, and social life, and as a result are
called authoritarian.
o Americans have the good fortune to live in a nation which limits are placed on
what governments can do and how they can do it. By one measure, 52% of the
global population lives in democracies, but only 14% enjoy true liberal democracy
with free and fair elections, the rule of law, and constraints on the executive
(president or prime minister); 38% live in more limited democracies.
o LIMITS ON GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGED FREEDOM: The founding
generation of the young United States established many of the principles that
would come to define individual liberty for all citizens – freedom of speech, of
assembly, and of conscience, as well as freedom from arbitrary search and
seizure. Yet the Founders generally did not favor democracy as we know it.
They supported property requirements and other restrictions for voting and for
holding office so as to limit political participation to the White middle and upper
class. Once these institutions and the right to engage in politics were
established, however, it was difficult to limit them to the economic elite.
o THE EXPANSION OF PARTICIPATION SHIFTED POLITICAL POWER:
Pressure to expand voting rights came both from below (the excluded groups
themselves agitating for the vote) and from above (by others who hoped to gain
political advantage by expanding the franchise to groups they viewed as potential
allies). After the Civil War, a chief reason that Republicans gave the vote to
formerly enslaved people was to use their support to maintain Republican control
in the defeated southern states. Similarly, in the early 20th century, the
Progressive movement advocated women’s suffrage at least partly because they
believed women were more likely than men to support Progressive reforms.
o PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT IS HOW PEOPLE HAVE A SAY IN WHAT
HAPPENS: As Harold Laswell, a famous political scientist, once put it, politics is
the struggle over “who gets what, when, how.” In this book politics will refer to
conflicts over who the government’s leadership is, how the government is
organized, or what its policies are. Having a share or a say in these issues is
called having political power or influence. Participation in politics can take many
forms, including voting, donating money, signing petitions, attending political
meetings, tweeting and commenting online, sending emails to officials, lobbying
legislators, working on a campaign, and participating in protest marching and
even violent demonstrations.
REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY/REPUBLIC: A system of government
that gives citizens a regular opportunity to elect top government officials is
usually called a representative democracy or a republic.
DIRECT DEMOCRACY: A system that permits citizens to vote directly on
laws and policies is called a direct democracy.
o At the national level, the United States is a representative democracy in which
citizens select government officials but do not vote on legislation. Some states
and cities, however, do provide for direct legislation through initiatives and
referenda. These procedures allow citizens to collect petitions, or legislators to
pass bills, requiring a direct popular vote on an issue. In 2020, 128 referenda
appeared on state ballots, often dealing with hot-button issues, including
measures in 6 states legalizing medical or recreational marijuana, in 12 states
affecting taxes, in 2 states regarding abortion access and funding, and in 14
GOVERNMENT IS HOW WE ARE RULED: Government is the term generally used to
describe the formal institutions through which a territory and its people are ruled. A
government may be as simple as a town meeting in which community members make
policies or as complex as the vast establishments found in many large countries today,
with extensive procedures, laws, and bureaucracies. In the history of civilization,
thousands of governments have been established. The hard part is establishing one
that lasts. Even more difficult is developing a stable government that is true to the core
American political values of liberty, equality, and democracy. Though in principle these
three values are endorsed by most Americans, in practice each of them means different
things to different people, and they often seem to conflict with one another. This is
where politics comes in. Politics refers to conflicts and struggles over the leadership,
structure, and policies of governments.
o IS GOVERNMENT NEEDED?: Government is needed to provide basic services,
sometimes called “public goods,” that citizens all need but probably cannot
individually provide adequately for themselves. These include defense against
foreign aggression, maintenance of public order, a stable currency, enforcements
of contractual obligations and property rights, and some measure of economic
security. Government, with its powers to tax and regulate, is viewed as the best
way to provide public goods. However, there is often disagreement about which
public goods are essential and how they should be provided. Much of what
citizens have come to depend on and take for granted as part of their everyday
environment is in fact created by government. Throughout the day, for example,
a typical college student relies on a host of services and activities organized by
national, state, and local government agencies.
o DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT ARE DEFINED BY FREEDOM AND
POWER: Two questions are of special importance in determining how
governments differ: Who governs? And how much government control is
permitted?
AUTOCRACY: Some nations are governed by a single individual – a king
or queen for example. The system is called autocracy.
OLIGARCHY: Where a small group – perhaps landowners, military
officers, or the wealthy – controls most of the governing decisions, that
government is said to be an oligarchy.
DEMOCRACY: If citizens or the general adult population have the power
to rule themselves, the government is democracy.
o Governments also vary considerably in terms of how they govern.
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENTS: In the United States and a
number of other nations, constitutions and other laws limit what
governments can do and how they go about it. Governments limited in
this way are called liberal or constitutional governments.
AUTHORITARIAN: In other nations, including Latin America, Asia, and
Africa, the government recognizes no formal limits, but its nevertheless
kept in check by other political and social institutions that it cannot control
– such as self-governing territories, an organized religion, business
organizations, or labor unions. Such governments are generally called
authoritarian.
TOTALITARIAN: In a third group of nations, including the Soviet Union
under Joseph Stalin, Nazi Germany, and North Korea today, governments
not only lack legal limits but also try to eliminate institutions that might
, challenge their authority. These governments typically attempt to control
all of a nation’s political, economic, and social life, and as a result are
called authoritarian.
o Americans have the good fortune to live in a nation which limits are placed on
what governments can do and how they can do it. By one measure, 52% of the
global population lives in democracies, but only 14% enjoy true liberal democracy
with free and fair elections, the rule of law, and constraints on the executive
(president or prime minister); 38% live in more limited democracies.
o LIMITS ON GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGED FREEDOM: The founding
generation of the young United States established many of the principles that
would come to define individual liberty for all citizens – freedom of speech, of
assembly, and of conscience, as well as freedom from arbitrary search and
seizure. Yet the Founders generally did not favor democracy as we know it.
They supported property requirements and other restrictions for voting and for
holding office so as to limit political participation to the White middle and upper
class. Once these institutions and the right to engage in politics were
established, however, it was difficult to limit them to the economic elite.
o THE EXPANSION OF PARTICIPATION SHIFTED POLITICAL POWER:
Pressure to expand voting rights came both from below (the excluded groups
themselves agitating for the vote) and from above (by others who hoped to gain
political advantage by expanding the franchise to groups they viewed as potential
allies). After the Civil War, a chief reason that Republicans gave the vote to
formerly enslaved people was to use their support to maintain Republican control
in the defeated southern states. Similarly, in the early 20th century, the
Progressive movement advocated women’s suffrage at least partly because they
believed women were more likely than men to support Progressive reforms.
o PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT IS HOW PEOPLE HAVE A SAY IN WHAT
HAPPENS: As Harold Laswell, a famous political scientist, once put it, politics is
the struggle over “who gets what, when, how.” In this book politics will refer to
conflicts over who the government’s leadership is, how the government is
organized, or what its policies are. Having a share or a say in these issues is
called having political power or influence. Participation in politics can take many
forms, including voting, donating money, signing petitions, attending political
meetings, tweeting and commenting online, sending emails to officials, lobbying
legislators, working on a campaign, and participating in protest marching and
even violent demonstrations.
REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY/REPUBLIC: A system of government
that gives citizens a regular opportunity to elect top government officials is
usually called a representative democracy or a republic.
DIRECT DEMOCRACY: A system that permits citizens to vote directly on
laws and policies is called a direct democracy.
o At the national level, the United States is a representative democracy in which
citizens select government officials but do not vote on legislation. Some states
and cities, however, do provide for direct legislation through initiatives and
referenda. These procedures allow citizens to collect petitions, or legislators to
pass bills, requiring a direct popular vote on an issue. In 2020, 128 referenda
appeared on state ballots, often dealing with hot-button issues, including
measures in 6 states legalizing medical or recreational marijuana, in 12 states
affecting taxes, in 2 states regarding abortion access and funding, and in 14
