Introduction to American Government

Larry Elowitz

• Publisher: Collins Reference
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9780062115065
• Topic: Manuali di studio
• Subtopic: Collocamento avanzato

Master Your Coursework with Collins College Outlines

The Collins College Outline for Introduion to American Government covers all the major events in the creation of both the government and legislation, from the origins of the United States and the Bill of Rights and the Constitution to the three branches of government to civil rights and modern-day public policy. This detailed outline is a must-have for any student of the American political system. Completely revised and updated by Dr. Larry Elowitz, Introduion to American Government includes a test yourself seion with answers and complete explanations at the end of each chapter. Also included are bibliographies for further reading, as well as numerous charts, timelines, and illustrations.

The Collins College Outlines are a completely revised, in-depth series of study guides for all areas of study, including the Humanities, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Science, Language, History, and Business. Featuring the most up-to-date information, each book is written by a seasoned professor in the field and focuses on a simplified and general overview of the subje for college students and, where appropriate, Advanced Placement students. Each Collins College Outline is fully integrated with the major curriculum for its subje and is a perfe supplement for any standard textbook.

CHAPTER 1

Government, Politics, and the Creation of the U.S. Constitution

It is virtually impossible for an American citizen to escape the personal impact of government and the political process. The citizen confronts the diverse effects of political decision-making by an elected or appointed public official at the local, state, or federal governmental level. These “effects” may include a variety of taxes, environmental and consumer regulations, voting registration guidelines, city traffic regulations, or even the interest rates paid on a mortgage or college student loan. Conversely, a citizen can also influence his or her political world by exercising the constitutional freedoms incorporated and developed within the context of the Constitution.

That American constitutional system can be traced to the dramatic events of the 1787 convention in Philadelphia. The fifty-five delegates possessed certain political ideals and a desire to forge a stronger nation. The compromises they agreed to and the document they produced have clearly stood the test of time. This first chapter’s coverage explains how an eighteenth-century plan of government still can have considerable relevance for a technologically advanced nation in the twenty-first century.

GOVERNMENT, POLITICS, AND POWER:
SOME BASIC DEFINITIONS

Government, politics, and power are all interrelated. The following discussion of their respective meanings helps illustrate this fundamental point.

What Do We Mean by Government?

In the United States, government consists of institutions (Congress, the Supreme Court, a city council), agencies (Federal Reserve Board, Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service), and elected/appointed political officials (mayors, legislators, governors, judges, cabinet heads, president) whose purpose is to write, enforce, or interpret laws and public policies in general. The main goals of local, state, and federal governments are to maintain public order, provide goods and services that help the lives of citizens, and protect basic freedoms and liberties.

A good example of government’s potent force in the lives of Americans occurred after the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, upon U.S. soil. Subsequently, President George W. Bush’s administration took a series of steps, both at home (intelligence reform, establishing the Department of Homeland Security, tightening airport/border security) and abroad (military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq), to defend and prevent the nation from experiencing a repeat of 9/11.

What Do We Mean by Politics?

Politics refers to the activities of influencing or controlling government for the purpose of formulating or guiding public policy. Two commonly used definitions coined by political scientists David Easton and Harold Lasswell are, respectively, “the authoritative allocation of values,” and “who gets what, when, and how.” The two definitions suggest that there must be some authority (governmental personnel) who can decide on those preferences (values) that will be selected over other choices. In short, politics is rooted in the inevitability of social conflict.

Why Are There Conflicts in American Society?

First, individuals differ in terms of needs, values, abilities, and attitudes. Disagreements follow over moral issues of right and wrong, such as abortion or the death penalty.

Second, individuals may quarrel over which problems are the most important to solve. For example, should the federal government spend more money on defense or social programs?

Third, individuals compete for scarce goods and services. Senior citizens over the age of sixty-five want higher Social Security benefits, but workers in their mid-twenties would prefer that less money be taken from their paychecks. Using Lasswell’s definition, will the elderly get “what” they desire this year (“when”) by convincing Congress, a part of government, to pass a law benefiting them (“how”)? Or will Congress be politically influenced by thousands of young workers writing letters of protest against higher Social Security deductions? Whatever the final decision, values, as Easton would phrase it, will be “allocated” in an authoritative manner.

What Is Power?

Government has the power to enforce any law it passes. For example, a driver may feel that a seventy-mile-per-hour speed limit is a bad law and refuse to obey it. But the driver does face the consequences of breaking the law if he or she speeds excessively; for example, a fine or even time in jail. Similarly, many American citizens do not like to pay federal income taxes. But the Internal Revenue Service, an agency of the federal government, can prosecute individuals who fail to pay.

Power, then, is the ability of government to make a person do something he or she does not necessarily want to do. Still, the power of government is not unlimited. The people, through elections, protests, initiatives/referendums/recalls (citizens directly proposing legislation, expressing approval/disapproval on policy measures, removing officials) in some states or localities, and other forms of communication, do have the right to question governmental power in a democracy.

What Other Non-Democratic Forms of Government Exist?

Non-democratic or authoritarian governments are still prevalent in the modern era. In these types of governments, leadership accountability to the general population is weak or non-existent.

These governments include autocracy, a political system that involves rule by a single individual with unlimited power, such as a king, queen, or dictator (for example, Libya under the rule of Muammar al-Qaddafi). Likewise, an oligarchy is a country ruled by a relatively small self-appointed elite, perhaps by very wealthy landowners or a military junta. This elite largely oversees and controls governmental decision-making. Simply put, such authoritarian political systems place few restrictions on government or its leaders. An even more extreme form of authoritarianism is a totalitarian political system, where the government and its leaders are in complete control of every aspect of society (for example, the old Soviet Union under the aegis of the Communist Party). Finally, a theocracy refers to religious leaders constituting and running the government (for example, in contemporary Iran). Today, non-democratic regimes still rule more than one-third of the world’s population.

What Are Direct and Representative Democracies?

The United States is a democracy, a term that means government by the people. Historically, there have been two types of democracies.

One, termed direct democracy, originated in the ancient Greek city-state of Athens, where citizens were expected to participate in political life (although women, slaves, and foreigners were ineligible for citizenship). All vital decisions were voted on by the entire citizenry. Contemporary America still practices direct democracy, most notably through the New England Town Meeting, in which nearly all of the town’s voters play a role in deciding on tax rates, hiring city officials, adopting local laws, and so on through a majority vote. But direct democracy in a nation of 300 million individuals is simply not practical.

The second type of democracy—representative or republican form of government—was selected by the framers of the U.S. Constitution. The exercise of political power ultimately rests with the people, but policy decisions and running the nation are delegated to the people’s chosen representatives through the election process. In the early days of the republic, only property owners were allowed to vote. Although the electorate was gradually broadened, it was not until the twentieth century that the voting rights of women and African Americans were fully permitted and sanctioned by all levels of government.

THE EARLIEST U.S. GOVERNMENT:
THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

The only national political institution that evolved after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 was the Continental Congress. But the Congress had few resources with which to wage a war against the British. Small farmers and debtors preferred that power be held by state legislatures, rather than a national government, so that they could maximize their influence over local affairs. Wealthier farmers, merchants, land owners, and financial speculators preferred that property be protected by a strong central government. A compromise had to be reached between these two groups. The result was a government established under the Articles of Confederation.

The Articles of Confederation provided a plan of government that had some successes. The American government negotiated a favorable peace treaty with the British, provided for payment of war debts, and successfully passed the Northwest Ordinance, which allowed settlements (and eventual statehood) in a large region north of the Ohio River.

Defects in the Articles

The Articles suffered from some serious defects. Under the Articles, it was very difficult to raise and fund a viable national military. Congress could not tax goods or income, regulate commerce, or control a national currency. Congress could only ask for voluntary tax contributions from the states. Furthermore, passage of controversial bills required a difficult-to-attain two-thirds vote of the states, and amendments to the Articles required a near-impossible unanimous agreement of the thirteen state legislatures. In short, government under the Articles was actually a firm league of friendship, in which each state was a sovereign or independent political entity.

The Articles were also unable to cope with a series of economic and social misfortunes in the 1780s. First, a serious economic depression followed the Revolutionary War. Contributing to the depression were what amounted to economic wars between and among the states. For examp...