“A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.”

– Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen

• Henrik Ibsen • Born: 20 March 1828 • Birthplace: Skien, Norway • Died: 23 May 1906 • Best Known As: Norwegian "Father of Modern Drama" 

• Norwegian Henrik Ibsen is among the most famous modern playwrights, the author of such dramas as A Doll's House (1879) and When We Dead Awaken (1899). During his lifetime he earned an international reputation for his psychological dramas that frequently commented on social issues of the day. His plays are still among the most frequently performed in the world.

What is Government?• Institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society.– Examples of institutions in the US government

• Congress• The President• The courts• The federal administrative agencies (the bureaucracy)• State and local governments• The approximately 50,000 elected officials in America

– Functions of national governments• Maintain national defense• Provide public services• Preserve order• Socialize the young• Collect taxes

What is Politics?

• The process by which we select our governmental leaders and what policies these leaders pursue. Politics produces authoritative decisions about public issues

• Lasswell’s definition of politics– Who gets what, when, and how?

Government and Politics: What’s the Difference? SOURCE: www.usconstitution.net

What is Politics?

Who gets what, how and when?

The University of Chicago made Lasswell an assistant professor in 1927. During World War Two he served as the director of war communications research at the Library of Congress and taught at the New School of Social Research in New York City and Yale Law School. In 1946 he began lecturing at Yale. 1903-1978

The Lasswell Model• Harold Lasswell a well known political scientist along with other influential liberals of his  period, argued that democracies needed propaganda to keep the uninformed citizenry in agreement with what the specialized class had determined was in their best interests.  We must put aside "democratic dogmatisms about men being the best judges of their own interests" since "men are often poor judges of their own interests, flitting from one alternative to the next without solid reason“.

WHO ?(The Participants)

INDIVIDUALS• Voters• Supporters• Candidates• Office Holders

GROUPS• Business• Labor• Farmers• Racial/Ethnic/Gender• Socioeconomic• Religious Affiliation• Gun owners• Universities• Others. . . 

ORGANIZATIONS• Major and Minor Parties• National Organization for Women• AARP• United Auto Workers• AFL-CIP• National Association of Manufacturers• American Legion• Others. . . . . 

WHAT(The Values) – basically, advantages for

oneself or one’s groupRecognition ContractsInfluence Public Policy desiresPrestige Status Quo Maintained

Justice/Equity Public InterestAccessJobs

HOW(the methods)

• Voting Violence• Lobbying Logrolling• Platforms Public relations• Speeches Campaigns• Bargaining Rallies• Intimidation Media exposure• Bribery Campaign Contributions

When?Now. . . or later?

What is public policy?

A course of action taken to solve a problem

Who makes public policy?Congress

CourtsPresident

Bureaucrats

Courts- Brown v Board of   EducationPresident – Executive Order-InternmentCongress- passes a lawBureaucrats – add the details 

Congress left out

•A problem that disturbs people gives rise to demands for relief•Individual or groups work to get the problem noticed and placed on the government’s agenda•Formulation or alternative solutions for solving the problem follow•Formal approval of a solution is reached by the government•Budgeting provides funding for the new policy•Policy implementation requires actual administration to its targets•Policy evaluation determines success or failure of the policy•Evaluation leads to restructuring of the policy

Policy Making in the United States

– A problem that disturbs people gives rise to demands for relief:

• Healthcare, Hurricane Katrina, Immigration• Brown v Board of Education/Americans with Disabilities

Individuals or groups work to get the problem noticed and placed on the 

government’s agenda:

Examples:• Political parties• Interest groups• Media/agenda setting/Polling

Formal approval of a solution is reached by the government:

• Legislative process• President signs bill into law        • Executive orders• Supreme Court decisions

Budgeting provides funding for the new policy:

• Congress, the Executive departments and the bureaucrats all work on budgeting monies for the programs.

• Budget process by the President• Data analysis by the bureaucrats• Taxing and spending committees

Policy implementation, evaluation, and restructuring.

• Executive Branch agencies- add details to the legislation

• Bureaucracy – works to enforce or complete the work

• Management collects data about success or failure• Flow of information back upto the policymakers – 

Cabinet Secretaries, President and Congress

Assignment

• Find a newspaper of magazine article that demonstrates Lasswell’s definition of politics.

Types of Government Systems 

Types of Government Systems Government Systems Definition Examples

Who is allowed to participate?

Individual ruler with hereditary authority holds absolute governmental power

Monarchy

Constitutional Monarchy

Dictator

Oligarchy

Pluralism

How are decisions reached?Pure Democracy

Representative Democracy

Totalitarian Regime

Authoritarian System

Constitutional System