Download American Politics and Civil Society

American Politics
and Civil Society
Philosophical Influences
Competing Models
Why a Constitution?
Ideologies at the Constitutional Convention
The selling of the Constitution
Structures and Functions of Institutions
Constitutional Rules
Political Culture and Modern Ideologies
Philosophical Influences






Plato: Critique of democracy (tyranny of the majority, the rule of the philosopherking, the need for absolute truth
Hobbes: The anarchic state of nature, the need for order, the limits of self-interest,
irrevocable consent of the governed, strong executive leadership
Locke: The rational view of humans, natural rights (life, liberty, health, and property),
tacit and active consent of the governed, executive power of the law of nature,
power tilted toward legislative government, limited government
Burke: Dislike of innovation, mistrust of the “people”, mixed government (balance of
power between regal, aristocratic, and popular institutions), the nation as the
property of everyone
Rousseau: The concept of the “general welfare” (general will), revoking the consent
of the governed, preeminence of the law (as a protection against the powerful),
dislike of representatives (politicians)
Adam Smith: The “invisible hand” of the market, unconscious market forces, the
social utility of self-interest (the “trickle down” theory), laissez-faire government
policies
Competing Models (Electoral Models)

SMDP (Single Member District Plurality)



Plurality rule—the most votes wins (first past the
post)
Plurality with a run off—if no one gets a majority,
the top two vote getters have run-off
PR (Proportional Representation)

The Party is represented in the legislature
proportionate to the vote it received in election.
Competing Models (Political Systems)
Parliamentary (Unitary)
Presidential (Fragmented)
Members of Parliament elected by people
Parliament appoints/elects PM
Parliament appoints cabinet
Parliament can remove PM at any time
PM has no set term limits
Policy is formulated rapidly and with no
obstacles
Power is Unitary
No checks and balances/Legislative and
Executive powers fused
Party has optimum power in politics
Low levels of accountability
Courts with only legal/civil jurisdictions
President, Congress elected by different
constituencies
President appoints cabinet
President can be removed only for serious
crimes and misdemeanors
President is elected for a set term
Policy is slowly developed through a
multiplicity of branches/levels of gov’t
Power is fragmented through Checks and
Balances/three branches
Politics is personal
High levels of accountability
Courts with legal/civil/constitutional
jurisdictions
Why a Constitution?

The Weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation





No uniform currency
No standing army
Unicameral legislature
9/13 rule
Unanimous consent for amendment rule
Ideologies at the Constitutional
Convention

Federalists






Fear of “the mob”
Mercantile (banking) interests
Affection for the British crown
Desire for unitary government
View of representatives as “trustees” (low degree
of power for the principal over the agent)
Centralized Government
Ideologies at the Constitutional
Convention

Anti-federalists






Fear of government
Agrarian interests
Affection for the French Revolution
Desire for fragmented (limited) government
View of representatives as “delegates” (high
degree of power for the principal over the agent)
Decentralized government
The Selling of the Constitution



The fracturing of power at the federal level
The sharing of power between federal and
state entities (federalism)
Institutional provisions for both highly
representative (delegate) and highly regal
(trustee) models of governance
Structure and Function of Institutions



Congress: to carry out the legislative functions of
government (power tilted slightly toward
Congress)
President: to carry out the executive function of
government (enforcement of the laws passed by
Congress)
The Courts: To adjudicate civil/criminal cases (the
weakest of the three branches). Marbury vs.
Madison changed this fundamentally by giving the
Supreme Court the power of judicial review.
Constitutional Rules

Congress is Bicameral (two houses)

House of Representatives:



Representation based on population (more populous states
get more seats in the House)
Representatives serve 2 year terms in office (delegate
model)
All revenue generating bills must issue from
H of R


Regulatory oversight of the Executive Branch
Precise debate and amendment rules (Rules Committee)
Constitutional Rules: The Congress

The Senate:




Equal representation for all states
Representatives serve 6 year terms in office
(trustee model)
The place where most of the institutional checks
upon the executive branch originate (advice and
consent, override of presidential veto, the power
to declare war, impeachment, etc.)
No debate and amendment rules (filibuster)
Constitutional Rules: Elections





Staggered elections
The electoral college
SMDP rules
Closed Primaries
Campaign finance linked with free speech
issues
Constitutional Rules: Trustee vs.
Delegate Influences






House of Representatives (representative)
Senate (trustee)
The Courts (trustee)
Electoral College (trustee)
The President (trustee)
Note: Most of our federal processes are trustee in
nature; the only thing that balances this power out
are the institutional arrangements between the
three branches and between federal and state
entities
Political Culture and Modern
Ideologies




Liberalism becomes fiscal conservatism
The reinvention of the state in economics:
new American liberalism
The moral influence of Burke: social
conservatism
Radical Locke: Libertarianism
Political Culture and Modern
Ideologies
Modern American Liberals








Communitarian Issues
Favor a progressive tax system
Favor regulation (economic, environmental,
and consumer protection) of private
business
Favor protectionism
Favor government programs to redistribute
income in order to alleviate poverty
Pro-Affirmative Action
Individual Rights Issues
Pro-choice on abortion
Pro-gay rights
Pro-civil liberties in the post 9/11 world
Modern American
Conservatives








Communitarian Issues
Pro-life on abortion
Pro-“traditional family values”
Pro-security in the post 9/11 world
Favor providing for the poor via charity
Individual Rights Issues
Favor lower taxes on the rich
Favor deregulation (economic,
environmental, and consumer) of private
business
Favor international free markets (globalism)
Anti-affirmative action
Political Culture and Modern
Ideologies


How do we arrive at our ideologies?
Three dimensions of modern life:





Economic
Political
Social
Our social lives governed by informal rules and beliefs; this is “civil
society”
Civil Society is reinforced by the codification of norms transmitted
by agents of socialization:





Parents
Peers
Schools
Churches
Civic organizations
Political Culture and Modern
Ideologies


Aside from our particular political ideologies, do
we participate in a larger “common political
culture”?
Possible lineaments of this culture:





Constitutionalism
Individualism, or freedom of choice, (equality of
opportunity over equality of outcome)
Capitalism (willing to extend personal freedom of choice
to all include economic agents)
Tolerance
Democracy (curiously, a communitarian idea)