American Government in a Multicultural World - American...

American Government in
a Multicultural World
2/23/15 11:32 AM
EXAMS:
 Email him a couple days before the exam and let him know
youre taking it on Friday (everyone else will take it Wed)
 Email him about power point slides
We have a constitutional democracy, republic democracy,
sovereignty rests in the people
Popular sovereignty
Democracy is ruled by the many
Sovereignty- ultimate governing authority
Form of Government:
 Democracy- The People have ultimate power, ruled by the
people
 Monarchy- King, Dictator, ruled by the one
 Aristocracy- ruled by the able few
 Forms + Systems =Political system
o System of Government:
 Unitary system- who wields the power, puts it into practice,
the national government
 Confederal system- Confederacy, confederation, subnational
(state) government wields the power
 Federal System- Federalism, sharing of powers between the
national and subnational, what the united states has, the
founding fathers founded this practice
 Supremacy Clause: federal law is supreme
o The federal government wields the power of the US
o States are semi-sovereign, don’t have full power
 Political Economy: Economic System

 Who owns the means to produce the means of goods and
services- Private (profit), public (the public interest),
 1. Capitalism system (what the US has)
 Far right, conservative view of an economic system
 Private sector, private individuals, in the hands of the people
 Competition
 Sherman Anti-Trust Act: Monopolies can not exist because it
messes up the competition, if there is no competition the
economy will fall
 2. Communism System: Classical Socialism
 Far left
 The government owns it
 3. Socialism:
 The public and private sector, about 50 50 shared
 Moderate system, in the middle
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Chapter 1- Political Thinking and Political
Culture: Becoming a Responsible Citizen
2/23/15 11:32 AM
Learning to Think Politically:
 Political Thinking:
o Involves the careful gathering and sifting of
information to form a knowledge view about a political
issue (not an opinion)
o Have to be educated
o Mass media keeps us informed
o Private Sector, they tell us what we want to hear
because the underline purpose is money
o Important for responsible citizenship
 #1 power in the world, wealthiest country in the world
 Ranked #37 or #38 of school system in the world
 Barriers to political thinking
o Main Barrier: Unwillingness of citizens to make the
effort to self-inform
o Changes in media consumptions: more people
consume biased cable television and internet blogs (2 nd
Barrier)
 Catering to what you wanna hear
 “Spin” by political leaders and government entities
 Research shows faulty perceptions becoming more
prevalent
 What political science can contribute to political thinking
o Political Science: The systematic study of government
and politics
o A descriptive and analytical discipline; can increase
ability to think politically
 What Political science can contribute to political thinking
o