USG_SA1

POL 2301, United States Government 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Summarize the origins of American political thought. 1.1 Define the key characteristics of American democracy. 1.2 Explain the importance of various components of a democracy.

Course/Unit Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

1.1, 1.2 Unit Lesson Chapter 1 Unit I Scholarly Activity

Required Unit Resources In order to access the following resource, click the link below. Throughout this course, you will be provided with sections of text from the online textbook American Government 3e. You may be tested on your knowledge and understanding of the material presented in the textbook as well as the information presented in the unit lesson. Chapter 1: American Government and Civic Engagement

Unit Lesson Democracy is an idea or concept that has a variety of meanings. In its most basic form, democracy refers to a political system in which the government is established by citizens, and citizens live in accordance with the laws they make (i.e., the rule of the people). In Unit I, the key characteristics and practices of American democracy, such as direct democracy, indirect democracy, government, common good, and civic engagement, will be introduced and explained. These fundamental concepts will lay the foundation for the remainder of the course.

UNIT I STUDY GUIDE

U.S. Government and Civic Engagement

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Origins of American Democracy As this is a course in American government, the idea of democracy is an appropriate place to begin. In its purest form, direct democracy means that all citizens engage in creating the laws under which everyone lives. However, as Greek philosopher Aristotle pointed out over 2,000 years ago, democracy can exhibit negative qualities. In order to access the following podcast, click the link below.

Listen to the podcast 60-Second Civics: Episode 3700, which is sponsored by the website Center for Civic Education and speaks on Aristotle’s influence on modern U.S. government. The transcript for the podcast 60-Second Civics: Episode 3700 is also available for your viewing.

Though the Athenian city-state’s democracy was a popular form of government for ancient Greeks, Aristotle considered it an imperfect and even deviant political system (Aristotle & Ellis, 2009). Like many later political theorists, Aristotle considered democracy, or rule by the poor masses, to mean mob rule. People are attentive to advancing their own interests and, if given political power, will more than likely use that power to their own advantage. Centuries later, Thomas Hobbes made a similar argument about human nature.

In order to access the following podcast, click the link below.

Listen to the podcast 60-Second Civics: Episode 91, which is sponsored by the Center for Civic Education and speaks on Thomas Hobbes’s view on human nature. The transcript for the podcast 60-Second Civics: Episode 91 is also available for your viewing.

Plato and Aristotle (Image Editor, n.d.)

Thomas Hobbes (Wright, 1670)

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The Hobbesian view saw life without government as “poor, nasty, brutish, and short” (Hobbes & Gaskin, 1998, p. XLIII). However, for Aristotle, democracy did have a redeeming quality. While individuals may be self-interested, they are not entirely egocentric and selfish. They possess a spark of virtue, which, under certain circumstances, allows them to work together toward a collective good. Thomas Jefferson, who had similar reservations about a direct democracy, also held that mob rule could be tempered by the collective wisdom of the people and that the average citizen could pursue not only private interests but also those things

that benefit everyone in a democratic republic (Jefferson, 1801). View the video Thomas Jefferson Biographical Vignette to learn more about his life and work (transcript for the video Thomas Jefferson Biographical Vignette).

One of the key features of Aristotle’s seminal work on government, The Politics, is his typology of different types of government. He categorized governments based on the chief aim of government and the number of leaders. Can you guess what he considered to be good constitutions (i.e., good government)? Using the types of governments provided in the following interactivity activity, fill in the chart, and see how many you get right.

In order to access the following activity, click the link below. Interactive Activity 1.1: Types of Government Click here to access the PDF version of Interactive Activity 1.1: Types of Government.

A key Enlightenment-age political philosopher who championed democratic government was John Locke. In his Two Treatises of Government written in 1689, Locke argued that government should be based on popular consent and majority rule, and he suggested that government’s primary function is to protect individuals’ natural rights to life, liberty, and property (Locke & Shapiro, 2003).

Thomas Jefferson (Peale, 1800)

John Locke (Kneller, 1697)

(Chernetskaya, n.d.)

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In order to access the following podcast, click the link below.

Listen to the podcast 60-Second Civics: Episode 92, which is sponsored by the Center for Civic

Education and provides insight into John Locke’s philosophy. The transcript for the podcast 60- Second Civics: Episode 92 is also available for your viewing.

Following in the tradition of Hobbes in the Leviathan, which was written in 1651, Locke argued that government is formed as a social contract between citizens and government. In exchange for protecting the rights of citizens and maintaining order and stability, citizens agree to submit themselves to the rule of government (Locke & Shapiro, 2003).

Government, Politics, and Power The ancient Greeks and Enlightenment philosophers engaged in discussions concerning the best form of government. As a result of their debate, the great American experiment in democratic government would begin. According to acclaimed political scientist Harold Lasswell (1936), politics is about who gets what, when, and how. Power centers on the capacity to engage in decision-making, while political power is defined as the ability to acquire political position and determine resource distribution. Government refers to the institutions, procedures, and people who have the political power to conduct politics through the establishment of binding rules on everyone to ensure society runs smoothly, safely, and peacefully. In the United States, four key institutions operate at the national level to make such decisions: Congress, the presidency, the courts, and the federal administrative agencies (bureaucracy). These institutions use established procedures to develop and implement public policies, including elections, lawmaking (Congress and the president), judicial proceedings (courts), and administrative discretion (bureaucracy). Working in tandem, these institutions and procedures produce a variety of public goods for citizens, such as security, health care, clean air and drinking water, education, and transportation infrastructure.

Fashionable attendees at a French literary salon listen to a reading from Voltaire, an Enlightenment writer and philosopher. During the Enlightenment, these salons or drawing room gatherings were popular among the upper classes of Europe, who assembled to listen to literary readings and music. (Lemonnier, 1812)

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How Much Are They Worth? As a republic and a representative democracy, citizens elect other citizens to make decisions for everyone; however, political power is not always evenly distributed. As Aristotle noted more than 2,000 years ago, the elite seek to leverage political power for their own advantage. Thus, elitism can be described as political power placed in the hands of a select few. While this view of political power may seem contradictory to the democratic government, the argument can be made that most U.S. founders were the educated, wealthy, and landowning elite of their time. For a more modern-day comparison, consider the number of U.S. presidents who are wealthy, successful, and well- educated. Your textbook notes that one-third of all U.S. presidents and all five of the presidents between and 1989 and 2020 have attended Ivy League universities (Krutz, 2019). A 2019 Congressional Research Service report indicated that 96% of members of the 116th Congress held bachelor degrees, 40% held law degrees, and 11% held doctorate degrees (Manning, 2019). Additionally, as of 2020, 95% of House and Senate members were men. The vast majority of U.S. presidents have had a peak net worth of greater than $1 million in today’s currency with 45th president, Donald Trump, topping the list with a peak worth of $3.1 billion (Suneson, 2019). Unlike the elitist model of political power, which focuses on the elite few competing for and holding power, pluralism’s view centers on groups organizing and influencing government. According to pluralist theory, citizens who want to engage in politics do so most successfully through groups, such as interest groups and political parties. When dealing with the distribution of goods, pluralism attempts to balance the demands of competing groups. This is the perspective of American life observed by Alexisis de Tocqueville in his Democracy in America (de Tocqueville, 2009).

In order to access the following podcast, click the link below.

Listen to the podcast 60-Second Civics: Episode 3702, which is sponsored by the Center for Civic

Education and speaks on the point of view of Alexis de Tocqueville. The transcript for the podcast 60-Second Civics: Episode 3702 is also available for your viewing.

Pluralists (like elitists) can seek to accrue benefits for their own group members to the exclusion of the collective good. James Madison (2008), one of the Founding Fathers and the author of 29 Federalist Papers, suggested that this could pose a threat to America’s representative democracy (Madison, 2008). However, the forward-thinking Madison wrote in Federal Paper #10 that groups, or factions, as he called them, were a necessity, as people naturally join together. To control the tyrannizing effects of groups, Madison contended that if groups were allowed to flourish, there would be a sufficient number of them to allow for a competitive balance. In a republican form of government, Madison reasoned that freely operating groups would naturally create a check on each other. Competing for political power, these diverse factions would lobby government, bargain with each other, and, in the end, create sound public policies based on compromise and consensus. It should be noted that Madison was referring to political parties in these references to factions, which puts quite an interesting spin on his observations.

Alexis de Tocqueville (Chasseriau, 1850)

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In order to access the following podcast, click the link below.

Learn more about Madison’s political views by listening to the podcast 60-Second Civics: Episode 382, which is sponsored by the Center for Civic Education. The transcript for the podcast 60- Second Civics: Episode 382 is also available for your viewing.

The Political Spectrum

For most people in the United States, freedom immediately comes to mind when they think about democracy. However, as Aristotle reminds us, there are various forms of government with varying types of leadership and goals. You can consider the variations in government as being paces along a spectrum. Across the spectrum are ideologies, which are the beliefs and ideals shaping political opinion and public policy. As you move from the center in either direction, the corresponding ideology is maintained by a decreasing number of individuals reaching ultimate positions of far right and far left. Similarly, democracy and liberalism are considered to be in the center of the spectrum.

James Madison (Harding, 1829)

Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin (Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, 1919)

Che Guevara and Fidel Castro (Korda, 1961)

Kim Jong Un (Scavina, 2018)

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(Adapted from MoodleHub, n.d.) Characteristics of representative democracy include popular consent; popular sovereignty; limited government; majority rule; protection of minority rights; protection of free and regular elections; protection of basic freedoms, such as speech and press; provision of public goods; and at least moderate levels of civic engagement. As you move away from the center in either direction, you become less of a centrist. Movement toward the left leads to more socialist and communist-leaning ideologies, and movement toward the right is a leads to more conservatist ideologies and, ultimately, fascism . In terms of authority, in totalitarian systems, the state and its leadership have unlimited power, and they exercise total control over all aspects of political, social, and economic life. Examples of totalitarian governments include Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Josef Stalin’s Soviet Russia. Many people consider Iran and North Korea to be modern examples of totalitarianism. Interestingly, scholars have also identified North Korea as an authoritarian state. In authoritarian states, there are limited individual freedoms. In both systems, civic engagement is nonexistent or highly limited and are not freely chosen by citizens but selected by political leaders. They are often in areas that benefit political leadership, such as economic development of markets or limited political freedoms, which help mitigate widespread political protests. Vladimir Putin’s Russia is an example of a current authoritarian state.

In order to access the following activity, click the link below. Interactive Activity 1.2: Political Spectrum Click here to access the PDF version of Interactive Activity 1.2: Political Spectrum. (Chernetskaya, n.d.)

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The United States boasts a wide variety of ideologies and political parties, but most Americans remain faithful to one of the two major parties and ideologies. A 2019 Gallup poll indicated that just over half of Americans consider themselves either Republican (29%) or Democrat (27%); 38% of Americans called themselves Independent (Gallup, n.d.). Of those affiliating with either the Republican or Democratic, parties about one- third were solidly conservative or liberal, respectively (Desilver, 2014). However, Americans tend to be more diverse. While the United States has a strong two-party system, Americans also align themselves with other ideologies and parties, such as libertarianism and populism. Review the chart below to see the political beliefs of these four ideologies.

What are you? Take an online quiz to see if you are conservative or liberal and how conservative or liberal you really are. In order to access the following activity, click the link below.

Interactive Activity 1.3: Political Typology Quiz

Civic Engagement in American Democracy Can the United States remain a democratic system if citizens do not actively participate in government and politics? What do citizens need in order to become and remain engaged in politics? What are some of the

(Chernetskaya, n.d.)

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common avenues through which citizens can participate in government and politics? How can government facilitate civic engagement? What are the advantages and disadvantages of high- and low-level civic engagement? Civic engagement refers to citizen participation in political society, whether through voting or holding elective office. Civic engagement is a critical component of democracy. For nearly 250 years, the U.S. Constitution has proven to be amazingly resilient, withstanding vast upheavals in American politics and society, including massive population growth and expanding diversity, as well as civil and global wars. Throughout the history of the United States, one key evolutionary feature that has withstood time and change has been the country’s ability to continually broaden opportunities for civic engagement. Perhaps it is this founding principle of civic engagement that has enabled the manifestation of Aristotle and Jefferson’s vision of a democratic republic in which collective wisdom and individualism are combined in the masses of democracy. This combination led to the establishment of what de Tocqueville (2009) called self- interest rightly understood, or what has come to be known as enlightened self-interest. The founding principles of the United States are based on the supposition that its citizens will be actively engaged in civic and political life. The rights of popular consent and popular sovereignty necessarily entail the responsibility to engage in balancing self-interest meaningfully and knowledgeably with the common good. This dovetails with the expectation that while citizens are entitled to protect their own rights and expect government to do so as well, they must be willing to act as custodians and sentinels of the rights of others. No one citizen’s rights are superior or subordinate to another’s. In his first inaugural address, Thomas Jefferson remarked:

All too will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow- citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. (Jefferson, 1801, para. 2)

As a fundamental principle of American democracy, self-government depends not on presidents or judges or legislators but, rather, on citizens. This first unit began with the classical influences on democratic government. It closes with perhaps the most essential requirement of democracy, which is the active engagement of citizens in political life.

References

Aristotle, & Ellis, W. (2009). The politics of Aristotle: A treatise on government. The Floating Press. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=nlebk&AN=313807&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Chasseriau, T. (1850). Alexis de Tocqueville [Painting]. Wikimedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexisis_de_tocqueville.jpg Chernetskaya. (n.d.). Time to engage [Image]. https://www.dreamstime.com/composition-phrase-time-to-

engage-written-notebook-composition-phrase-time-to-engage-written-notebook-wooden- image107147494

Desilver, D. (2014). A closer look at who identifies as Democrat and Republican. Pew Research Center.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/01/a-closer-look-at-who-identifies-as-democrat-and- republican/

de Tocqueville, A. (2009). Democracy in America. Pacific Publishing Studio. Gallup. (n.d.). Party affiliations. https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx Gilbert, S. (1825). Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States [Portrait].

https://www.loc.gov/item/96523332/

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Gilbert, S. (1828). George Washington, first President of the United States [Portrait]. https://www.loc.gov/item/96523313/

Harding, C. (1829). James Madison [Painting].

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Madison_by_Chester_Harding_(detail),_1829-1830_- _DSC03224.JPG

Hobbes, T., & Gaskin, J. C. A. (1998). Leviathan. Oxford University Press.

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=nlebk&AN=12309&site=eds-live&scope=site

Image Editor. (n.d.). Plato and Aristotle [Image]. https://ccsearch.creativecommons.org/photos/2fb7b300-

697a-4952-9a6f-52d46c06b427 Jefferson, T. (1801). First inaugural address. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, 33, 148–152.

https://jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu/selected-documents/first-inaugural-address-0 Kneller, G. (1697). John Locke [Painting]. Wikimedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Locke_Crop.png Korda, A. (1961). Che Guevara & Fidel Castro [Photograph]. Wikimedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CheyFidel.jpg Krutz, G. (2019, February 21). American government 2e (S. Waskiewicz, Ed.). OpenStax.

https://openstax.org/details/books/american-government-2e Lasswell, H. (1936). Politics: Who gets what, when, how. McGraw-Hill. Lemonnier, A. C. G. (1812). Reading of Voltaire’s L’Orphelin de la Chine in the salon of Madame Geoffrin

[Painting]. Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salon_de_Madame_Geoffrin.jpg Locke, J., & Shapiro, I. (2003). Two treatises of government: And a letter concerning toleration. Yale

University Press. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=nlebk&AN=187734&site=eds-live&scope=site

Madison, J. (2008). The federalist. In L. Goldman (Ed.), The federalist papers.

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=nlebk&AN=264957&site=eds-live&scope=site&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_48

McLeod-Simmons, L. (n.d.). U.S. capitol [Photograph]. MoodleHub. (n.d.). Lesson 2: The will of the people.

https://moodlehub.ca/mod/book/view.php?id=7387&chapterid=11639 OpenStax. (2019). American government (2nd ed) [eBook]. https://openstax.org/details/books/american-

government-2e Peale, R. (1800). Thomas Jefferson [Painting].

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Jefferson_by_Rembrandt_Peale,_1800.jpg Suneson, G. (2019, February 13). The net worth of every US president from George Washington to Donald

Trump. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/02/13/donald-trump-george- washington-net-worth-us-presidents/39011559/

U.S. Navy. (1961). President John F. Kennedy, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front [Photograph].

https://www.loc.gov/item/96523447/

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The White House. (2016). Portrait of President-elect Donald Trump [Photograph]. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017645723/

Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, 1919. (1919). [Photograph]. Wikimedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vladimir_Lenin_and_Joseph_Stalin,_1919.jpg Wright, J. M. (1670). Thomas Hobbes [Painting].

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Hobbes_(portrait).jpg

Suggested Unit Resources The following films provide distinct insight into political theories and practices. You are encouraged to view the films to further your knowledge, and they can be found at various online vendors. The Grapes of Wrath film is based on John Steinbeck’s 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name. The film is set in the Midwest Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. With clear populist undertones, it provides a clear and realistic view of poverty and plight of the “common man.” Zanuck, D. F. (Producer), Johnson, N. (Producer), & Ford, J. (Director). (1940). The grapes of wrath [Film].

20th Century Fox. The Fountainhead film is based on Ayn Rand’s 1943 book of the same name, and the film exemplifies the highly individualistic focus of libertarianism pushed to its limits. The story follows an architect who refuses to yield to social and economic conventions as he faces challenges with the vision he has of himself and his goals. Blanke, H. (Producer), & Vidor, K. (Director). (1949). The fountainhead [Film]. Warner Bros. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is certainly a less weighty film than The Grapes of Wrath and The Fountainhead, but it presents a wonderful introduction to politics, political corruption, and political redemption. Capra, F. (Producer & Director). (1939). Mr. Smith goes to Washington [Film]. Columbia Pictures.

Learning Activities (Nongraded) Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information. Review In order to check your understanding of the materials presented in this unit, you are encouraged to complete the following exercises that can be found at the end of Chapter 1. Once you have completed the activities, check your answers using the Answer Key. Chapter 1: American Government and Civic Engagement—Complete the following sections:

• Review Questions

• Critical Thinking Questions

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Terminology

Engage with the terminology that plays an integral role in U.S. politics by reviewing the Unit I Flash Cards (PDF version of the Unit I Flash Cards).

Reference

Luckydoor. (n.d.). ID 50718023 [Photograph]. https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-flash-cards-box-

vocabulary-image50718023

(Luckydoor, n.d.)