Government
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GovernmentasaSocialNetwork-1.pptxGovernment as a Social Network
A Social Network
Facebook is an online venue where people get together to talk about their lives.
Government as a Social Network
Government is a public venue where people get together to discuss politics.
‘Friends’
The people that Facebook users most often interact with are their Facebook ‘friends’. There are three ways to become someone’s Facebook friend.
Search for someone and send them a ‘friend request’
Find a person under the ‘people you may know’ section and send them a friend request
Someone sends you a friend request
Citizens
Citizens are the people who have the power to interact with and participate in government. There are two types of citizens…natural born and naturalized.
To be a natural born citizen in the United States you must either be:
Born on U.S. soil (any of the 50 states, U.S. territories, or military installations count as U.S. soil)
Born to a parent or parents who are U.S. citizens
Naturalized citizens go through the process of becoming citizens as adults. It takes five years. The naturalization process includes:
Learning English, American history, and American government
Passing a citizenship test
Paying a fee (which changes based on inflation..the value of the US dollar)
Fun Fact….
Harvard University did a study of incoming college freshmen across the country from 1960 to 2016.
They administered the citizenship test that all aspiring naturalized citizens must take to this group of students.
70% of incoming freshmen (before taking an American government course) FAILED that test.
Think about that. Why would people who have lived here and (in most cases) had several American history and government courses fail a test that we expect newcomers to pass?
Other Users in the Social Network…
There are millions of people using Facebook who aren’t your Facebook friends.
Most of them are simply people you don’t know. They don’t pose any threat to you, and you only know they’re there because I reminded you.
There are, however, people using the network who hack into people’s accounts, who post misinformation, and who seek to cause problems.
Non-Citizens
Obviously, there are tons of people living in this country who DON’T have the rights of citizenship.
Some have permission to be here and are known as legal or resident aliens. They have a green card (permission to be here), get a social security number, work, pay taxes, can get credit and buy a house, and so on.
Others DON’T have permission to be here. They are known as illegal aliens or undocumented immigrants. Most of these people mean well. Some come as refugees from war torn or impoverished countries, but some come with bad intentions as well.
Most undocumented immigrants actually come here legally via air or sea and overstay the length of time specified on their green card. These people become incredibly hard to track down, because they often move in with friends or family who are here legally and pay cash for everything.
We will discuss immigration later as a current event, but be aware that there is no quick fix to this problem. Complicated problems always require complicated solutions.
Active and Passive Facebook Users
Now, we all know that person (or several people) who post things on Facebook several times a day. Some post about every little thing they do. Others post pictures of experiences they’ve had, cute pictures of their pets, what they ate for dinner, political memes, and so on.
These people are known as active users. They utilize the social network all the time.
There are others, however, who use it so infrequently that they probably don’t even remember their password to log in.
They are known as passive users.
Active Citizens
Some citizens participate regularly in the political process. They vote, write their members of Congress, go to town halls and other organized political meetings and rallies, discuss politics with friends and family, serve in the military, or run for elected office (this is just a small list of the activities active citizens partake in).
They are known as active citizens.
These people often feel a sense of duty and responsibility in their citizenship.
Those of you who are active citizens, why?
Passive Citizens
There are lots of people who could participate in the political process but choose not to. They are known as passive citizens.
They choose not to participate for a variety of reasons: they don’t care, think they’re too busy, don’t feel informed enough to sound intelligent, are afraid of offending people, don’t think their opinion or vote matters, and so on.
If you are currently a passive citizen, why?
Facebook’s Original Intent
When Facebook was first created in the early 2000s, it was designed to help students at the same college or university connect virtually. In order to become a Facebook user, the network administrator at your college or university had to invite you, and you could either accept or not.
Facebook has evolved, but people still join groups, play games, and participate in activities that bring like-minded people together.
Political Cultures
Just as we find ways to connect with people like ourselves on Facebook, so too do we tend to interact with people like ourselves in the political process. These groups of like-minded people are known as political cultures.
Different races, genders, occupations, political persuasions, religions, ethnicities, regions, and income brackets constitute different political cultures. The things you do and the people you associate with (similar and different) shape you as a political individual.
Forms of Government
When Considering Forms of Government We Consider…..
How many people rule?
How does the ruling actually get done?
How Many People Rule?
When Zero People Rule
Anarchy is what we call it when nobody rules. It is the COMPLETE and TOTAL ABSENSCE OF GOVERNMENT.
Thomas Hobbes (who we will revisit next week) argues that anarchy is, “a war of all against all.”
The survival of the fittest. St. Augustine (also a political philosopher) argues that anarchy is the ‘state of nature.’
I see anarchy as a dog eat dog world.
When One Person Rules
An autocracy is where only one person rules.
Some of these regimes are ruled by kind, benevolent autocrats, but many others are ruled by narcissistic, angry, brutal tyrants.
Modern autocracies have the reputation of being more oppressive than not, although that is not true of all of them.
When Many People Rule
A democracy is a government ruled by many people.
Some democracies are ruled by a small group while others are governed by the country at large.
Our word democracy originates from two Greek words…demos (rule) and kratia (the many).
So, in translating, democracy is the rule of the many.
How The Ruling Gets Done
So, About Anarchy…
In anarchy, no one rules, so we won’t be discussing details, because there legitimately aren’t any.
Anarchy doesn’t work, and it goes against human nature. Humans, while animals, are social animals. We work best together and struggle alone.
Autocracies
Dictatorships
Dictators get their power through force. They take power from the person who previously held it.
In the movies, a good example of a dictator would be Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars saga.
An example of a historical dictator would be Hitler.
Monarchies
Monarchs get their power through lineage (or birth into the royal family)
An example of a monarch in film would be Mufasa from The Lion King.
An example of a historical monarch would be Queen Elizabeth II, the current queen of the United Kingdom (England)
Theocracies
Theocrats get their power from their respective religion.
The best example of a theocrat is the Pope. He is the ruler of the Catholic Church and of Vatican City, the seat of the Catholic Church.
Democracies
Direct (True) Democracies
Direct democracies exist where each individual citizen directly impacts policy; they don’t expect someone else to do it form them. They would debate and vote on all laws as individual citizens.
A good example of a direct democracy is ancient Athens (a city-state in ancient Greece). Pictured on the right is the Athenian Senate.
Indirect (Representative) Democracies
Indirect democracies enable citizens to elect representatives to act on their behalf in enacting policies.
A good example of a representative democracy in film is the Galactic Republic in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (pictured on the right)
The United States is also a good example of a representative democracy.
Republics
A republic is a representative democracy that only represents the will of the majority party.
Minority parties often exist, but they have no power in enacting policies or pushing their agendas.
Hybrids
A Note on Hybrid Governments…
Up to this point, we have considered forms of government by either how many people rule or how the ruling gets done.
Hybrid governments are more complicated than that.
Numerically, they seem to be one thing but functionally, are another.
Proceed with that in mind.
Oligarchies
Oligarchies are governments ruled by small groups of people.
Numerically (based on how many rule), they are democracies.
Functionally though, they are dictatorships.
A good example of an oligarchy is the former Soviet Union.
Constitutional Monarchies
Constitutional monarchies have a king or queen, but they only serve as ceremonial leaders.
The true power rests with that country’s legislature (most often called a parliament).
So, since they have a king or queen, they are seen as autocracies, but since Parliament actually does the governing, they function as democracies.
A good example of a constitutional monarchy is the United Kingdom.
Constitutional Republics
A constitutional republic is a representative democracy where a constitution mandates the protection and representation of specified groups of people.
This is a true republic but with mandated protection of specified groups. It gives the minority party the ability (through the advocacy and representation of certain groups) to affect policy.
The United States is a constitutional republic.
Think About It…
The Constitution, as it was written and ratified back in the late 1700s, only protected the following four groups
The wealthy
White persons
Males
Property owners
Unless you fulfilled ALL FOUR of those criteria, you wouldn’t have been eligible for the rights and privileges of Constitutional protection.
Only through the amendment process have we gained the rights we have.
Don’t underestimate the power of that piece of paper.
Protect it. Defend it. Amending the Constitution is REALLY hard, but it’s super easy to let our Constitutional rights slip away.
A Note on Constitutions
Constitutions do not have to be written down.
While it is true that most countries that utilize a constitution have written it down (and often amended it), it does not have to be written down anywhere.
A good example of a country that uses an unwritten constitution is the United Kingdom. They refer to their constitution as The Common Law.
Effectivesness vs. Efficiency
A government that is effective gets things done quickly.
Dictatorships get things done quickly, because there’s only one person involved in the decision-making process.
A government that is efficient gets things done well.
Democracies get things done efficiently, because there are more people weighing in on decisions and more people to counter bad ideas.
We should be striving to have an efficient government.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or call/text at 636 293 0886.
If you text me, please be sure to include your name so I know who I’m speaking to. If the answer requires a lot of typing, I might call you back instead to give you the information you’ve asked for.
Please proceed to the next recorded lecture video…Harry Potter and the Deathly Branches of Government.
Until you view that, have a good day, and may the Force be with you!
