American Government Power
Chapter 1: The Study of American Government
I. What is political power?
A. Two great questions about politics
1. Who governs: the people who govern affect us
2. To which ends: in which ways government affects our lives
3. And then how the government makes decisions on a variety of issues
B. Power
1. Definition: the ability of one person to cause another person to act in accordance with the first person's intentions
2. Text's concern: power as it is used to affect who will hold government office and how government will behave
3. Authority: the right to use power; not all who exercise political power have it
4. Legitimacy: what makes a law or constitution a source of right
5. Struggles over what makes authority legitimate
6. …show more content…
Definition: citizen's capacity to understand and influence political events
B. Parts
1. Internal efficacy
a. Ability to understand and influence events
b. About the same as in 1950s
2. External efficacy
a. Belief that system will respond to citizens
b. Not shaped by particular events
c. Declined steadily through the 1960s and 1970s
C. Comparison: still much higher than Europeans'
D. Conclusion
1. Some say Americans are more "alienated" from politics
2. But current research has not easily established a relationship between trust in government and confidence in leaders and vote turnout
3. Decline in trust and confidence may mean support for non-incumbents and third party candidates
VII. Political tolerance
A. Crucial to democratic politics
1. Citizens must be reasonably tolerant
2. But not necessarily perfectly tolerant
B. Levels of American political tolerance
1. Most Americans assent in abstract
2. But would deny rights in concrete cases
a. Liberals intolerant of extreme right
b. Conservatives intolerant of extreme left
3. Most are willing to allow expression to most
4. Americans have become more tolerant in recent decades
C. Question: How do very unpopular groups
I. What is political power?
A. Two great questions about politics
1. Who governs: the people who govern affect us
2. To which ends: in which ways government affects our lives
3. And then how the government makes decisions on a variety of issues
B. Power
1. Definition: the ability of one person to cause another person to act in accordance with the first person's intentions
2. Text's concern: power as it is used to affect who will hold government office and how government will behave
3. Authority: the right to use power; not all who exercise political power have it
4. Legitimacy: what makes a law or constitution a source of right
5. Struggles over what makes authority legitimate
6. …show more content…
Definition: citizen's capacity to understand and influence political events
B. Parts
1. Internal efficacy
a. Ability to understand and influence events
b. About the same as in 1950s
2. External efficacy
a. Belief that system will respond to citizens
b. Not shaped by particular events
c. Declined steadily through the 1960s and 1970s
C. Comparison: still much higher than Europeans'
D. Conclusion
1. Some say Americans are more "alienated" from politics
2. But current research has not easily established a relationship between trust in government and confidence in leaders and vote turnout
3. Decline in trust and confidence may mean support for non-incumbents and third party candidates
VII. Political tolerance
A. Crucial to democratic politics
1. Citizens must be reasonably tolerant
2. But not necessarily perfectly tolerant
B. Levels of American political tolerance
1. Most Americans assent in abstract
2. But would deny rights in concrete cases
a. Liberals intolerant of extreme right
b. Conservatives intolerant of extreme left
3. Most are willing to allow expression to most
4. Americans have become more tolerant in recent decades
C. Question: How do very unpopular groups