Lesson 1 Introduction

What is government? This is a class in American government, but before we can address the question of what distinguishes the American system from other systems, we must first think about what government itself is. Where do governments come from? Who creates them? Why? Quite early in the chapter you will read, “The term government describes the means by which a society organizes itself and allocates authority in order to accomplish collective goals and provide benefits that the society as a whole needs.” (p. 10)

This definition raises as many questions as it answers: What is society? Is it all people within a certain area? Is it a few elites, such as the wealthy or highly educated? Is the “society” that organizes the government and decides what society needs, the same as the society that is governed? In other words, how much say do nonelites have in deciding what the collective goals will be? The answers to these questions will vary from one country to another. For example, North Korea’s society is organized by and governed by a small group of people with little input from the people who are governed.

So, where does the United States fit into all of this? The United States is a constitutional, democratic republic. It has a federal structure, meaning that power is split between a central government and the state governments. We elect representatives to the federal government and those representatives create and implement policy. The powers granted to the federal government are delineated in the Constitution of the United States. Theoretically, if we don’t like the policies created by Congress and implemented by the executive branch, we can vote those people out of office and put in different representatives. There are many representative democracies in Europe, several of which have more frequent elections than the United States has. Some of these democracies have decided to pursue somewhat different goals than the United States has.

In Chapter 1 of the text you will be introduced to several concepts that are important for understanding the underpinnings of American government. You should take note of these concepts:

Property;
Public goods, private goods, toll goods;
The difference between an economic system and a political system;
Conflicting values such as individualism versus egalitarianism;
The elite theory and the pluralist theory;
The idea of civic engagement - its importance in a democracy, and the factors that discourage it.

These concepts will prove important to understanding the structure and the development of the American system as well as many of the conflicts and controversies present on today’s political scene.

If you click on the "Next" button on the lower right side of the screen, you will be taken to the first link to the text. You can use these links to work your way through Chapter 1, or you can go directly to the textbook to read the textbook using your web browser. When you've finished with Chapter 1, be sure to go to the CHAPTER 1 DISCUSSION which can be reached by clicking the "Next" buttons or directly from the Syllabus page.