1 / 19

What Government Does

What Government Does. Braunwarth POSC 121. Pre-Course Questions for Consideration. Please write out an honest response for each of the following questions: When I think of U.S. Government, I think of… What do I personally hope to get out of this course?

huslu
Download Presentation

What Government Does

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. What Government Does Braunwarth POSC 121

  2. Pre-Course Questions for Consideration Please write out an honest response for each of the following questions: • When I think of U.S. Government, I think of… • What do I personally hope to get out of this course? • How do I think the study of U.S. Government will relate to my day to day life? • If I were going to teach a course on U.S. Government, how would I structure it? • What’s the best class I’ve ever had and why?

  3. Introduction to U.S. Government and Politics • Introduction: This is an entry level course that will survey a number of different aspects of Government and Politics in the U.S. • U.S. Government: We will learn about both the structure and function of the U.S and, to a lesser extent, CA governments • We’ll start with an examination of what government does and why

  4. What Government Does • We all have routines, take a few seconds and make a list what you do on a typical day • Take a second look at your list: which of the items is completely under your control and which are influenced, in some way, by government?

  5. Collective Action Problem • Why is government involved in these things? • Government is simply the mechanism by which people collectively organize to provide things individuals can not provide for themselves • Could a society function without a government? • Whether you like it or not, government is necessary and affects many aspects of your life • Allows us to overcome “Collective Action Problems” • Allows/forces us to act in concert, • at a cost to ourselves, • to provide something we can’t provide on our own

  6. Government or the Free Market • What about the free market? • Is there such a thing as the free market? • What kind of restrictions are there on what can be traded? • How about restrictions on who can participate in markets? • Are we better or worse off with these and other restrictions?

  7. Government or the Free Market • What about restrictions on the ability of those with more money to finance political campaigns or pay for political advertising? • Who benefits when regulations are removed? • Free market boundaries are not objective but are politically determined • Politics is about Power

  8. What Government Does • The preamble of our Constitution essentially lays out what the Framers wanted our government to do • The Preamble

  9. Establish Justice and Ensure Domestic Tranquility • Police powers to Provide Order • Monopolization of Violence • Protect Property • Set the rules that allow commerce to flourish (enforce contracts, punish fraud, etc.) • Why would we want financial markets to be LESS efficient? • Socialize citizens

  10. Provide for the Common Defense • The global society has no government to establish justice • Subsequently all governments have an interest in protecting themselves

  11. Promote the General Welfare • Provide “Public Goods” • Things that everyone can share • Therefore there is no possibility for profit so if they are to be provided, it must be by government • Creates a Free Rider Problem (enjoy the benefits without paying the costs) • Can you think of any examples? • National defense, lighthouse, the reduction of “negative externalities” such as air and water pollution

  12. Promote the General Welfare • Government also provides a number of services that could be, and often are, provided by the private sector • Like what? • Education, libraries, fire protection, medicare, social security, etc. • Why? Isn’t it enough to have equality of opportunity? • Are we going to achieve better outcomes if we leave success solely up to individual competition?

  13. Right to Die • What should we do if a 30 year-old man, who decided not to buy health insurance, found himself in need of six months of intensive care? • Would it make a difference if he had tried to buy insurance but either couldn’t afford it or was denied because of a pre-existing condition? • Should society, through government, try to mitigate some of the “common hazards of life”? • What about compassion? • http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/opinion/krugman-free-to-die.html?_r=2&hp

  14. Equality and Freedom • Positive Freedom: Having the power and resources to fulfill one’s potential • Equality requires government action to provide equal opportunities or to remove limitations to political or economic action • Examples? • Why provide these services? • Allows everyone the opportunity to succeed even in the face of tragedy or bad luck

  15. Equality and Freedom • Negative Freedom: absence of restraint • Equality can be best achieved by government getting involved as little as possible, especially in the marketplace • Why would a strong welfare state increase social mobility and make people more open to change?

  16. Secure the Blessings of Liberty • What kind of liberties do we have? • Freedom of speech, press, assembly, etc. • From whom do we need to be protected? • Ironically, one key function of government is to protect us from itself

  17. Politics • While we can all agree the preceding items are necessary • We disagree about how much of each of these we need or whom should provide them (national, state, local) • Politics is the process for determining whose values will prevail • Paradoxically, most people complain about too much government but demand increased government services

  18. Politics • Taken to the extreme, some of the functions of government mentioned above come into conflict with each other. • For instance, we can’t have maximum amounts of both liberty and public services. • We need to contribute taxes to bring about things we can’t achieve on our own • Critics of government argue that the free market will provide what we need more efficiently without government • How and why does the government currently interfere in the free market?

More Related