1Five Principles of

Politics

Making Sense of Government and Politics• Two fundamental questions about government and politics:– What do we observe? An empirical question– Why? Requires building a theory around principles

• Two objectives in this introductory chapter:– Explain what we mean by government and politics

– Introduce our five principles of politics

What is Government?

• The institutions and procedures through which a land and its people are ruled

• Governments may be simple, like a tribal council that makes all decisions, or they may be complex, like our own system of separate branches and levels of government

Discussion: Government in a Farming Society• Imagine that everyone in this room is a farmer in our own self-contained society

• We’re all equal in every respect

• One of us proposes to build an irrigation system

• How do we make decisions?

Forms of Government:Inclusiveness• Autocracy – A single

individual rules• Oligarchy – A small group of

landowners, military officers, or wealthy merchants rules

• Democracy – A system of rule that permits citizens to play a significant part in the governmental process

Forms of Government:Recognition of Limits• Constitutional – Formal and effective limits are placed on the powers of government

• Authoritarian – No formal limits are placed on government but government may be effectively limited by other social institutions

• Totalitarian – No formal or effective limits on government’s power of any kind

What is Politics?

• The conflicts and struggles over the leadership, structure, and policies of government

• Politics takes many forms – voting, running for office, joining groups and parties, lobbying, and even speaking to friends and neighbors

• The 5 principles of politics can be used to explain political action

Clicker Question

Imagine a hypothetical society in which a king has almost total power but is constrained in his coercive power by the church. This government would best be described as a(n):

A.authoritarian democracy.B.constitutional autocracy.C.totalitarian oligarchy.D.authoritarian autocracy.

Introducing the 5 Principles of Politics• All political behavior has a purpose

• Institutions structure politics• All politics is collective action• Political outcomes are the products of individual preferences, institutional procedures, and collective action

• History matters

Rationality Principle

• All political behavior has a purpose

• Political behavior is instrumental– Not random– Done with forethought– Calculation

• Political actors pursue policy preferences, reelection, power, and to maximize their agency budgets

Institution Principle

• Institutions structure politics• Institutions are the rules and procedures that provide incentives for political behavior

• Remember that institutions themselves are not necessarily permanently fixed. Rules may change; they just don’t change easily

Institutions Provide Authority in Four Ways• Jurisdiction – The domain over which decisions may be made

• Agenda and Veto Power – Gatekeeping power and the power to say “no”

• Decisiveness – Rules for decision making

• Delegation – Transmission of authority

Collective Action Principle• All politics is collective action• Collective action is difficult and the difficulty mounts as the number of people and interests involved grows

• Sometimes there are collective action dilemmas – situations in which individually rational incentives do not align with shared, collective interests

A Collective Dilemma

Collective Action is Difficult• Collective action becomes even more difficult as the number of parties involved increases or as the ability to bargain face-to-face is hampered. Examples:– Free Riding– Tragedy of the Commons

• Institutions are the solutions to these problems

Policy Principle

• Political outcomes are the products of individual preferences and institutional procedures

• The policy principle is the logical combination of the first three principles

History Principle

• How we got here matters• Path dependency – certain possibilities are made more or less likely because of the historical path taken

Clicker Question

A member of Congress seeks to bring additional dollars home to his districts for construction of roads and bridges. This is an example of the:

A.Institution Principle.B.Rationality Principle.C.History Principle.D.Collective Action Principle.