Agenda

• Today

    - What is Government? What is politics? Part 1 - 
    - Discussion: Experiences with Government
    - Questions

• Next class (Monday):

    - What is Government? What is politics? Part 2

Reminder

• Module 0 Due September 2
• Start with Module 1

Introduction to Government

Introduction Government: Questions to consider

A word on words

Words often have multiple meanings

• Apple

    - A fruit
    - A tech company
    - A record label
    - A computer made by the tech company

• Glass

    - Something we drink from
    - A material
    - A mirror

A word on words

• Government can mean multiple things

    - The specific group of people in charge of...
    - The enduring institution or organization we call government

A word on words

• Government can mean multiple things

    - The specific group of people in charge of...
    - The enduring institution or organization we call government

For us, generally the second meaning: the enduring institution or organization we call government.

A word on words

• State has at least three meanings

    - International: State = independent country
    - United States: State = one of the 50 states
    - Political Science: State = government

All of these apply in this class

A word on words

• Politics

    - The process of making collective decisions in the context of the state or government

What is government?

• What government does? (Today)
• What is unique about government? (Monday)

What is government?

• What government does?

    - Then what is politics?

• What makes government unique?

    - What does this make politics?

What government does?

What is politics?

• Expensive or involves large amounts of money
• Distant
• Involves politicians or campaigns
• involves voting or decision making
• Involves rights
• National borders
• Controversial

What is politics: State and local (mostly)

Houston Public Works

What is politics: Federal, state and local

Metro rail

What is politics: Federal, state and local

HCC Central Campus

What is politics?

• Not distant
• immediate,right here
• touches everything
• direct impacts are constant
• involves all of us
• It can be expensive, but it’s not always about money

Politics is powerful

• Immense power to achieve good ends

Politics is powerful

• Immense power to achieve good ends
• Immense power to do incredible harm

Politics is powerful

• Immense power to achieve good ends
• Immense power to do incredible harm

Politics is powerful

What does government do?

What makes government different?

Other organizations - Group 1

• Family

    - What does it have in common?
    - What is different?

Other organizations

• Family

• Church

    - What does it (government) have in common?
    - What is different?

Other organizations

• Family

• Church

• Community organizations (voluntary)

    - What does it have in common?
    - What is different?

Other organizations

• Family

• Church

• Community organizations (voluntary)

• Charities

    - What does it have in common?
    - What is different?

Other organizations

• Family

• Church

• Community organizations (voluntary)

• Charities

• Businesses - The Market

    - What does it have in common?
    - What is different?

Other organizations - Group 2

• Organized crime

    - What does it have in common?
    - What is different?

Other organizations

• Organized crime

• vigilantes

    - What does it have in common?
    - What is different?

Other organizations

• Organized crime

• vigilantes

• terrorists

    - What does it have in common?
    - What is different?

Other organizations

• For the Group 1 organizations, how can they enforce their rules?

For the Group 2 organizations, who are they responsible to and how do we view their use of force?

What is “the state”?

The organized, coercive use of violent force commonly accepted as legitimate

• organized
• Coercive use
• violent force (armed force)
• Legitimacy

Introduction Government: Questions to consider

What is politics?

• Politics is the process of making collective decisions in the context of…

What is politics?

• Politics is the process of making collective decisions in the context of…

The State or government.

The difference between politics and everything else

These organizations all engage in collective action and collective decision making, but lack one thing the state has:

• Family
• Church
• Community organizations (voluntary)
• Charities
• Businesses - The Market

The difference between politics and everything else

These organizations all engage in collective action, but lack one thing the state has:

• Family
• Church
• Community organizations (voluntary)
• Charities
• Businesses - The Market

Coercive use of violent force

Studying other organizations

Family, church, the market, etc. are all about making collective decisions in:

The Voluntary Sphere

Politics is about

Making collective decisions in:

The Coercive Sphere

Politics is powerful

George Washington

Politics is powerful

Frederick Douglass

Authorship and License

Do not submit to Quizlet, Chegg, Coursehero, or other similar commercial websites.

• Author: Tom Hanna

• Website: tomhanna.me

• License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.