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diff --git a/rich/04_three_political_cultures b/rich/04_three_political_cultures new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dbe8db1 --- /dev/null +++ b/rich/04_three_political_cultures @@ -0,0 +1,74 @@ +"The Three Political Cultures" by Daniel J Elazar + +"The US is...inhabited by a single people of great diversity." +It has a single political culture and many subcultures. + +Policital culture: + Patterns of political attitudes + Expectations of purpose/nature of government and poli. process + Who works in the government + Interacting with government and civic behavior (ethics, conscience,) + +The US's three subcultures: + Each tied to an original region and carried by migration. Systems of + "marketplace and the commonwealth" + Each is a framework rather than an absolute set of ideas, and + changes over time like other cultures + - Individualistic + Government is a service to people and doesn't have goals other + than serving its people individually. + Keep private activities private, and the government should only + regulate public activities (like economic marketplace), but be + small gov't + Politics is viewed as a career and a way to better oneself (be + compensated) by providing good services for the public. + Political life is a system of mutual obligations, on a + person-to-person basis for small org but person-to-party basis + for federal or state (for ex.) + Okay with corruption and limited ideological purity. Deal-making + and maintaining a mostly beneficial political system for + constituents is viewed as best practice. + - Moralistic + Government is focused on developing commonwealth or "greater + good." + Morality of politicians is important because the trades that + happen are means to establish a good society. + Community and gov't (if necessary) can intervene in private life + if for public welfare. (Communitarian) + Many believe that greater good can be best served by community + involvement, wary of government encroachment, and economically. + Sometimes support social intervention like censorship. + Party regularity is unimportant because politicians are expected + to work towards a good society, regardless of nonpartisan, third + party, or even cross-party alliance. + Amateur participation is expected because politics is not + supposed to be a profitable business, and corruption deterred. + Support and accept increased government footprint, and allow + bureaucracy and merit systems. + - Traditionalistic + "Paternalistic and elitist conception of the commonwealth" + Government maintains a strict hierarchy and supports itself as a + small group of established elite with family ties or social + position. + Expects that any (even minimal) participant in political culture + have a definite role to play and gain personally (although not + always pecuniarily). + Believe that political parties are unimportant except to recruit + for undesirable offices. + Political leaders are "conservative and custodial" + Anti-bureaucratic, support informal relationship-based systems + to maintain the hierarchy (because bureaucracy -> merit). + +Geographically, established early in the colonies. DC, VA, PA area +individualistic. North is moralistic and South is traditional. These +typically extend westward, and the individualistic tribe is less +established than the other two, but very often mixes with moralistic. + +Interactions: + - moralistic + individualistic balance each other's respective + tendencies to overreach into personal life and to allow society to + degrade. + - traditionalistic order, while often damaging to opressed groups, + helps create (when functioning properly) a benevolent elite for + political power but has the same danger as oligarchy. + diff --git a/rich/05_lecture b/rich/05_lecture new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d1f891f --- /dev/null +++ b/rich/05_lecture @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +Political Science trying to be a science doesn't make it a science, but +it approaches actionable results. +Trump, Obama campaigns use "Hope and Change," or "MAGA" based on how +voters interact with the political system. +Or presentations based on hard work vs god/religious messages. +Data collection and targeted messaging is getting better. + +# American Gov and Process +The government is slow/inefficient, but this is how it was designed by +the founders. +What did they want? + - Feared tyranny = distrust of power (in general) + - System of government + - Divides power (branches balance each other's power) + - Competitive: {bicameral legis. competes, states compete, + branches compete} for power + - Checks and Balances, Federalism + - Government is slow, piecemeal, and balanced + +Types of Gov (formal structure that rules people) +- Who governs? + Autocracy = one, oligarchy = group, democracy = people +- How much gov control? + Authoritarian = ( state > individual rights ), often violent + Totalitarian = ( state eliminates other forms of power, transforms + society ), always violent + Constitutional = power, rights, responsibilities designed beforehand +- Other, more complex classifications |