Lesson 11 Politics and the Economy

Learning objectives for Chapter 11

What are the key ideas concerning politics and the economy from the stand point of Conflict Theory, Functionalist Theory, and Symbolic Interactionalist Theory?

Who rules America from these differing perspectives and what has happened to  US civil liberties after September 11, 2001?

How are Democrats and Republicans  similar and different in their ideologies and appeal to Americans?

What are the relationships between voting behavior and race/ethnicity, education, employment, income, age, and gender?

Know about state violence, including prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib prison.

Trace the five types of economies in human history by identifying the inventions that inspired them.

Vocabulary to learn from Chapter 11

authority

capitalism

charismatic authority

convergence theory

coercion

domestic policy

democracies

dictatorships

direct and representative democracies

foreign policy

income inequalities

interlocking directorates

lobbyists

monarchies

multinational corporations

"New World Order

oligarchies

PACs

power

rational-legal

socialism

social inequality due to production and consumption

special interest groups

terrorism

traditional authority

U.S. political system

world economic systems

Discussion

There are three levels of government: the Federal, State, and Local levels.

The branches of government on the FEDERAL level. These include:

1. Executive Branch, which is headed by the President of the United States. Elected to office, he serves a four year term

2. Legislative Branch, which consists of Congress (discussed below). Each Congressional Session lasts two years.

3. Judicial Branch, which is the Supreme Court on the Federal level. Serving a life term, they are appointed, not elected. Courts interpret policy, deciding if a policy is "legal".

CONGRESS is made up of two branches, which are the House of Representatives and the Senate.

1. House of Representatives consists of 435 members, who serve a two year term. The number of members from each state is determined by the population of each state. All fiscal bills are begun in the House. In order for a legislative bill to become law, it must be signed first by the Speaker of the House, then by the President of the Senate

2. Senate consists of 100 members who serve terms of six years. Membership in the Senate includes two representatives from each state. The Senate is to give advice and consent to the executive branch of government.

There are two major political parties in the United States at this time, with numerous smaller parties existing. The two major parties include the: 1) DEMOCRATIC PARTY with a liberal ideology, supporting government intervention in the provision of welfare services to the poor (NEO-LIBERALS are more conservative than the old liberals); and 2) REPUBLICAN PARTY with a conservative ideology, opposing government intervention in the provision of welfare services (NEO-CONSERVATIVES are more willing to deal with social problems than old conservatives).

CHAIRMANSHIPS of major committees is determined by whichever political party is in power at the time.

"Minutes" of what occurs in Congressional meeting each day is recorded in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. A Senator can place information into the Congressional Record without even having attended that day.

The FEDERAL REGISTER is an informational bulletin available to the public.

Large organizations, public or private, influence policy. Beyond the PACs (Political Action Committees), bureaucracies, and other interests groups, there is some question as to whether we in the United States have the handle on making our own policies as we claim. Some suggest that we no longer have a pluralist country (where political decisions are made by constantly changing coalitions of many political forces). This idea was expressed by C. Wright Mills in his book The Power Elite; that we are now ruled by a small unified "ruling class:"

There is no longer, on the one hand, an economy and, on the other hand, a political world, containing a military establishment unimportant to politics and to money-making. There is a political economy numerously linked with military order and decision.

This triangle of power is now a structural fact, and it is the key to any understanding of the higher circles in America today. For as each of these domains has coincided with the others, as decisions in each have become broader, the leading men of each -the high military, the corporation executive, the political directorate - have tended to come together to form the power elite of America.

One of the major reasons, according to Mills, that there is a close cooperation and unity among these elite is that they come from common social backgrounds; they come from upper-class and upper-middle-class white families living in urban areas of the country. They attended Ivy League schools together and have closely inter-connected "networks" sharing common interests (and wishing to protect those interests!).

Interestingly enough, the person who coined the term "military-industrial complex," and who enthusiastically warned the US public against it was President Dwight Eisenhower, the former 5-star General and head of the Normandy Invasion during WWII! His statements were very similar to Mills on the subject of a ruling elite.

Robert Michels spoke out on this concept and coined the phrase "iron law of oligarchy." It is his position that all large organizations (corporate or political) are "inevitably" ruled by a few powerful people. His reasoning is that the entire membership of any large organization simply cannot make day-to-day decisions and, therefore, delegate power to a small group or a single individual. That power position is further strengthened by control of the information, money, and facilities granted under such an arrangement; this self-perpetuates control and enables the powerful to improve and refine their leadership positions - including protecting those positions.

If you look at a few concepts, it appears there may be some strength to these arguments:

1) America is the world's largest producer and exporter of military weaponry. We out-distance second place by a huge margin.

2) Nearly one-third of our own federal funds goes to the military, making it the largest single customer of American business

3) Our current peace-time figure of troops in the military is more than 2 million, whereas we only had 3.5 million at the peak of the Viet Nam War.

4) According to the General Accounting Office, there is a 91% chance of a major cost overrun on the average military contract.

5) Fraud and waste, according to the General Accounting Office, costs the Department of Defense at least $15 billion per year.

6) The budgets of many of our multi-national corporations are many time larger than that of the GNP of many of the countries in which they locate.

7) Evidence suggests that our corporations are simply using-up the resources of these countries (even to the point of economic control, due to sheer dominance in the market place, over what is produced in these countries).

8) Many of those same countries spend the money they make from our multi-national corporations to buy weapons from us--bringing the money full-circle back to the power elite.

It appears that lobbyists, special interest groups, and PACs have an influence not only in our own country, but in the politics and economics of other countries. This concept is what some (those who study and hold to World Systems Theory) say the "New World Order" is all about--keeping third world countries not as direct "political colonies," but as "economic colonies."

Movies assigned

Chapter 11 Politics & the Economy

Videos that you can rent which are based upon some of the principles of this lesson:

1776

Sgt York

Fail Safe

Pearl Harbor

Night Crossing

1941