Chapter Summary

Why Government? (pp. 332-334)

It is difficult to imagine a society without any government, although anarchists advocate the abolition of government. Government serves a number of functions: protection of the citizenry, the securing of order, the distribution of power in an equitable fashion, and the provision of a safety net.

Political parties and government bureaucracy play a central role in the way representative democracy functions in the United States.

The actual distribution of power in American society contradicts the expectation that the government should ensure equality. Many social scientists believe that America is a pluralistic society in terms of the distribution of power. In contrast to the pluralist view, the power elite model asserts that power is concentrated in a small group of political, economic, and military leaders. While there is some validity to both the pluralist and the power elite positions, neither seems to capture fully the realities of power distribution.

An important part of the task of securing order is the building of trust. Americans view government with more skepticism than they do other social institutions. In fact, Americans trust most other institutions far more than they trust government. The failure of trust is one reason for the relatively low proportion of Americans who vote. In general, about half or less of the voting-age population participates in national elections, and the proportion is much lower for state and local elections. The failure of trust also leads to altered voting patterns. Yet another consequence of the failure of trust is political alienation.

Americans believe that they have a right to expect effectiveness, efficiency, and honesty from the politicians who are running their government, but, unfortunately, they observe contrary qualities: waste, corruption, and scandals. Government waste refers to such things as excessive costs, and unnecessary expenditures. In general, the instances of corruption and scandal involve politicians acting in terms of self-interest or particular interests to the detriment of their constituencies or the general public.

From time to time, the government seems mired in inaction, unable to legislate significant new policies because of ideological conflict, party differences, or a standoff between the executive and the legislative branches of the government: a situation known as gridlock.

Today, Americans generally expect government to maintain an equitable distribution of power so that they have an equal opportunity to secure a high quality of life. Both politicians and the citizenry expect government at all levels to have a role in those matters that affect the quality of life. The government has failed to maintain a social system in which all individuals, regardless of their social origins, have equal opportunities.

There is also a contradiction between the value of individual rights and the way government functions to protect them. At least a part of the problem of inadequate protection of individual rights lies in the dilemma faced by government: how can individual rights and social order both be preserved?

Any satisfying relationship, including the relationship individuals have with organizations, requires give and take. People may view government not as their protector and safety net, but as their competitor for the good things in life, or even as their enemy.

There are varied social structural and social psychological factors that create and help perpetuate the problems of government.

Size is one of the social structural factors. The growth of government reflects both a growing population and a growing number of functions and services assumed by government. Both the size of government and the size of the population have consequences for functioning. The structure of the government also contributes to the problem, both in terms of the extent to which the government is a political democracy and the way the government is organized to fulfill its functions. The government is organized along bureaucratic lines in order to fulfill its various functions. The government is not organized in a way to deal effectively with waste and corruption. Another issue is the economics of campaigning. It is evident that people without access to considerable sums of money or money-raising skills are unlikely to win an election. The media also play a role in American politics: The nature of the coverage and the influence of the media have changed as radio, network television, cable television, and the Internet have been added to the print media as factors in the political process. Control of the media lies in the hands of a small group of corporations. Interest groups are another influence: The most effective way to influence a massive organization like government is through other organizations. Interest groups have become an increasingly important part of American political life.

Public attitudes represent one of the social psychological factors: Negative attitudes lead to alienation and withdrawal from political life, and these contrary attitudes pose a dilemma for politicians. Americans, for the most part, are suspicious of extreme ideologues and value compromise in resolving political conflicts.

Many of the factors that contribute to the problems of government pose an ongoing dilemma. While selected restructuring might be helpful, it is always a trial-and-error process. One of the most important needs in addressing problems of government is campaign finance reform. Greater citizen participation is also needed to address the problems of government. The problem is, given the political alienation of so many citizens, how do we secure more participation? One way to change attitudes is to get citizens to become part of groups that engage in political discussion.