Morgan Williams
Political Assign #1
February 1,2013
Overall, chapter 1 was very informative. It gave me a better understanding of our government and politics and how things actually work. I like the fact that it broke things down like why a government is necessary, what politics and government really are, political ideologies, who really rules in America etc. What stuck out to me the most are the fundamental values found on page 6 of the text. The term “political socialization” mentioned, caused me to think about how i have been politically socialized and to what extent and two, the term “political culture” gave me a better understanding of how our nation is sustained. I learned many things from this chapter. One of the things I learned while reading this chapter is why a government is necessary. Without a government in place things would be totally out of order, there wouldn’t be any public goods or services provided to all citizens. I also learned that no individual, regardless of wealth, what type of privileges they may have or what position they may hold is above the law and that is one of the most important things that I learned because prior to reading this chapter, I was under the impression that there are some who are above the law. For example, I thought that police officers, lawyers, judges etc were above the law to a certain extent. I learned that politics revolve around resolving any conflicts within states and deciding who gets what, when, where and how. Additionally, I learned that politics focus on things at not only a state or local level but at a federal level as well and not just those in our family who have rule over us or even those we work with or work for. Having some form of government is very important because without it as mentioned before, our nation would be so chaotic that someone with more power than a typical american would have to interfere and figure out ways to diffuse the chaos. Without
government, there would be no security, liberty, property rights or the maintaining of legitimacy through exercising authority consistent with the fundamental values of those being governed.
What is meant by the term “Democracy?” according to the text, democracy is defined as a system of government in which political authority is granted from the people as a whole.
Democracy is important because in today’s world, we the people will not grant legitimacy to the government unless it is based on democracy and not just those who are in charge. “Political
Culture” is a set of ideas, beliefs and/or values about the government and politics as a whole that are shared not only by those involved in the government or politics but by all citizens (page
6). “Ideology” is a closely linked set of beliefs about politics. There is a set of guiding values that come along with political ideology. The main two ideologies are : Conservatism and
Liberalism.
The changing face of america affects American politics in many ways; some good ways and some bad ways. The fact that technology is advancing 365 days a year affects our politics because people are becoming more and more dependent upon it which causes a lack of communication, open mindedness and other negative connotations. The rapid change in technology has transformed and continues to transform the way we communicate with one another, where and how we work and where and how we learn. For example, one students could be reading this text electronically and even taking this class online for some reason or the other but that way of learning is different than the classic way of learning. On the other hand, as society and communication advance, people will become more aware of what’s going on as far as politics go. Some people are mislead when it comes to how politics work and such because of how the media, school books, teachers/professors portray it but as mentioned before, as we advance in things such a technology, communication even as a society as a whole the mislead
