Category: The Basics

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT refers to participation that connects citizens to government.  Civic engagement plays a vital role in politics, particularly in the context of governments that fall into the nonauthoritarian political system, such as the U.S. (recall that the U.S. has an indirect democracy – more specifically, a constitutional federal republic).  “In the United States, citizens play an important role in influencing what policies are pursued, what values the government chooses to support, what initiatives are granted funding, and who gets to make the final decisions” (American Government, Ch. 1).

Perhaps the most obvious example of a pathway to civic engagement is voting; however, there are several other ways in which citizens can engage in politics and government. 

Civic engagement is impacted by many factors, including age, wealth, education, and how strongly a person feels about an issue.  Generally speaking, wealthier, older, and more educated citizens are those most likely to engage with government.  This has implications; after all, government is most responsive to the needs and desires of those who engage.

Democracy is a form of government in which power is vested in the people.  In a DIRECT DEMOCRACY, political decisions are made directly by the people.  In an INDIRECT DEMOCRACY, the people select officials to represent them in the decision-making process. 

Fundamental Principles of Democracy

All democratic governments, whether direct or indirect, are based on three fundamental principles:

• POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY, or the idea that citizens are the ultimate source of power;
• POLITICAL LIBERTY, or the idea that citizens are protected from government interference in the exercise of basic freedoms; and
• POLITICAL EQUALITY, or the idea that every person carries equal weight in the conduct of public businesses

While all democracies incorporate these principles into their structure and functions, not all democracies are structured and function the same way.  For instance, two countries may have indirect democracies, but the specific institutions that are established within those indirect democracies may differ in terms of their structure, functions, and formal or informal rules concerning who may exercise power. They may also differ in terms of the economic system that they have (i.e., capitalism, regulated capitalism, socialism, or social democracy), which has implications concerning how much control the government has in terms of the economy and when the government feels it is appropriate to intervene in economic matters.

Theories of Democracy

Three theories that seek to explain how power is (or should be) exercised within a democratic government include: 

• ELITE DEMOCRACY, which claims political power rests in the hands of a small, elite group of people
• PLURALIST DEMOCRACY, which claims political power rests in the hands of groups of people
• PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY, which claims power rests in the hands of people who engage in broad, active, and direct democratic participation in government, industry, education, and community affairs

These theories are not mutually exclusive; in most democratic governments, you will find elements that reflect two or more of these theories. Oftentimes, the way power is exercised within a democratic government can be explained by the TRADEOFFS PERSPECTIVE, which holds that government action and public policy is not controlled solely by the elite, or by groups of people, or by direct and broad participation of individual people but instead is influenced by an ongoing series of compromises between these actors.

Which theories are most prevalent in a government has implications concerning the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of citizens and the way in which these citizens can participate in civic life, gain and exercise power, and effectuate change. 

Authoritarian Systems

In AUTHORITARIAN SYSTEMS, power resides with the state. This means that the state has the authority to make decisions concerning how power will be exercised and how the social order will be structured. In other words, only the state can make decisions regarding how people should live their collective lives.

In authoritarian systems, people have obligations and responsibilities to the state, but they do not necessarily have rights or privileges against the state (unless rights or privileges are granted to the people, as was the case with the Magna Carta, in which case the state may choose to reissue or recall those rights as it sees fit).  In authoritarian systems, people play the role of SUBJECTS who must submit to the state’s exercise of power.  

Governments that are considered to fall within the scope of authoritarian political systems include, but are not limited to,

• MONARCHY – undivided rule or absolute sovereignty by a single person
• DICTATORSHIP – rule or absolute power by a dictator or a small clique
• ARISTOCRACY – rule by the best suited, through virtue, talent, or education
• OLIGARCHY – rule by a few members of the elite, an economic class that controls political and economic affairs

Nonauthoritarian Systems

In NONAUTHORITARIAN SYSTEMS, power resides with the people. This means that individuals, either directly or indirectly, make decisions concerning how power will be exercised and how the social order will be structured. 

ANARCHY, or the absence of government, is considered to be the most extreme form of social order falling within the scope of nonauthoritarian political systems. 

DEMOCRACY also falls within the scope of nonauthoritarian political systems.  In democracies, power resides with the people.  People play the role of CITIZENS who have consented to be governed; they have obligations and responsibilities to the state, and the state provides procedural guarantees to preserve their rights as citizens. 

POWER is simply the ability to get others to do what you want.  Power is central to the politics and government, which is reflected in our basic definitions of these concepts: recall that politics involves distributing limited power and resources in society, and government is defined as the structure through which AUTHORITY (i.e., power that is viewed as legitimate) is exercised over a group of people.

Power in the civil arena has many different sources, and the exercise of power can take many different forms.  Understanding where power comes from and how it can be exercised within the civic arena can help you more effectively engage in civic life.

GOVERNMENT is the structure through which authority is exercised over a group of people.  Government provides society with:

1. rules about conflict resolution and the allocation of resources
   • U.S. constitution and constitutional law; federal statutory laws; federal administrative rules and regulations
   • Texas Constitution; Texas statutory laws; Texas administrative rules and regulations
   • local ordinances
2. institutions where governmental power is exercised to enforce those rules and maintain social order
   • U.S. Congress (i.e., U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate); President and federal bureaucracy; federal courts (Supreme Court, courts of appeals, district courts)
   • Texas Legislature (i.e., Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate); plural executive and bureaucracy; state courts (Texas Supreme Court, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, courts of appeals, and district courts)
   • county government (commissioner’s courts), municipal government, local courts (justices of the peace, municipal courts, and county courts), and special districts

Government is created to promote the safety and well-being of the nation.  Of course, not everyone agrees on what this means or how best to achieve this goal (i.e., which collective goals the government should seek to accomplish, and which benefits the government should seek to provide).  As a result, conflict arises within government, making politics necessary.

Similarly, not everyone agrees as to whether – and why – we should have government, nor does everyone agree on what the “right” form of government looks like. 

Because of the rules and institutions we have in place and the way that we have divided power between the different levels of government, our government is considered a CONSTITUTIONAL FEDERAL REPUBLIC, which is a form of indirect or representative democracy.

For more information about the different types of government found around the world today, check out the CIA World Factbook website.

“POLITICS is who gets what, when, and how.”- Harold Lasswell

Politics is a process

Politics refers to the process through which we arrange and live our collective lives in a social order based on legitimate principles.  LEGITIMACY comes from the belief that something is right and proper, and it compels obedience.   

Politics is a fundamental human activity

According to Aristotle, people are political animals because we are social creatures with the power of speech and the ability to engage in moral reasoning.  This means that when conflict arises, people can collectively determine who gets what, when, and how by coming together, engaging in discourse with others, and agreeing upon which principles are legitimate.  

Politics allows for conflict resolution

Power and resources are not unlimited.  There’s only so many fish in the sea; so many jobs in a geographic area; so much meat, produce, or toilet paper available for distribution to retailers; etc.  Similarly, power is subject to limitations and constraints. 

When power and resources are limited, conflict is inevitable.  Politics allows us to determine how power and limited resources can be distributed within society without being limited to the use of force or violence.  As social creatures with the power of speech, people can engage in bargaining, coercion, compromise, cooperation, deceit, and persuasion when determining who gets what, when, and how.  This does not mean, however, that politics does not sometimes result in the use of force.

Politics is everywhere

Politics does not only exist in the context of government; politics exists within any social context.