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5. Structures and Institutions

5. Structures and Institutions. Government Structures. Government structures are the basic functions that governments need to perform. They may take many different forms, but they will always be there.

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5. Structures and Institutions

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  1. 5. Structures and Institutions

  2. Government Structures • Governmentstructures are the basic functions that governments need to perform. • They may take many different forms, but they will always be there. • For example, since all governments must establish the rules of acceptable behavior, every government must have • Legislative structures, which create laws • Executive structures, which implement laws • Judicial and policing structures, which enforce laws

  3. Structures or Institutions? • Structures are generic, whereas institutions are specific. • A legislature is a political structure; the British House of Commons is a political institution. • A judicial system is a political structure; the U.S. Supreme Court is a political institution. • Political institutions are the organizational structures through which political power is exercised.

  4. Human Nature and Political Institutions • A society's political institutions reflect that society’s basic view of human nature. • James Madison and the U.S. Founding Fathers were pessimistic about human nature. • Consequently, they designed a system of interlocking institutions with checks on each other so that “ambition could be made to counteract ambition.”[1] [1] James Madison, Federalist No. 51, in The Federalist Papers, ed. Clinton Rossiter (New York: New American Library of World Literature, 1961), 322.

  5. Human Nature and Political Institutions • The U.S. system is designed to make it difficult for the government to infringe on citizens’ rights. • But it also makes it hard to get much done at all.

  6. Human Nature and Political Institutions • Taking a more positive view of humankind, many other governments have simpler systems that make it far easier to enact policy. • This may come at the cost of stability and may place the minority at the mercy of the majority.

  7. The Reality of Political Institutions • Political institutions reflect the values of society. • Institutions can protect or weaken values such as democracy and personal freedom. • Similarly, institutions may bolster or impede the personal power and security of a leader. • Given the competing ideals and values in a society, the push for compromise quickly takes us away from anyone’s ideal institutions.

  8. Context, Evolution, and the Unbearable Weight of History • Most government institutions have evolved over time. • They are rarely designed or created from scratch. • Even when intentionally designed, nations seldom, if ever, have anything close to a blank page when they start creating a government. • Almost every government’s institutions carry the legacy of generations.

  9. Context, Evolution, and the Unbearable Weight of History • Even revolutions may not lead to dramatic changes in institutions. • A nation’s structures may have been imposed upon it by another source, such as a colonial power. • Even if a nation could plan its structures, plans do not always work out the way they are intended. • Government institutions are shaped by history, culture, necessity, and circumstance. • They are always imperfect.

  10. Failed Institutions • Regardless of intentions, statements, and constitutions, institutions may often serve purposes that are not apparent. • Institutions can be hijacked by those with less-than-noble intentions. • They may simply be distractions or even charades, such as elections for a dictator.

  11. Legitimacy, Information, and Human Nature • Institutions can enhance the voluntary acceptance of government. • They can also teach and shape public demands. • The types of institutions we utilize can shape our basic behavior in our day-to-day lives.

  12. Legitimacy, Information, and Human Nature • For instance, governments demanding citizen participation also demand that citizens be more aware. • Governments that act paternally are likely to breed citizens dependent on strong leadership. • Institutions that hunt down and punish dissent will generate fear, isolation, and atomization.

  13. Choosing Institutions: Picking a Terrain • The structures that are put into place will be affected by the basic political culture. • A nation’s political culture is composed of “the system of empirical beliefs, expressive symbols, and values, which defines the situation in which political action takes place.”[1] • This political culture can involve religious values, expectations, morals, ethics, and traditions. [1] Sidney Verba, “Comparative Political Culture,” in Political Culture and Political Development, ed. Lucian W. Pye and Sidney Verba (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965), 513.

  14. Choosing Institutions:Selecting a Basic Form • Aristotle identified six basic types of government. • These were first divided by whether they worked for the benefit of all (good) or only for the ruling class (perverted). • The second major distinction was the size of the group in charge.

  15. Aristotle’s Typology of Governments

  16. Choosing Institutions:Selecting a Basic Form • Some countries that have monarchs do not actually give them much power. • A country that does not have a monarch is, according to one very basic definition, a republic. • Many representative democracies are actually ruled, to a greater or lesser degree, by some form of an aristocracy made up of a small group of elites. • Many democracies also have some very undemocratic elements, such as constitutional courts.

  17. Choosing Institutions: Connecting Your Government • The relationships among different levels of government can be more or less decentralized. • The three main systems are unitary, federal, and the confederal. • Most nations do not choose to have one system or another. • The makeup of the nation, its history, its culture, and its geography tend to determine the type of structure.

  18. Choosing Institutions: Connecting Your Government • In a unitary system power is centralized at the national level. • The benefits of this type of system include simplicity, equality, and lack of redundancy. • Some local governing boards may have input, but only at the mercy of the national government.

  19. Choosing Institutions: Connecting Your Government • In a federal system, sovereignty is shared between the national and the local government units. • This works well in diverse countries with variations in local conditions, economies, and cultures.

  20. Choosing Institutions: Connecting Your Government

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