• THIS MORNING:
• A case for government
• Democracy.
• Political capacity



• WHY GOVERNMENT MAY BE NECESSARY:
• A "night-watchman" state
• Protects rights against attack from others.
• There is possibly another defense of government
• Problem: individual rights and freedom may conflict with the common good.
• Even worse, rational behavior for individuals may lead to collective harm.
• Individuals acting rationally in their own interests can and frequently do bring ruin on the community and hence on themselves.
• The problem of public goods:
• What would happen if Congress passed a law making support for the military voluntary, much as contributions to charities are voluntary?
• The problem of the market place
• Free riders and freedom
• Should the government leave environmental protection market place?
• Major proposition: To escape the (inevitable?) problem of the destruction of the commons and free riders some form of coercion is necessary.
• This is a possible justification for government
• Problems that only individuals organized into social groups can solve.
• Major argument: many 21^st century problems can only be solved by collective action
• Major proposition: the list of such problems is greater than conventional political wisdom suggests.



• ANOTHER ARGUMENT:
• Although we will discuss the following idea in more detail in the section on political culture, let me make the point now that "monopoly-global capitalism" require a (large) capitalist state or government.

• DEMOCRACY:
• Democracy as an answer to what kind of government?
• Democracy as political freedom
• Individual rights and liberties. We'll list some in class.
• A negative conception of political rights.
• Rights usually involve freedom from government interference rather than a right to have (or an entitlement to) something.
• Democracy as economic freedom
• Positive versus negative rights: a right to have something
• Questions:
• Does someone living in poverty have the same effective rights as a wealthy person?
• How valuable are political rights to those who are malnourished, ill?
• Consider two countries, both having identical constitutions guaranteeing political rights and freedom. In one 20 percent of the population lives in poverty; in the other no one does. Are they equally democratic, in the sense of democracy as freedom?
• Proposition: economic freedom must be part of a definition of democracy.
• Here is where There Are No Children Here becomes relevant.
• Do the people in the community Kotlowitz describes have meaningful equal standing in politics.
• Democracy and enlightened understanding
• Robert Dahl: "Each citizen ought to have adequate and equal opportunities for discovering and validating...the choice on the matter to be decided that would best serve the citizen's interests." ⁽¹⁾
• Proposition: democracy must include enlightened understanding.
• See the point above about There Are No Children Here.
• How enlightened are people in the projects about their interests?
• General proposition: rights are a necessary condition of democracy but by themselves do not constitute it.



• DEMOCRACY AS GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE:
• What is the source of a government's legitimacy; that is, it's right to command obedience from it's citizen's
• Popular sovereignty versus divine right of kings: read and listen to "Popular Sovereignty" on the web site.
• Proposition: an essential element of democracy is citizen participation in the making of public (authoritative) policies.
• The word means government by the people
• Popular democracy: citizens make binding decisions.
• OBSTACLES TO AND POSSIBLE REFORMS OF POPULAR DEMOCRACY:
• "Logistical" problems
• Is government of and by the masses desirable?
• Democracy is a contested concept.



• NEXT TIME:
• More on democracy
• Representation and accountability.
• Political capacity
• Reading:
• Class web site: "A Case for Government" and "Popular Sovereignty"

1. Robert Dahl, Democracy and Its Critics (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989) p. 112. Go to back to quote