POLI 2051 Lecture : Lecture Ch1 1
Document Summary
Government - a formally established way of making and carrying out political decisions. Politics - the competition to shape government"s impact on society"s problems and goals. Normative - the way things ought to be. Because without government can do things for us. Without government, we would have to exist in what some have called the state of nature . Social contract theory can guide us here, to some extent. It is not a written contract, but rather, a general agreement between the people and their government. The people agree to give up some of their liberty, and in exchange, the government guarantees to protect what were called natural rights . What are these? based on the consent of governed. The contract derives from the assumption that government is: protecting life, protecting rights and liberties. Social issues freedom libertarian, liberal control: providing public goods (public good, cumulative, promoting equality (well-fair, socially equality=political goods)(roads, libraries, school) equality)
