POLI 2051 Chapter : Chapter 1
Document Summary
Politics - the competition to shape government"s impact on society"s problems and goals: competition always exists. What would life be like without government: life without government would be worse, without government, we would have to exist in what some have called the state of nature , life is solitary, brutal, and short. Social contract theory can guide us here to some extent. Social contract theory: modern examples of social contract theory: neighborhood watch. Normative - the way things ought to be: the best form of government is the one that rests on the consent of the government . Empirical - the way things actually are: trump is our president . It is not a written contract, but rather, a general agreement between the people and their government: each accepts certain obligations. The people agree to give up some of their liberty, and in exchange, the government guarantees to protect what we called natural rights .
