Читать книгу Keeping the Republic - Christine Barbour - Страница 22

Although the words politics and government are sometimes used interchangeably, they really refer to different things. Politics is a process or an activity through which power and resources are gained and lost. Government, by contrast, is a system or organization for exercising authority over a body of people.

government a system or organization for exercising authority over a body of people

American politics is what happens in the halls of Congress, on the campaign trail, at Washington cocktail parties, and in neighborhood association meetings. It is the making of promises, deals, and laws. American government is the Constitution and the institutions set up by the Constitution for the exercise of authority by the American people, over the American people.

Authority is power that citizens view as legitimate, or “right”—power to which we have implicitly consented. Think of it this way: as children, we probably did as our parents told us or submitted to their punishment if we didn’t, because we recognized their authority over us. As we became adults, we started to claim that they had less authority over us, that we could do what we wanted. We no longer saw their power as wholly legitimate or appropriate. Governments exercise authority because people recognize them as legitimate, even if they often do not like doing what they are told (paying taxes, for instance). When governments cease to be regarded as legitimate, the result may be revolution or civil war, unless the state is powerful enough to suppress all opposition.

authority power that is recognized as legitimate, or right

legitimate accepted as “right” or proper