Week 6 Discussion 2: Political Theory and the Budget Required Resources Read/review the following resources for this activity: Textbook: Review Chapter 2, 3 (pp. 56-59), 13 Lesson Additional scholarly sources you identify through your own research Textbook:  Magstadt, T. (2017). Understanding Politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues (12th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage.   Instructions: Explain how a liberal and conservative would approach developing the US budget . Use evidence (cite sources) to support your response from assigned readings or online lessons, and at least TWO outside scholarly sources.  Lastly, to look at a REAL U.S. Budget (2015), and see what discretionary and mandatory spending are, and also to see how much is really spent in the budget, and on what, follow this link. The info is really good. https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Writing Requirements APA format for in-text citations and list of references. Please use proper APA citations on paper and reference page to get full credit. Lesson: Week 6 Lesson: Economics This week we will explore the economy, including the impact that governments have upon economic matters and the cost of welfare programs. The US Budget In February of each year, the President submits around a $3.8 trillion budget proposal to Congress for approval. This proposal is based on the President's priorities, and what he believes will pass in the Congress. Once the plan is made public, interest groups, citizens, scholars, political scientists, and pundits begin to scrutinize it to see what spending will go where. The American economic system is very complicated. It is considered a laissez-faire economy, but this does not mean that it operates in an entirely free market. There are rules and regulations in place to protect the market, and the businesses and people working within it. Some of these safeguards developed during a period known as the New Deal, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as a means of lessening the impact of the Great Depression. These protections are referred to as the social safety net or welfare programs. Welfare is a term applied to social programs that contribute to the overall well-being of the citizens, and these types of programs usually develop when there is a great need within the populace. For example, during The Great Depression, inflation rates made the dollar lose its previous value. The Great Depression resulted in the suffering of a large portion of the population because many could not pay their bills, or buy necessities such as food which was in short supply to being with. Eventually, technological advances, spurred by the Industrial Revolution, made the farming process less difficult, allowing for larger and larger amounts of crops to be produced. Although this produced more food for a while, it also dropped the price of food, given the fund ...

1. Week 6 Discussion 2: Political Theory and the Budget
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Review Chapter 2, 3 (pp. 56-59), 13
Lesson
Additional scholarly sources you identify through your own
research
Textbook:
Magstadt, T. (2017). Understanding Politics: Ideas,
institutions, and issues (12th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage.
Instructions:
Explain how a liberal and conservative would approach
developing the US
budget
. Use evidence (cite sources) to support your response from
assigned readings or online lessons,
and
at least
TWO
outside scholarly sources.
Lastly, to look at a REAL U.S. Budget (2015), and see what
discretionary and mandatory spending are, and also to see how

2. much is really spent in the budget, and on what, follow this
link. The info is really good.
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-
budget-101/spending/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an
external site.
Writing Requirements
APA format for in-text citations and list of references. Please
use proper APA citations on paper and reference page to get full
credit.
Lesson:
Week 6 Lesson: Economics
This week we will explore the economy, including the impact
that governments have upon economic matters and the cost of
welfare programs.
The US Budget
In February of each year, the President submits around a $3.8
trillion budget proposal to Congress for approval. This proposal
is based on the President's priorities, and what he believes will
pass in the Congress. Once the plan is made public, interest
groups, citizens, scholars, political scientists, and pundits begin
to scrutinize it to see what spending will go where.
The American economic system is very complicated. It is

3. considered a laissez-faire economy, but this does not mean that
it operates in an entirely free market. There are rules and
regulations in place to protect the market, and the businesses
and people working within it. Some of these safeguards
developed during a period known as the New Deal, under
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as a means of lessening the
impact of the Great Depression. These protections are referred
to as the social safety net or welfare programs.
Welfare is a term applied to social programs that contribute to
the overall well-being of the citizens, and these types of
programs usually develop when there is a great need within the
populace. For example, during The Great Depression, inflation
rates made the dollar lose its previous value. The Great
Depression resulted in the suffering of a large portion of the
population because many could not pay their bills, or buy
necessities such as food which was in short supply to being
with. Eventually, technological advances, spurred by the
Industrial Revolution, made the farming process less difficult,
allowing for larger and larger amounts of crops to be produced.
Although this produced more food for a while, it also dropped
the price of food, given the fundamental law of supply and
demand. If the supply of a product rises above the demand for
the product, prices will fall.
Supply and Demand
With the fall in crop prices, farmers who had mortgaged their
homes and land to afford new farming equipment lost it all
because they could no longer earn enough to pay off their loans.
Also, the new technology contributed to overfarming much of
the land, which stripped needed nutrients from the soil, making
it unfarmable for some time, developing The Dust Bowl. With
the upper layer of soil missing from much of the farmland in the
Midwest, the large amount of dust caused great dust storms as
severe as blizzards. Food production suffered because of limited

4. farmland, causing supply to decrease, raising the price of food
again. However, given the state of inflation during this time, the
average person could not keep up with these costs forcing the
government to step in to provide for the people and stabilize
prices.
Although welfare programs serve purposes, they are not free.
The problem of paying for them falls on every nation that offers
them, which is why there is always much deliberation regarding
these programs. The United States offers far fewer social
programs than its European allies—based upon its laissez-faire
approach—and yet there is always much discussion about their
existence. American conservatives tend to support a reduction
in the funding of such programs, whereas liberals usually argue
for an increase in their funding.
From the US budget to negotiating with China on tariffs, it is no
doubt economics is essential. Economics has become even more
critical as our society has globalized, making the world smaller.
It is harder to find specific products with the "Made in the
USA" label as businesses are outsourcing many manufacturing
jobs to other nations to provide lower prices. The US, the only
superpower, continues to be part of the global political
economy.
The Global Political Economy
The paths that take nations to democracy are rarely straight, and
never identical. The same can be said for those societies opting
to embrace a market economy. The most successful economic
system currently is capitalism, but capitalism has evolved and
continues to grow differently in various countries around the
world. Political scientists measure these changes alongside the
systems' roots in, and influence on, the political world.

5. For half of the last century, many countries around the world
operated under an economic system different from capitalism.
The Cold War between the communist Soviet Union and the
Western capitalist world has guided much of the international
and domestic politics of the past 60 years. As communism
eroded in the face of global markets, however, even the largest
of the communist superpowers (Russia and China) moved
toward market-based economies. Capitalist countries have also
seen changes in the market over the past 75 years. The "free
market" does not exactly exist in any democratic state because
concerns about social well-being have caused most governments
to establish some safety net to protect populations from the
harsh realities of the market. Programs such as Social Security
are examples of this safety net in the United States.
Theoretical distinctions can be made between different
democratic countries and their economic development. An
example of such a difference presented in the field of political
science categorizes countries' financial systems based on how
active the government is in the economy. Esping-Anderson
(1990) writes that these economies can be categorized as
laissez-faire, corporatist, or social democratic. Laissez-faire
economies are those that remain most closely tied to the free
market. Governments in these states have little democratic
control over the economy and tend to allow the market to
control prices and income distribution. Corporatist economies
have strong centralized governments attempting to balance
income distribution and market concerns between the free
population and the private sector. Social-democratic countries
are those in which the government owns many social services
and heavily regulates private industry.
As you might imagine, with so many different economies
operating in the world, the international sphere as a whole has
an economy of its own. Countries have to compete for business,

6. and businesses have to compete for consumers. Trade
agreements and restrictions are established to make these
competitions equitable and productive. As Russia and China
become increasingly dominant on the world economic stage, the
international political and economic landscape will continue to
change. The emergence of new economic powers is not the only
pressure on the international economy, however. Political issues
such as wages, immigration, export controls, taxes, and
employment all factor into decisions that impact global markets.
Citizens are going to have to make difficult decisions relating to
many concerns of this new global environment in the coming
years. Should national sovereignty be given to international
organizations? Should businesses that pay low wages in other
countries be allowed to import goods? Must governments
ultimately regulate the economy, or can the free market solve
these problems without interference?
Summary
It seems clear that economics are closely tied to politics and
that decisions regarding regulation of economic matters have a
direct impact on a government's success.
Reference
References
Congressional Budget Office. (2017). The Federal budget in
2017. Retrieved from https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53624
Esping-Anderson, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare
capitalism. Hoboken, NJ.: John Wiley & Sons.