Early Forms of Democracy and
the Principles of Government
• Ancient Greece and
the Roman Republic
• Terms of Government
• Theories of How
Government Began
• The Purpose of
Government
Early Forms of Democracy
Ancient Greece
• The Assembly-all males
citizens 21 years and older
could participate
• Council of 500- 500 male
citizens 30 and older
served
• Women and slaves
were excluded
Early Forms of Democracy
The Roman Republic
• Senate- Patricians
(upper-class males)
served in the senate
• Bicameral Body- (2
houses)
Many terms and concepts of government
originated in ancient Greece and Rome.
Politics
Democracy
Republic
The State
Today there are more than 185
states in the world. This has
doubled from 50 years ago.
The terms state and nation
have basically the same
meaning.
A State is a political community
that has these four characteristics:
• 1) clearly defined boundaries- the exact
location has often lead to war
• 2) population
• 3) government
• 4) sovereignty- independent, has supreme
authority within its boundaries
Government
• Government is an
institution that:
• 1) maintains social
order
• 2) provides public
services
• 3) carries out the will
of the state
The largest State
based on population
is:
The
People’s
Republic of
China
Population:
1,222,017,000
The largest State
based on territory is:
Russian
Federation
Area [sq.km]:
17,075,000
The smallest state
based on population
and territory is:
Vatican
City
Population: 1,000
Area [sq.km]: .44
How did the state or
government come to be?
No one knows why people created the earliest
governments. Scholars have constructed
some theories.
Theories of the Origin of the
State
1) Evolutionary Theory
- Belief that the state
evolved gradually
from the family
(father> tribe> clan>
state)(Ex. Sioux
Indians, Israel)
Theories of the Origin of the
State
2) Force Theory-Belief
that a powerful
individual or a group
took over an area by
force & established
government.
Theories of the Origin of the
State
3) Divine Right TheoryBelief that God intended a
particular person and his
family to rule over a state.
(Egyptians, Chinese, and
Aztecs felt their rulers
were either descendants or
chosen by God. 1400's
England to oppose the
monarch was to oppose
God and was both treason
and sin.)
Theories of the Origin of the
State
4) Social Contractconceived by John Locke,
a British political theorist,
in 1690.Belief that people
were naturally endowed
with the right to life,
liberty, and property. To
preserve these rights they
freely gave power to a
governing authority.
The Social Contract Theory
States:
• 1) The state exists only to serve the
will of the people.
• 2) The people are the source of its
power.
• 3) The people can give and take
away power to the government.
Nearly a century later
the American colonies
revolted against King
George III, supported
by the political
philosophy of natural
rights Locke had
written.
The Purpose of Government
Today governments serve several major
purposes:
The Purpose of Government
1)To maintain social
order- people can't
live without conflict.
Gov't provides ways to
resolve conflict by
placing limits on what
people can do.
The Purpose of Government
2) To provide public
services - Gov't
provides essential
services that make
community life
possible and promotes
the general welfare.
Ex. sewer systems and
inspection of meat.
The Purpose of Government
3) To provide national
security- protect
people against the
threat of attack or
terrorism.
The Purpose of Government
4) To make economic
decisions-Gov't passes
laws that determine
and control the
economic environment
of the state. From
providing a national
currency to controlling
every individual's
economic decisions.
“The legitimate object of government is to do for a
community of people whatever they need to have done but
cannot do at all, or cannot so well do for themselves in
their separate and individual capacities. But in all that
people can individually do for themselves, government
ought not to interfere.” -Abraham Lincoln, 1854
Have Popular attitudes toward government changed
since Lincoln’s time?