Chapter 1
Section 1-3
What is Government?
Define Government
• An institution that rules over society to bring
about control of the society through laws and
policies.
• How does government “control” your life
every day?
How does government affect
your daily life?
• Education-laws about attending school
• Food-laws about the safety and manufacturing of the
food
• Clothes-laws about the making and selling of your
clothes
• Safety on the roads-laws about the speed and age to
drive
• Teachers-laws about who can teach you and what they
can teach
• Parents-laws about how they must take care of you and
what they must provide you with
What is public policy?
• Public policies are the things that the government
decides to do.
• Government policies can cover
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Taxation
Defense
Education
Crime
Health care
The environment
Civil rights
Working conditions
Three types of powers of the
Government
Legislative Power: The power to
make laws and public policies
• 1.)
• 2.) Executive Power: The power to execute,
enforce and administer laws
• 3.) Judicial Power: The Power to interpret
laws, to determine their meaning and to settle
disputes that arise within the country’s plan
for government, known as a constitution.
Politics / Government
• Politics is the process by which a society decides
how power and resources will be distributed
within that society.
• Government is an institution which conducts the
process of politics.
• Two of the most common types of governments:
• Dictatorship: one or a few people hold the power
• Democracy: the majority of the people hold the
power
What is a “State”?
• A state is …
– A dominant political unit
– A body of people living in a defined territory,
organized politically under a government.
– There are currently 190 “states” in the world
today.
• There are 4 characteristics to make a state:
1.) Population, 2.) territory 3.) Sovereignty 4.)
government
Four Characteristics of the
State
• Population:
– Does not matter the size
– Does not matter the variety
– Just matters who the people identify with
• Territory:
– The territory must have a recognized borders
Four Characteristics of the
State
• Sovereignty:
– Each state has total supreme power within its
territory and borders (authority of a state to
govern itself)
• Government:
– Each state has a political organization that makes
and enforces its public policies.
Major Theories of “How was a state
born”?
• 1.) Force Theory: Occurred when one person
or a small group took control of an area.
Therefore controlling everyone in the area.
• 2.) Evolutionary Theory: Naturally started
from the early family where one person lead
the family, which was the first stage of
government. The family government moved
to clan then tribe.
Major Theories of “How was a
state born”?
• 3.) Divine Right Theory: This idea came
about during the 15th -18th century. The idea
evolved round the idea that God created state
and therefore, he naturally picked the leader
of the state.
• 4.) Social Contract Theory: The theory of
Social Contract were born from the ideas of
Thomas Hobbs, John Locke and Jean Jacques
Rousseau during the 17th and 18th century.
17th and 18th century philosophers
• Thomas Hobbes, from England, wrote a book
titled Leviathan. In this book, he argued that a
strong central government was needed to
prevent war and chaos.
• He believes that all men are born in the state of
nature where they have total rights. But he said
that this leads to conflict known as the state of
war. So to prevent the state of war, every man
gives up the state of nature to the government.
However the government must not abuse their
power or a rebellion is necessary.
17th and 18th century philosophers
• John Locke, from England, was a major influence on
many other philosophers, founding fathers of the
United States, and influenced the writing of many
documents including the Constitution for the Carolinas
and the Declaration of Independence.
• John Locke wrote the Two Treatises of Government. In
this book, Locke wrote that all men were equal and
they were not allowed to harm others. In addition he
wrote about the separation of powers and the rights of
individuals and their government. This was known as
the Social Contract.
17th and 18th century philosophers
• Jean Jacques Rousseau from France was a major
philosopher who was influenced by John Locke. Rousseau
believed that man in the state of nature was good, but was
corrupted by society and civilization.
• Rousseau wrote The Social Contract. In this book, he
wrote that men must submit their state of nature to the
authority in order to protect their rights and the rights of
others.
• Rousseau was a strong supporter of sovereignty and that
this power rest in the hands of the citizens. He is however,
against a representative form of government; he believes
that the people should vote on every law directly.
John Locke
Thomas Hobbs
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Social Contract Theory
• The philosophers believed that the since the
government got its power from the people,
the government must protect the people. If
the government is not fulfilling their
obligation to the people, the people have the
right to take the governments power away.
The idea of the social contract is the
foundation of the American system.
The purpose of Government
• Form a perfect union-strength in a union
• Establish justice-Law and order, equal for all
• Insure domestic tranquility- peace with law and
order
• Provide for the Common Defense- protect the
people
• Promote the General Welfare- education, health
care, etc
• Secure the blessings of Liberty-to protect our
freedoms and liberties
Forms of government
• Classification of government:
1.)Who can participate in the governing process?
2.) How is the geographic distribution of
governmental power within the state?
3.) What is the relationship between the
legislative(lawmaking process) and the executive
(law executing) branches of the government?
Who can participate?
• Two basic forms of government for the
classification:
• 1.) Democracy: The political power rest with
the population. The people hold the
sovereign power and the government exist
because the people gave the power to them.
• Two types of Democracy:
– Direct or Indirect Democracy:
Which one is the United States?
Direct and Indirect Democracy
• Direct Democracy: The people are directly
involved in the lawmaking policies and the
running of the government with mass meetings.
• Indirect Democracy: Also known as a
representative democracy, where the voters pick
a representative who represents the voters in the
lawmaking policies and the running of the
government.
Republic
Many people say that the United States is really
a republic because only the people who are
eligible to vote can participate in the
government therefore it is not a true
democracy because it is limiting who can
participate.
Dictatorship
• The 2ND Form is the oldest form of government.
There are two forms of a dictatorship; autocracy
and oligarchy.
• Autocracy: A single person holds unlimited
power
• Oligarchy: a small group holds the unlimited
power
• Most dictators are authoritarian and totalitarian
where they have complete power and control all
aspects of human affairs.
• Famous dictators: Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao
Geographic Distribution of Power
• The power of the government is located in
one or more places-geographically.
• Three forms:
• 1.) Unitary government: All power of the
government held by a central agency. For
example: Parliament in Great Britain
– This is not a dictatorship, it just means that the
central government power is concentrated in one
form
2nd form of Geographic Distribution
• 2.) Federal government: This government
takes the power and divides it between the
central government and the local
governments.
• For example: National government over the
50 states and state governments.
3rd form of Geographic Distribution
• 3.) Confederate Government: This is the type
of government where the central government
gets its’ limited powers from the states.
Typically the central government handles the
defense and the foreign affairs while the
states control the rest.
• For example: The Articles of Confederation
from 1781 to 1789.
Ch. 1 Vocabulary
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Government
State
Citizen
Sovereignty
Natural Law
Public policy
Divine right of kings
Social contract
Natural right
Politics
Monarchy
Absolute monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Republic
Democracy
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
Dictatorship
Autocracy
Oligarchy
Unitary system
Federal system
Confederal system
presidential system
Parliamentary system
Anarchy
Majority rules
Minority rights
Direct democracy
Representative democracy
Presidential Government
• This discusses the relationship between the
legislative and executive branches.
• Two forms:
– Presidential government: separation of power
between the two branches. Powers are spelled
out in a constitution. U.S. is the world leading
example.
Parliamentary Government
• In this form of government, there is a prime minister
and an official cabinet. However, these officials are still
an elected member of Parliament/legislative branch.
Therefore the power is still held within the branch of
the legislative.
• The Prime minister and the cabinet is a member of the
majority party in the legislature.
• Majority of governments today are Parliamentary.
• Positive: no prolonged conflicts between executive
and legislature
• Negative: no checks and balances
Foundation of American Democracy
•
•
•
•
5 Principals:
1.) Fundamental worth of every person
2.) A respect for the equality of all people
3.) Majority rule but a protection of minority
rights
• 4.) the need for Compromise
• 5.) the widest possible degree of individual
freedom
Equality of all Persons
• The democratic concept of this is that all
people have equal opportunity and are equal
before the law.
• People cannot be held back based on color,
race, sex, etc.
• All people should be treated equally in front of
the law.
• Title IX: Educational Amendment of 1972
Majority vs Minority
• In order for this to work, the majority of the
people must rule but they must be open to
the minority’s views and arguments.
• The majority must hear what the minority has
to say and be open to make changes for the
good.
Compromise
• In a democracy, there is a give and take
situation for the majority and the minority.
• Compromises are reached in order to get the
most support from the most people.
• Compromise is essential for a democracy
because of individual freedoms and the fact
that there are not just two sides to every issue
but multiple sides.
Individual Freedom
• In a democracy, individuals demand that they
have the freedom to do what they want as
long as they do not step on other’s rights in
the process.
• John F. Kennedy said “The rights of every man
are diminished when the rights of one man
are threatened.”
• The proper balanced must be found.
Democracy and Free Enterprise
• Democracy and Free Enterprise Economic system go
hand and hand due to the emphasis placed on
individual freedoms.
• Free Enterprise is based on 4 fundamental factors:
– Private ownership
– Individual initiative
– Profit
– competition
Free Enterprise/Capitalism
• Free enterprise is also known as capitalism, private
enterprise system and market based system.
• It focuses on the Law of Supply and Demand. The
law of supply and demand determines how much is
made, how much is charged, etc.
• When there is too much of a product, the price goes
down. When the product is hard to get it, the prices
goes up.
Government role in Capitalism
• The idea that the government keeps their hands out
of the economy is known as Laissez faire.
• The government involved in the economy is known
as Mixed Economy.
• The government gets involved in the economy for
two reasons:
• 1.) to protect the public with standards
• 2.) preserve private enterprise-breaking up
monopolies
Democracy and the Internet
• Due to the internet, the majority of the
people around the world have knowledge at
their finger tips. But is this a good thing?
• Positives:
– People are more informed
Negatives:
Some information should not be on line. New laws
introduced every day.
Ch. 1 Vocabulary
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Government
State
Citizen
Sovereignty
Natural Law
Public policy
Divine right of kings
Social contract
Natural right
Politics
Monarchy
Absolute monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Republic
Democracy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dictatorship
Autocracy
Oligarchy
Unitary system
Federal system
Confederal system
presidential system
Parliamentary system
Anarchy
Majority rules
Minority rights
Direct democracy
Representative democracy
• Create a comic strip of the different types of
government
• Include:
– unitary system
– federal system
– confederal system
– Autocracy
– Oligarchy
– Democracy
– presidential system
– parliamentary system
The End