Mastery Week Activity- SOL-Ready Level
Fundamental Principles of Government
Guided Reading
Partner OK
5 Activity Points
Read and annotate the passage below and answer the questions. Refer back to the passage as needed. If
you choose to work with a partner, make sure you follow the partner guidelines.
America’s Fundamental Political Principles
A government is the ruling authority (leaders) for the
community. When making our plan of government,
the representatives of each of the states, called
delegates, disagreed on many details. They did agree,
however, on five fundamental political principles that
have defined and shaped our American constitutional
government. These five fundamental principles
include consent of the governed, limited government,
rule of law, democracy, and representative
government.
1. What are delegates?
The delegates at the Constitutional Convention felt
that it was important for our government to be by the
“consent of the governed.” This means that the
people are the ultimate source of authority; power
resides not with the government or its leaders, but
with the people. The framers understood that making
the people the source of power is the best assurance
that government will act in the people’s interest. The
idea of consent of the governed is also known as
“popular sovereignty,” Either of these terms means
that American citizens are the source of all
governmental power.
3. What is the ‘consent of the governed’?
The principle of limited government means that we
have a political system in which the powers used by
the government are restricted. The delegates did not
want a government where power lies in the hands of
a small group or a single person. This type of
government is known as a dictatorship, or an
absolute monarchy; the person or group would have
all of the say as to how the country would be run. A
dictatorship or an absolute monarchy is an example
of unlimited government. Our government was set up
2. What are the five principles that have shape
American government?
4. What is another term for ‘consent of the
governed’?
5. Why might the people be “the best assurance
that the government will act in the people’s
interest”?
6. What is “limited government?”
7. Why did the delegates not want all the power
to be with one person or a small group?
so the people, through their representatives, limit
actions of government. We cannot go to war, or have
our taxes raised without the agreement of the
majority of Congress, who speak for the people.
Rule of law means that no one is above the law. Even
President Obama and Virginia’s senators and
representatives in Congress must obey the laws. It
does not matter how much money one has, or what
job you do, rule of law applies to each and every
American.
The delegates felt that in the United States, all
citizens should share in governing and being
governed. This kind of government, in which people
rule, is called a democracy. We can break democracy
into two forms. In one form all citizens meet to
debate government matters and vote first- hand. This
is known as direct democracy. Direct democracy is
not practical for most countries today because of
their large populations. Instead many countries,
including ours, have a representative democracy, or
representative government. This type of government
allows people to elect public officeholders who then
make the laws and conduct government for the
people. A representative government may also be
referred to as a republic. (Think of the Pledge of
Allegiance when you say “...and to the republic for
which it stands...”) The United States is the oldest
representative democracy in the world. Through free
elections we have chosen our leaders for over 200
years. The power of the government continues to
come from the citizens. Americans themselves, acting
through their representatives, run the government.
(Civics Today, pages 7, 10, 11, 89, & 90)
8. How does Congress represent the people?
9. What does “rule of law” mean?
10. What would happen to President Obama if he
broke the law?
11. What is a democracy?
12. What is the difference between a direct
democracy and a representative democracy?
13. Which type of democracy do we have in the
United States?
14. What is another term for “representative
democracy”?