• SSCG1 The student will demonstrate
knowledge of the political philosophies
that shaped the development of United
States constitutional government.
• a. Analyze key ideas of limited
government and the rule of law as seen
in the Magna Carta, the Petition of
Rights, and the English Bill of Rights.
• b. Analyze the writings of Hobbes
(Leviathan), Locke (Second Treatise on
Government), and Montesquieu (The
Spirit of Laws) as they affect our concept
of government.
Essential Features of a State
1. Population - people
2. Territory - established boundaries
3. Sovereignty - absolute authority
within its boundaries (threatened
by globalization today)
4. Government - institution through
which the state maintains social
order, provides public services, and
enforces decisions that are binding
on all people living within the state
Purposes of Government
1. Maintain social order
 Laws, courts, police
2. Provide public services
 Roads, schools, programs
3. Provide national security
 Military
4. Make economic decisions
 What, how much, for whom
3 Values Pursued by Government
1. Freedom
•Freedom of : absence of
constraints on behavior
•Freedom from: Fight against
exploitation and
oppression; equality
4
Values Pursued by Government
2. Order
•Preserving life and
protecting property
•Preserving social order
–Police power –authority
to safeguard residents’
safety, health, welfare,
and morals
Values Pursued by Government
3. Equality
• Political equality: one person, one vote
• Social equality: wealth, education, and
status
• Equality of opportunity: each person
has the same chance to succeed
• Equality of outcome: society must
ensure people are equal socially and
economically
–Government-supported rights
• Models of Democratic Government
– Majoritarian Democracy
• Type of democracy interpreted as
government by the majority of the
people.
– Pluralist Democracy
• Type of democracy interpreted as
government by the people
operating through competing
interest groups.
Liberals and Conservatives: The Narrow Middle
• Liberals
–Favor more government spending,
programs and regulation
• Conservatives
–Favor less government spending,
programs and regulation
American Political Ideologies
1. Liberals
–
Favor freedom and equality over order
2. Conservatives
–
Favor freedom and order over equality
3. Libertarians
–
Favor freedom over order or equality
4. Communitarians
–
Favor order and equality over freedom
Ideologies: A
TwoDimensional
Framework
Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning
10
• a. Analyze key ideas of limited
government and the rule of law as
seen in the Magna Carta, the Petition
of Rights, and the English Bill of
Rights.
What is Limited Government?
• A system of power in which the
power of the government is not
absolute.
What is rule of law?
• The principle that all people and
institutions are subject to and
accountable to law that is fairly
applied and enforced.
–Including the king
• Where do the ideas of limited
government and the rule of law come
from?
–3 English Documents
• Magna Carta (1215)
• Petition of Right (1628)
• English Bill of Rights (1689)
Magna Carta (1215)
• Nobles forced King John to sign
–Provided the basis for limited gov’t
– Only applied to nobles
– Certain basic rights may not be denied by
government
– Representatives of the people should take
part in government
Petition of Right (1628)
• Signed by King Charles I
–Monarch could no longer:
• Collect taxes without Parliament consent
• Imprison people without just cause
• House troops in private homes without
owner permission
• Declare martial law except in times of war
English Bill of Rights (1689)
• Accepted by William III and Mary II
–Established a constitutional monarchy
and set clear limits on what king could
do:
• It established Parliamentary
supremacy
• It established a balance of powers
between the executive and legislative
branches
Our English Heritage
• Rule of Law – not even the
ruler is above the law
• Representative
Government – people
should have a voice in
government
• Limited Government –
citizens have basic rights
that are protected by law
• b. Analyze the writings of Hobbes
(Leviathan), Locke (Second Treatise
on Government), and Montesquieu
(The Spirit of Laws) as they affect our
concept of government.
Thomas Hobbes
• Thomas Hobbes - one of the first to
theorize on the social contract.
• Social contract - people gave up to
the state the power needed to
maintain order and state agreed to
protect the citizens.
• He wrote the book Leviathan,
Hobbes set out his doctrine of
social contract theories.
John Locke
• John Locke took social contract a
step further.
• People were born with natural
rights: life, liberty, and property.
• People give power to a governing
authority. When government
failed to preserve the rights of the
people, the people had the right
to break the contract.
• He influenced the American
Declaration of Independence.
John Locke
• People need government to
keep social order because
they have not figured out a
way to live in groups
without conflict.
• The Second Treatise outlines
a theory of political or civil
society based on natural
rights and contract theory.
Baron de Montesquieu
• The Spirit of Laws was
published anonymously
by Montesquieu.
• Montesquieu stressed
the separation of
powers, three branches
of gov’t, and the rule of
law.
• Many of his ideas are in
our Constitution.
• SSCG19 The student will compare and
contrast governments that are
unitary, confederal, and federal;
autocratic, oligarchic and democratic;
and presidential and parliamentary.
3 Government Systems
1. Unitary system – all key powers
given to national gov’t
2. Federal system – powers shared
between state and national gov’t
3. Confederacy – loose union of
independent states
Major Types of Government (Aristotle)
1. Autocracy
 Power to rule in the hands of a
single individual

Two forms of autocracy:
 Dictatorship
 monarchy
2. Oligarchy
 Gov’t in which a small group
holds power

Power comes from wealth, military
power, social position, or religion
 China has this
3. Democracy
 Rule by the people

Two forms
 direct democracy – people rule
themselves by voting on issues
individually
 representative democracy –
people elect representatives to
make laws and run gov’t

USA has this
• Two Types of Democracy
–Parliamentary
»Legislative and executive powers
both belong to an elected legislature
»Legislature chooses the cabinet and
head executive
–Presidential
»Executive branch independent of the
legislative branch
»President heads executive branch
and chooses his cabinet
3 Economic Systems in World
1. Capitalism
–Free choice or free enterprise
–Developed by Adam Smith
–Economic decisions are made buy
buyers (consumers) and sellers
(producers)
–USA actually has a mixed-market
economy
2. Socialism
– Government owns the basic
means of production, determines
the use of resources, distributes
products and wages, and provides
social services.
3. Communism
–Central government directs all
major economic decisions
–Developed by Karl Marx
• Believed one class would evolve
where property belonged to
everyone and no government would
be needed