Hobbes
“state of nature” theory = Humans are evil by
nature. Is this true?
Purpose of Government
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To form a more perfect union
To establish justice
To insure domestic tranquility
To provide for the common defense
To promote the general welfare
To secure the blessings of liberty
Oliver Wendell Holmes
• “The right to swing my fist, ends where the
other man’s nose begins”
FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
How do we classify
governments?
Geographic Distribution of power
Relationship between Legislative and
Executive Branches
Number who can participate
How do we classify
governments?
1. Geographic distribution of power
i.e. There are no State governments:
all governmental authority rests
with the National Government in
Washington, D.C.
Geographic Distribution of
power
• Unitary government – a centralized
government (all powers held by the
gov’t belong to a central agency
Geographic Distribution of
power
• Federal government – the powers of
government are divided between a
central government and several local
governments.
Geographic Distribution of
power
• Confederation – an alliance of
independent states that has power to
handle only those matters that the
member states have assigned to it.
How do we classify
governments?
2. Relationship between the
legislative and executive branches
i.e. the President is elected by the
Senate, not by the people
Relationship between
Legislative and Executive
Branches
• Presidential government – separation
of powers between the executive and
legislative branches of the government.
(they are independent and coequal)
Relationship between
Legislative and Executive
Branches
• Parliamentary government – exec. is
chosen by the legislative branch. This
makes the Prime Minister directly
responsive to the Leg. Branch, instead
of the people.
Presidential and Parliamentary:
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Pres. = voters vote on legislature
and chief executive. Those branches
choose the judicial branch.
Parl. = voters choose legislatures,
who in-turn choose the exec. – together
they choose the judicial branch.
How do we classify
governments?
3. Number of people who participate
in governing
i.e. One self-appointed legislative
body rules the country.
Number who can participate
• Dictatorship – those who rule cannot
be held responsible to the will of the
people. (Oldest and most common
form of government)
Number who can participate
• Democracy – supreme political
authority rests with the people. (gov’t
is conducted only by and with the
consent of the people)
Number who can participate
• Direct democracy v. representative
democracy (+/-)
Dir.: people vote directly on every
issue
Rep.: people vote on the people
who vote on every issue
Alternate Intelligence
What makes my left hand, my
right?
A mirror.
A man drove all the way from
New York to San Francisco only
to discover at the end of the trip
that he had a flat tire from the
very start. Yet his car was
completely unaffected by it? How
is this possible?
It was his spare tire that was flat.
Name three consecutive days
without using the words Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
I am made of the stuff around
me, but lighter than it. More of
me is hidden than seen.
What am I?
An iceberg.
There is a word in the English
language in which the first two
letters signify a man, the first
three signify a woman, the first
four signify a great man, and the
whole word represents a great
woman. What is the word?
Heroine