Principles of Government
What is a government? How would
our society change if there was no
government?
•An institution through which the
state maintains order, provides public
services and enforce decisions that
are binding to all people.
Powers
• Executive power- enforce laws
• Judicial power- interpret laws
• Legislative power- make laws
• The State - is a political community.
• The state includes :
– a definite territory
– an organized government
– power to make and enforce laws
– Sovereign - supreme and absolute
authority.
– Examples of states: ?
Purposes of Government:
• Maintaining Social Order (examples)
• To Provide Public Services (examples)
• To Provide for a National Security
(examples)
• To Provide for and Control the Economy.
(examples)
Types of Government
• All governments belong to one of the three
groups:
• Autocracy
• Oligarchy
• Democracy
Autocracy:
• The oldest and most common form of
government is an Autocracy.
• In an autocracy authority resides in a single
individual.
• Examples:
• dictatorship
• absolute monarchy
Oligarchy
• An oligarchy is any system of government
in which a small group holds power.
• Examples:
• Communist party of China and the former
Soviet Union.
Democracy:
• In a democracy rule is by the people.
• “government of the people, by the people
and for the people.”
• The key idea of democracy is sovereign
power.
• Sovereign - supreme and absolute
authority.
Group Assignment
• You will be placed in one of three groups
based on the type of governments we have
studied this unit. Your group will prepare a
presentation about why your type of
government is the best. You will also need to
come up with reasons why the other two types
of government are not as good as your type of
government. Your presentation should be at
least 5 minutes.
Government Systems
• The relationship between the national
government and the smaller divisions
(state/local) can be described as either
unitary, federal or confederation.
• All have existed at some time in the
United States.
Unitary Government:
Centralized Power
• A unitary system consists of one
government. (uni - one)
• The central government has authority
over the political subdivisions in the state.
• The political subdivisions only have
limited authority, which the central
government grants them.
• Examples:
• Great Britain, France, Japan, (our states)
Confederation: Sovereign States
• In a confederate system each independent
state retains its own sovereignty. (opposite
of unitary)
• The independent states give limited power
to the central government.
• Examples of the confederate system in the
United States:
• Articles of Confederation
• South during the Civil War.
Divided Powers: Federalism
• The United States
Constitution is the
world’s first
framework for
federalism.
• In federalism the
governmental
authority is divided
between the central
and local
governments.
How the Power is Divided
• The division of power varies in different
federal systems. In the United States the
central and state governments each are
granted some powers.
• The powers can be:
• shared by both
• granted to one
• Examples:
• Canada, Mexico, Switzerland and
Germany
Powers of the National
Government
The National Government is a government of delegated
powers, meaning that it only has those powers delegated
(granted) to it in the Constitution.
•
•
The expressed powers are those found directly within the
Constitution.
The implied powers are not expressly stated in the
Constitution, but are reasonably suggested, or implied by,
the expressed powers.
Powers Denied to the National
Government
Powers are denied to the National
Government in three distinct ways:
Some powers, such as the power to prohibit the freedom of religion,
speech, press, or assembly, are expressly denied to the National
Government in the Constitution.
Also, some powers are
denied to the National
Government because
the Constitution is
silent on the issue.
Finally, some powers are denied to
the National Government because
the federal system does not
intend the National Government
to carry out those functions.
The States
Powers Reserved to the
States
• The 10th Amendment
declares that the States
are governments of
reserved powers.
• The reserved powers are
those powers that the
Constitution does not
grant to the National
Government and does
not, at the same time,
deny to the States.
Powers Denied to the
States
• Just as the Constitution
denies many powers the
National Government, it
also denies many powers
to the States.
• Powers denied to the
States are denied in much
the same way that powers
are denied to the National
Government; both
expressly and inherently.
The Exclusive and Concurrent
Powers
Exclusive Powers
• Powers that can be
exercised by the National
Government alone are
known as the exclusive
powers.
• Examples of the exclusive
powers are the National
Government’s power to
coin money, to make
treaties with foreign
states, and to lay duties
(taxes) on imports.
Concurrent Powers
• The concurrent powers
are those powers that both
the National Government
and the States possess and
exercise.
• Some of the concurrent
powers include the power
to levy and collect taxes,
to define crimes and set
punishments for them,
and to claim private
property for public use.
Economic Systems and
Government
• An economy is the
system that a state
uses to:
• produce goods
• distribute goods
• consume goods
Economic Systems of the World
•Capitalism
•Socialism
•Communism
Capitalism
• Capitalism is an economic system in which
the means of production are privately
owned by an individual or group.
• Means of Production - land, labor, capital
and management.
• In capitalism the government should not
interfere with people’s economic decisions.
Capitalist System
• In capitalism the price, quantity
and types of goods that are
produced are determined by the
private person or group.
• Producers make goods that they think
consumers will buy.
Adam Smith and Supply and
Demand
• The basis for capitalism
was outlined by Adam
Smith in the book “The
Wealth of Nations”.
• Prices are determined by
supply and demand.
• Examples of capitalism?
• U. S. , Japan
Socialism
• In socialism many of the major factors of
production are owned and managed by the
government.
• Examples: power company, phone company
• The government allows private individuals to
start their own business.
• Examples of socialism:
• Great Britain
Communism
• In communism the
government controls
economic life.
• Communism
originated from the
ideas of Karl Marx in
his writing the
“Communist
Manifesto”.
Communism the Idea
• Karl Marx interpreted all human history as
a class struggle between the workers and
the owners.
• Communism believes that there is no need
for private owners that everyone should be
a worker - one class.
The Communist Economy
• In a communist economy the government
decides:
• how to produce
• what to produce
• how to distribute the goods