Origin & Development of the
US Constitution
Module 1.7:
Basic Principles
of US Government
Lesson Objectives
• Identify the basic principles of US
Government
• Explain why faction is a problem for
government
• Describe the three branches of
government according to their function
• Explain the principle of bicameralism
The Natural Rights Argument
•
•
Life
•
From the Declaration of Independence
(1776)
All men are equally endowed with certain
rights
Among these rights are
– Life
– Liberty
– The pursuit of happiness
Liberty
The
Pursuit of
Happiness
•
•
•
•
•
These rights are inalienable
No human institution can give anyone
rights
No human institution can actually take
rights away
The purpose of government: secure
natural rights
The standard of justice: consent of the
governed
Faction
• From Federalist #10: “By a faction I understand
– A number of citizens
• > ½ or
• <½
–
–
–
–
United by a common interest
Act on their common interest
Their common interest adverse to the rights of others or
Their common interest adverse to the permanent and aggregate
interest of the community
• How to cure the mischiefs of faction
– Eliminate causes of faction
• Destroy liberty
– Unwise: the purpose of government is to secure unalienable rights,
including liberty
– Destroying liberty turns government into a most dangerous faction
• Give everyone the same opinion
– Impossible: everyone has unique experiences which affect their opinions
– Control effects of faction
• The preferred method
The Public Sector Problem
• Government tends form a single body
• Governments must have power to secure natural rights
• Those who hold power are invariably led to abuse it (from
Montesquieu)
• Governments tend to emerge as a single faction,
destroying liberty in the name of preserving it
The Solution to the Public
Sector Problem
•
•
•
•
•
Build upon factions that already exist in the
United States
Establish a multiplicity of faction where it would
not otherwise form
Set government and governments in tension
with one another
Institutionalize political power in separate
potentially factious bodies
Ensure regular pressure from interests outside
government
Question #1
• The US Government was established in
order to eliminate faction.
– True
– False
How to control “the mischiefs of
faction”
• To control majority faction,
ensure that smaller factions
may contest other factions
– Factions thus hold each other
in check
• Ensure that factions can be
heard
– factions seek support,
members, opportunity to grow
• Encourage a multiplicity of
faction where they are likely to
form—the private sector
• Institute opportunities for
faction to form where a
multiplicity is unlikely to form—
the public sector
How to Guarantee Multiple Public
Sector Factions
•
Establish a Federal System
– several governments share and
exert power over citizens
– Distinct sources of representation
among elected officials
•
Distribute power into distinct
departments (separation of
powers)
– Legislative Power (The Purse)
– Executive Power (The Sword)
– Judicial Power (The Scale)
•
Establish Legislative balances and
checks
– where the power to add or modify
public acts depends on at least
two legislative bodies with equal
power to overwhelm the other
•
Charge a separate body with the
resolution of disputes
Central Government
State A#1
Chamber
Citizens
StateChamber
B
State C
#2
Citizens
Making
Law Law
Citizens
The Basic Principles of
Government in the US
• Natural Rights
– Equal rights to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness
– Rule of Law
– Government by consent of governed
• Controlling the effects of faction
– Representation and freedom to petition
– Federalism
– Separation of powers into legislative, executive and
judicial departments
– Legislative balances/checks
Question #2
•
Why is Congress divided into two houses?
a) To ensure representation of differing enduring
factions, namely people and states.
b) To ensure representation of differing enduring
factions, namely elites and masses.
c) To reduce the opportunity for conflict among
differing enduring factions once laws are written.
d) To ensure division of the Congress into at least two
parties.
Question #3
•
In order to become a law, a bill must be
a)
b)
c)
d)
Approved by both houses
Signed by the President.
Approved by the Supreme Court
Both a and b
Question #4
Which of the following was the least clear?
a) The basic principles of US Government
b) The problem of faction in the public sector
c) The basic function of the three branches
of government
d) The principle of bicameralism
Activity
• Using the following websites, find out who your
representatives are in the US Congress and the
Texas Legislature:
– The US House of Representatives website,
www.house.gov
– The US Senate website, www.senate.gov
– The Texas Legislature website,
www.capitol.state.tx.us
• Have this information ready for the next
class period