Government and the State
Questions and Terms Chapter 1 Section 1
CHAPTER 1
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How is government defined?
What are the basic powers that every government holds?
What are the four defining characteristics of the state?
What are the four theories of the origins of the state?
What is the purpose of government in the United States
and other countries?
• Public policies
• Dictatorship
• List and explain the purpose of government.
What Is Government?
CHAPTER 1
Government is the institution through which a
society makes and enforces its public policies.
It is made up of those people who exercise its
powers, those who have authority and control
over a country’s people.
Public policies – all the things a government
decides to do. The list of public policy is nearly
endless.
GOVERNMENTAL POWERS
CHAPTER 1
Every government has and exercises
three basic kinds of powers:
• Legislative power – the power to make
law and to frame pubic policies;
• Executive power – the power to execute,
enforce, and administer law;
• Judicial power – the power to interpret
laws, to determine their meaning, and to
settle disputes that arise within the
society.
The State
CHAPTER 1
The state can be defined as having these four
characteristics:
Population
• A state must have people, the number of which does not directly relate
to its existence.
Territory
• A state must be comprised of land—territory with known and
recognized boundaries.
Sovereignty
• Every state is sovereign. It has supreme and absolute power within its
own territory and decides its own foreign and domestic policies.
Government
• Every state has a government — that is, it is politically organized.
Origins of the State
CHAPTER 1
The Force Theory
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The force theory states that one person or a small group took
control of an area and forced all within it to submit to that
person’s or group’s rule. Dictatorship – those who rule can not be
held responsible to the will of the people.
The Evolutionary Theory
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The evolutionary theory argues that the state evolved naturally out
of the early family.
The Divine Right Theory
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The theory of divine right holds that God created the state and
that God gives those of royal birth a “divine right” to rule.
The Social Contract Theory
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The social contract theory argues that the state arose out of a
voluntary act of free people.
THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE
CONSTITUTION
CHAPTER 1
The Purpose of Government
CHAPTER 1
The main purposes of government are described in
the Preamble of the Constitution of the United
States:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to
form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure
the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our
Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.”
Section 1 Assessment
CHAPTER 1
1. A government is
(a) the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public
policies.
(b) a collection of people.
(c) always democratic.
(d) the organization representing farms and industries.
2. A state has the following four characteristics:
(a) population, territory, sovereignty, and government.
(b) sovereignty, a perfect union, welfare, and territory.
(c) people, places, force, and divine right.
(d) justice, defense, liberty, and domestic tranquility.
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Section 1 Assessment
CHAPTER 1
1. A government is
(a) the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public
policies.
(b) a collection of people.
(c) always democratic.
(d) the organization representing farms and industries.
2. A state has the following four characteristics:
(a) population, territory, sovereignty, and government.
(b) sovereignty, a perfect union, welfare, and territory.
(c) people, places, force, and divine right.
(d) justice, defense, liberty, and domestic tranquility.
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Forms of Government
Questions and Terms Chapter 1 Section 2
CHAPTER 1
What are the seven classic forms of government and how are they
defined in terms of who can participate?
• Direct democracy
• Indirect democracy
• Autocracy
• Oligarchy
• How is power distributed within a state?
• How are governments defined by the relationship between the
legislative and executive branches?
• What defines a unitary government?
• How is power distributed in an oligarchy?
• Contrast a democracy and a dictatorship.
CLASSIC FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
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1. Feudalism - political system based on the rule of local lords bound to
a king by ties of loyalty.
2. Classical Republic – representative democracy in which a small group
of elected leaders represent the concerns of the electorate. Greek
city-states used this form and later Rome.
3. Absolute Monarchy – a form of government in which a king or a queen
holds total control of the military and the government.
4. Authoritarianism - a form of government in which an individual or
group has unlimited authority. No restraint on the power of the
government exists.
5. Despotism – rule by a ruler with absolute power who used his rule
tyrannically.
CLASSIC FORMS OF GOVERN
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6. Liberal Democracy – based on the protection of individual
rights and freedoms and on the consent of the governed.
They focus on protecting individual rights from the
tyranny of the majority.
7. Totalitarianism – is a type of government that attempts to
control all facets of citizen’s lives.
Classifying Governments
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Governments can be classified by three different
standards:
(1) Who can participate in the governing process.
(2) The geographic distribution of the governmental
power within the state.
(3) The relationship between the legislative
(lawmaking) and the executive (law-executing)
branches of the government.
Classification by Who Can Participate
CHAPTER 1
Democracy
• In a democracy, supreme
political authority rests with the
people.
• A direct democracy exists where
the will of the people is
translated into law directly by
the people themselves.
• In an indirect democracy, a
small group of persons, chosen
by the people to act as their
representatives, expresses the
popular will.
Dictatorship
• A dictatorship exists where
those who rule cannot be held
responsible to the will of the
people.
• An autocracy is a government
in which a single person holds
unlimited political power.
• An oligarchy is a government in
which the power to rule is held
by a small, usually selfappointed elite.
Military Dictatorships
CHAPTER 1
Classification by Geographic Distribution of Power
CHAPTER 1
Unitary Government
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A unitary government has all powers held by a single, central
agency.
Confederate Government
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A confederation is an alliance of independent states.
Federal Government
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A federal government is one in which the powers of government
are divided between a central government and several local
governments.
An authority superior to both the central and local governments
makes this division of power on a geographic basis.
The Articles of Confederation
CHAPTER 1
Classification by the Relationship Between
Legislative and Executive Branches
CHAPTER 1
Presidential and Parliamentary Governments
Forms of Government
CHAPTER 1
Section 2 Assessment
CHAPTER 1
1. In a democracy,
(a) independent states form an alliance.
(b) supreme political authority rests with the people.
(c) those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people.
(d) the rule by a few, select individuals regulates the will of the people.
2. The United States government has the following characteristics:
(a) confederate, parliamentary, and dictatorship.
(b) unitary, presidential, and democracy.
(c) federal, presidential, and democracy.
(d) unitary, parliamentary, and dictatorship.
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Section 2 Assessment
CHAPTER 1
1. In a democracy,
(a) independent states form an alliance.
(b) supreme political authority rests with the people.
(c) those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people.
(d) the rule by a few, select individuals regulates the will of the people.
2. The United States government has the following characteristics:
(a) confederate, parliamentary, and dictatorship.
(b) unitary, presidential, and democracy.
(c) federal, presidential, and democracy.
(d) unitary, parliamentary, and dictatorship.
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Basic Concepts of Democracy
QUESTIONS AND TERMS Chapter 1 Section 3
CHAPTER 1
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What are the five foundations of democracy?
What are the two ideas of democratic equality?
What does majority rule, minority rights mean?
Compromise
List the two concepts of compromise.
Absolute freedom
What are the connections between democracy and the
free enterprise system?
Law of supply and demand
Mixed economy
What are examples of a mixed economy?
How has the Internet affected democracy?
President Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”
CHAPTER 1
Foundations
CHAPTER 1
Democracy exists in this country because the American
people believe in its basic concepts. The American concept
of democracy rests on these basic notions:
(1) A recognition of the fundamental worth and dignity of
every person;
(2) A respect for the equality of all persons;
(3) A faith in majority rule and an insistence upon minority
rights;
(4) An acceptance of the necessity of compromise; and
(5) An insistence upon the widest possible degree of
individual freedom.
EQUALITY OF ALL PERSONS
CHAPTER 1
Democracy does not insist on the equality for all persons.
It does not claim that all are born with the same mental
and physical abilities. Nor does it argue that all persons
have a right to an equal share of worldly goods.
The democratic concept of equality insists that all are
entitled to
1) equality of opportunity
2) equality before the law
All Men are Created Equal
CHAPTER 1
MAJORITY RULE, MINORITY RIGHTS
CHAPTER 1
• The will of the people and not the dictate of the
ruling few determines public policy
• The only satisfactory device democracy knows is
that of majority rule. Democracy argues that a
majority of the people will be right more often than
they will be wrong.
• They also argue that the majority will also be right
more often than will any one person or small
group.
NECESSITY OF COMPROMISE
CHAPTER 1
• Compromise – the process of finding the position most
acceptable to the largest number.
• Two major reasons:
• 1. democracy puts the individual first and at the same
time, insist that each individual is the equal of all others.
• 2. few public questions have only two sides. Most can
be answered in several ways.
Compromise is a process, a way of achieving majority
agreement.
Democracy and the Free Enterprise System
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• Absolute freedom can only exist in a state of anarchy – the
total absence of government.
The free enterprise system is an economic system
characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital
goods; investments that are determined by private
decision rather than by state control; and determined in a
free market.
• Decisions in a free enterprise system are determined by
the law of supply and demand.
• An economy in which private enterprise exists in
combination with a considerable amount of government
regulation and promotion is called a mixed economy.
• Examples are antitrust laws, pure food and drug act,
building codes, anti-pollution standards.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
CHAPTER 1
Democracy and the Internet
CHAPTER 1
• Democracy demands that the people be
widely informed about their government.
• Theoretically, the Internet makes
knowledgeable participation in democratic
process easier than ever before.
• However, all data on the World Wide Web is
not necessarily true, and the long-term
effects of the Internet on democracy has yet
to be determined.
The Creation of the Internet
CHAPTER 1
Section 3 Assessment
CHAPTER 1
1. All of the following are basic notions found in the American concept of
democracy EXCEPT
(a) a recognition of of the fundamental worth and dignity of every person.
(b) a respect for the equality of all persons.
(c) the rule of government by a single individual.
(d) an acceptance of the necessity of compromise.
2. In a free enterprise system, the means of capital are owned
(a) by private and corporate entities.
(b) by government agencies.
(c) by only the agricultural sector.
(d) equally by the collective citizenry.
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Section 3 Assessment
CHAPTER 1
1. All of the following are basic notions found in the American concept of
democracy EXCEPT
(a) a recognition of the fundamental worth and dignity of every person.
(b) a respect for the equality of all persons.
(c) the rule of government by a single individual.
(d) an acceptance of the necessity of compromise.
2. In a free enterprise system, the means of capital are owned
(a) by private and corporate entities.
(b) by government agencies.
(c) by only the agricultural sector.
(d) equally by the collective citizenry.
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