Unit 1
Introduction and Foundations of Government
Chapters 1 & 2
Introduction to
Government
The Meaning of Government
• The formal structures and institutions through
which decisions are made for a group of people
• Legislative: Makes laws
• Executive: Enforces laws
• Judicial: Interprets laws
Government and Policy
• Policy: Any decision made by government in pursuit
of a particular goal
• Law, government programs, actions
• Include taxation, defense, environmental protection,
etc.
Characteristics of a State
•
State: Political unit with the power to make and enforce laws over
a group of people living within a clearly defined territory
• NOT just one of the 50 United States
• Nation-state
•
Population
•
Territory
•
Government
•
Sovereignty: The supreme power to act within its territory and to
control its external affairs
• Independence from other states and freedom to est. a form of
government
Functions of Government
• Ensure National Security
• Maintain Order
• Resolve Conflict
• Provide Services
• Provide for the Public Good
With your neighbor…
• 1) Define government
• 2) Identify the three branches of government
• 3) Define policy
• 4) List three examples of policies
• 5) Discuss three characteristics of a state
• 6) Define sovereignty
• 7) Together, list ten Disney movies
Origins of Government
and Philosophers
Divine Right Theory
• Ruler is chosen by God
• Justifies monarchies in European Middle Ages,
Ancient China;
• Right to rule is given by God and passed on to
descendants
• Power is absolute
Natural Law & Natural Rights
• A system of rules derived from the natural world
• All people possess natural rights (now called human
rights)
• Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas
• Citizens do not have to follow a ruler who acts
against natural law
Social Contract Theory
• People agree to submit to the authority of a state
and in return the state provides protection and
support
• People enter into a social contract with the
government
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
• In the natural state of nature, everyone has the right to
everything
• Government needs to exist to enforce the law and
preserve protections AGAINST everyone violating
everyone else’s rights
• People can’t be trusted to govern themselves
• We submit freedoms and get protections in return
John Locke (1632-1704)
• Thought the state of nature was positive, peaceful, with
goodwill and mutual assistance
•
Property rights need to be protected
• People shouldn’t take TOO much, leaving others
without
• People are the source of power
• People surrender some rights and get protections in
return
Jean-Jacque Rousseau (1712-1778)
• Humans lived independent lives in the state of nature
and were content
• Formation of societies and government introduced
inequality
• The Social Contract the only way people could regain
freedom was by establishing a government that was
based on social contract AND responsive to the general
will of the people
Structures of
Government
Structures of Gov’t v. Forms of Gov’t
• Forms: How power is distributed in terms of
decision making, voting, balances of power, etc.
• Who has the authority to rule? (Many, Few, One)
• Structures: Organization of power of NATIONAL
government in relation to smaller units (ie. states,
cities, provinces, etc.)
• How is national power organized across regions?
What is a Central
Government?
Structure of Government
• Unitary Government
• Central gov’t may or may not create lesser govt’s to
delegate power
• Local states/provinces established to carry out policies
of central gov’t
• Most common form of gov’t structure in world today
(France, GB, Israel)
STRUCTURES
ARE NOT THE SAME
AS SYSTEMS!
Structure of Government
 Confederation
Cooperative gov’t of states that give central gov’t
power to deal w/ matters of common concern
All member states have to agree
U.S.: Articles of Confederation (1781-1789),
Confederate States of America (1861-1865)
Structure of Government
 Federal Government
 National gov’t has powers along with
states/provinces
 Division of powers provides opportunities for local
power
 Works best in large, diverse nations
 Problems solved at local levels (+)
 Laws, services are less uniform (-)
www.cyberlearning-world.com
Guess the Term
• Apple
• Mr. Perse
• Bison
• Cleveland Browns
• Uggs
Guess the Term
• Miley Cyrus
• Cleveland Indians
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• Armpit
• Mr. Klein
Guess the Term
• Divine Right
• Social Contract
• Thomas Hobbes
• John Locke
• Sovereignty
Guess the Term
• Unitary Government
• Jean Jacque Rousseau
• Confederate Government
• Federal Government
• Policy
Systems of Government
Monarchy
• Single person, usually inherited, most common form
of rule in world history
• Absolute: One person holds all power, which comes
from God
• Constitutional: Powers strictly limited by a constitution
• Monarch serves as a ceremonial head of state
• Current monarchies in the world?
Authoritarian Systems
• State holds ultimate authority
• Dictatorship: One person holds an unlimited power
over government
• Power is often achieved violently or through force
• Totalitarian: Government has influence, control over
all aspects of life
• Power is unlimited
• Individual is nothing, state is everything
Oligarchy
• Gives power to a few elite, based on any of the
following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Royalty
Wealth
Military
Race
Religious
Often Tyrannical
Theocracy
• Rulers claim to represent and be directed by a set of
religious ideals
• Government power is unlimited
Democracies
Democracy
• Reflects the will of the majority
• Direct Democracy:
• People set goals, make laws, distribute social benefits
• Works best in small communities
• Greek “polis”
Representative Democracy
• People express will by electing representatives to
conduct business of government for them
• Two kinds:
• Presidential Democracy: Balance of power in three
separate branches, president’s power is kept “in check,” all
three branches take on different responsibilities
• Parliamentary Democracy: Most common in world,
executive and legislative branches are overlapped
(executive is selected from among the legislative branch)
American Democracy
• Liberty: Ability of people to act and think as they choose,
so long as their choices do no harm to the liberty or well
being of others; “…freedom to…”
• Equality: Principle that people possess a fundamental,
moral worth that entitles them to fair treatment under the
law and equal opportunity in all aspects of life (political,
economic, social), “…certain unalienable rights…”
• Self-Government: Belief that ordinary people could
aspire to rule themselves and do so political equals,
people are ultimate source of gov’t authority,
“…governments are instituted among Men…”
Principles of American
Democracy
• Worth of the Individual
• Rule of Law: Gov’t and its officials are subject to
recognized and enforced limits on their powers
• Majority Rule/Minority Rights (balance)
• Compromise
• Citizen participation
Free Enterprise
• Allows for people and businesses to make their own
economic choices about how best to produce,
distribute and exchange goods and services with
limited interference from government
• Protects right of ownership
• Certain degrees—government intervention
Roots of American
Democracy
• English Political Heritage:
• Representative Government
• Religious leaders and nobles advised the king, this evolved
into a bicameral (two-chamber) Parliament
• Limited Government
• Magna Carta (1215): English nobles forced King John to sign
it; even kings and queens need to obey the law, outlined many
individual rights
Roots of American Democracy,
cont’d…
• Individual Rights
• Petition of Rights (1628): Required monarchs to gain
Parliament’s approval before levying new taxes, monarchs
cannot unlawfully imprison people, establish military rule,
etc.
• English Bill of Rights (1689): Monarchs could no longer
enact laws or keep an army without Parliament’s consent,
free speech guaranteed, no cruel and unusual punishment
Other Influences
• Republicanism
• Judeo-Christian Influences
• Enlightenment Thinkers
Types of Colonies
English Colonies
• Before the Petition of Right and English Bill of
Rights were signed, colonies started forming:
• Three types formed:
• Royal
• Proprietary
• Charter
English Colonies, cont’d…
 Royal:
• GA, MA, NY, etc.
• Britain directly ruled
• Crown appointed a royal governor to carry out orders
 Conflicts: Taxes, trade
English Colonies, cont’d…
 Proprietary:
• DE, MD, PA
• Ruled by proprietors that were granted their land from
the Crown
• Free rule (generally)
• Proprietors appointed governor
English Colonies, cont’d…
• Charter:
• CT, RI
• Est. by settlers that were granted rights by the Crown
• Elected officials to legislature
Unification
• New England Confederation
• To defend against Native Americans and Dutch
colonies
• Iroquois Confederation
• Alliance of six Native American nations
• During French and Indian War, Great Britain sought a
treaty with these nations—resulted in the Albany Plan
of Union
• Called for council of reps appointed by colonial assemblies
and president appointed by the king—it was rejected
Stamp Act of 1765
• Required colonists to buy special
stamps for newspapers, business
agreements, legal docs
• Colonists met in NYC and created
the Declaration of Rights and
Grievances
• Called for the repeal of the Stamp Act
• Wanted to be treated as citizens of
England
• It worked!
Colonists Boycott/Parliament
Reacts
• Colonists boycotted British
products and taxes
• Example: Boston Tea Party
• Parliament passed laws to punish
colonists
• Colonists called these the
“Intolerable Acts”
First Continental Congress
• Legislatures from all colonies (except GA) met in
Philadelphia
• Wrote “Declaration and Resolves”
• Demanded repeal of Intolerable Acts
• “Right to life, liberty, property”
• Boycott British goods
Second Continental Congress
• All 13 colonies represented
• Congress could:
•
•
•
•
Organize Army
Issue currency
Borrow $
Negotiate with other countries
Declaration of Independence
• July 4, 1776
• Formal declaration of ending ties with Britain
• “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”
• If gov’t becomes destructive, the people can
change/abolish it
The Articles of
Confederation
Articles of Confederation
• Legislative Branch had supreme power
• (NO executive or judicial branch)
• Unicameral: One house
• States sent one delegate
• Certain powers went to national gov’t
• War/peace, foreign affairs, Navy, troops, coin $, post
office, etc.
Articles of Confederation,
cont’d…
• BUT …
•
•
•
•
Congress couldn’t tax or regulate trade between states
Couldn’t force states to obey laws
No loyalty to federal government!
It took 9 states to pass a motion, hard to get them to
agree
Pressures for a Stronger
Government
• Northwest Ordinance (1787): Established a plan for settling
the Northwest Territory
• Created a system for admitting new states to the Union, banned
slavery, guaranteed representative government, religious
freedom, trial by jury, etc.
• Problems: Debts, bad economy, uncooperative states, civil
unrest
• Shays’ Rebellion: Massachusetts farmers (led by Daniel
Shays) rebelled at the prospect of losing their land, attacked
courthouses and armories, Massachusetts asked Congress
for help but it had no funds/forces to do so
TIME TO RETHINK THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION
Constitutional Convention
 Philadelphia, 1787
• 55 delegates from 12 states
 James Madison
 Benjamin Franklin
 George Washington
Virginia Plan
 Three branches of government
• Legislative
 Bicameral: Two houses
• House: Dependent on population
• Senate: Chosen by House Reps
• Executive & Judicial
 Chosen by legislative branch
Problem with the Virginia
Plan
• Less populated states
wouldn’t be
represented
New Jersey Plan
• Three branches of gov’t
• Legislative:
• Unicameral: Each state would get one vote in Congress
• Power to tax and regulate all trade
• Executive:
• More than one person
• Chosen by Congress
• Judicial:
• Chosen by Congress
Great Compromise
 Legislative Branch
•
•
•
•
Bicameral: Senate and House of Reps
Laws needed to approved by both houses
2 Senators from each state
House of reps depended on population
Three Fifths Compromise
• Southern states wanted slaves to be counted in
determining the # of Representatives
• Northern states wanted slaves to count as only 3/5 of
a person
More Compromising
• President will serve a four year term
• Electoral College was agreed upon
• Suffrage was left to the states
Ratification
• Sent to states for approval
• Federalists: Favored the Constitution
• Anti-Federalists: Argued against the Constitution
Federalists
• Wanted a strong central gov’t
• Thought the Constitution would solve most
problems
• George Washington
• James Madison
• Benjamin Franklin
Anti-Federalists
• Suspicious of a strong central gov’t
• Didn’t want to alter the Articles of Confederation
too much
• Patrick Henry
• Samuel Adams
• George Mason
• Wanted a Bill of rights
Voting Time!
• Approved by 9 states in 1788
• Not VA or NY
With Your Neighbor…
1) Discuss the differences between royal, charter and
proprietary colonies
2) Discuss what the Stamp Act did
3) Identify two problems with the Articles of
Confederation
4) Identify the major points of the New Jersey Plan
5) Identify the major points of the Virginia Plan
6) Explain the Three-Fifths Compromise
7) Together, list 10 stores at Beachwood Mall