1[1].foundations of american government

American Government – Unit 1

Do Now:
 Summarize the purpose of government.
Do you think all people feel the same
way about government?

Foundations of Democracy
 Democracy- a
government in which
citizens hold the
power to rule
 1 of the earliest was
found in the Jewish
religion
 Judaism teaches
that every person
has worth and is
equal before the law

 400s B.C., Greek city-state
of Athens created the 1st
democracy
 All free men over 18-
citizens
 Take part in Athens assembly
 Decisions carried out by a
council of 500 members
 Citizens took turn serving on
the council
 Direct Democracy- a form
of democracy in which the
people vote firsthand
Athens

Representative Democracy
 In places with large
populations, direct
democracy is not practical.
 Representative
democracy: a government
in which citizens choose a
small group to govern on
their behalf
 Republic- a
representative democracy
where citizens choose
their lawmakers
 509 B.C.- Romans overthrew
their king
 Government was put in the
hands of the senate
 Members chosen from
Rome’s wealthy class, called
patricians
 Senators elected two
members, consuls to lead
government
 Both had to agree
 Ea. Consul had the power to
block the actions of others by
saying veto (“I forbid!”)

Persuasive speech-making was one of the key skills of a
Roman senator. This painting shows a famous incident in
which the consul Cicero (left) accuses a politician named
Catiline (extreme right) of being a traitor.

Origins of Government
 Aristotle- a scholar
in Ancient Greece,
one of the first
students of
government [polis].
 Politics,
democracy, and
republic- originated
in ancient Greece &
Rome.

Review- (Identifying)
 What idea of government do we associate
with the ancient Greeks?
 Democracy
 Discuss the pros and cons of direct
democracy versus representative
democracy.
 Pros: everyone’s opinion can be heard;
everyone’s interests can be considered
 Cons: discussions can become time-consuming
and frustrating; voters may be swayed by
personality and rhetoric rather than accurate
knowledge

Review- (Identifying)
 What idea of government do we
associate with the ancient Romans?
 republic
 What ancient form of government-
Greek or Roman- does the United
States most closely resemble? Why?.
 Republic/Roman
 It is governed by leaders who represent the
people, rather than directly by the people
themselves.

The State
 Originally comes from the Latin word “to
stand”
 In the U.S.A means- a political
community that occupies a definite
territory and has an organized
government with the power to make and
enforce laws without the approval from
any higher authority.

Essential Features of a
State
 4 features:
 Population
 Territory
 Sovereignty
 Government

Population
 The nature of a state’s population affects
its stability
 States that share a general and political
consensus have the most stable
government
 Mobility affects states too- millions of
Americans move every year
 This leads to political power shifting
 Since the House of Representatives is
based on population, the census can lead
to state’s losing or gaining power.

Territory
 States have established boundaries
 i.e.- Continental boundaries: Atlantic/Pacific
Oceans
 Recognized Borders w/ Canada & Mexico
 Through purchase, negotiation and war-the
U.S. has gained more territory

Sovereignty
 Political sovereignty- means that the
state has supreme and absolute
authority within its territorial boundaries
 It has complete independence and
complete power to make laws, shape
foreign policy, & determine its own
course of action
 In theory no state has the right to
interfere with the internal affairs of
another

Government
 The institution through which the state
maintains social order, provides public
services, and enforces decisions that
are binding on all people living within the
state

Theories of the Origin of
State
•Evolutionary
Theory
•Force Theory
•Divine Right
Theory
•Social Contract
Theory

The Purposes of
Government
1. Maintain social order
2. Provide public services
3. Provide for national security and public
defense
4. Provide for an control the economic
ststem

Respect my Authority!
 Decisions of government can be
enforced upon ALL society
 Derive their authority from their
legitimacy and their ability to use
coercive force
 Legitimacy is based on the consent of
the people
 Coercive force derives from the police,
judicial and military institutions of
government

Maintaining Social Order
 Through laws can resolve social conflict
 Provides structure like courts to help
resolve disagreements orderly
 Places limits on what people can do
 An effective government will allow
citizens to plan for the future, get an
education, raise a family and live orderly
lives.

Providing Public Services
 Providing essential services to make
community life possible
 Promoting public safety
 i.e. Government inspectors of meat and food
 State legislators passing laws that require
driving tests
 What other public services can you think
of?

National Security
 Protect against attacks from other
countries or terrorist agencies
 In a world with spy satellites, international
terrorism, huge armies, computer hackers-this
becomes a complex job
 Also handles relationships with other
countries and provides economic security
by enacting trade agreements with other
countries
 States have the power to form agreements
with other countries, however the federal
government can limit that

Making Economic Decisions
 Providing a national
currency
 Distributes benefits and
public securities
 Attempts to stimulate
growth and stability via
controlling inflation,
encouraging trade and
regulating the
development of natural
resources

Government Systems
 Unitary
 Federal

Constitutions and Government
 A Constitution is a plan that provides the
rules for government.
 Major Purposes:
1. It sets out ideals that the people bound by
the constitution believe and share
2. Establishes the basic structure of
government and defines the governments
powers and duties
3. It provides the supreme law for the country

Constitutions
 May be written or
unwritten
 U.S. is the oldest written
[1787] still serving a
nation today
 Other key ones: France,
Kenya, India, Italy and
Switzerland
 Great Britain, has an
unwritten constitution
based on hundreds of
years of leg. Acts, court
decisions and customs

Constitutional Government
 All governments
have a constitution
in the sense that
they have some
plan for organizing
an operating the
Government. i.e.
Republic of China
 HOWEVER-constitutional
government is a
limited government,
unlike the Republic
of China

Incomplete Guides
 Constitutions are incomplete for 2
reasons:
 No written constitution by itself can spell out
laws, customs, and ideas that grow up
around the document itself
○ I.E.- FDR elected 4x, previous it was custom
not law that limited to 2 terms- the 22
Amendment changed this
 A constitution does not always reflect the
actual practice of a government in a country
○ I.E.- China has a constitution with statements
about basic rights, freedoms, & duties of
citizens yet has a police force to spy on
citizens and punish those with opposing views

A Statement of Goals- The
Preamble

A Framework for
Government
 Main body of a
constitution sets out
a plan for
government
 U.S. describes
relationship b/w
national gov & state
 Divided into articles
and sections- U.S.
has 7 articles/21
sections
 Constitution is the
supreme law for
states
 Constitutional law
primarily concerns
the extent and limits
of government
power and the right
of citizens

Politics
 Effort to control or
influence the
conduct and
policies of
government
 People take part in
politics when
joining citizens’
groups protesting
higher taxes or
when they meet
with mayors about
street repairs

Governing in the 20th
Century
 Industrialized Nations vs. Developing
Nations
 U.S.
 Saharan Countries
 Independence- means that nations must
interact or depend on one another either
economically or politically
 1993- NAFTA- affects goods produced
and sold b/w U.S., Canada & Mexico

Murky waters
 U.S. depended on Middle East for oil
supplies
 1990- Pres. Bush sent troops to Saudi
Arabia after Iraq invaded Kuwait
 War threatened to break out and people
feared an oil shortage in U.S.
 U.S. & allies defeated Iraq in the Persian
Gulf War but tensions continued
 1996- 27 missile attacks against Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein threatened oil
producing countries

Nonstate International Groups
 3 categories:
1. Political
movements such
as national
liberation
movements
2. Multinational
corporations
3. International
organizations
 PLO [Palestine
Liberation
Organization]
 General Motors
 Nabisco
 Mitsubishi
 Sony
 United Nations

Autocracy- 1 person
 Totalitarian Dictatorship- ideas of a single
leader or group of leaders are glorified.
Government seeks to control aspects of
social/economic life.
 i.e. Hitler- Nazi Germany
 Monarchy- a King, Queen, or Emperor
exercises supreme powers of Gov. Usually
inherit position [Absolute vs. Constitutional
who shares gov. powers w/ elected legis. And
serve in a ceremonial capacity]
 i.e. Saudi Arabia & Great Britain

Oligarchy- Small Group
 Small group holds power which derives
from wealth, military, social position or a
combination. Sometimes religion is
source of power-
 Oligarchies usually suppress all political
opposition- sometimes ruthlessly
 Communism I.E. China

 Review:
 Authoritarian governments are
undemocratic for all of the following reasons
EXCEPT
 A.
Once elected, the leaders rule for life
 B.
Elections for political office are often fraudulent
 C.
Popular sovereignty and social contract are
practiced
 D.
Popular sovereignty and social contract are not
practiced

Democracy- Ruled by the
People
 Key idea- people hold sovereign power.
 Pericles: “Our constitution is named a
democracy because it is in the hands not of
the few, but of the many”
 Abraham Lincoln: “government of the
people, by the people, and for the people”

Direct Democracy
 people govern themselves by voting on
issues individually as citizens- no
country today does this
 Exists only in small societies where
citizens can actually meet regularly to
discuss and decide key issues and
problems

Representative Democracy
 people elect representatives and give
them the responsibility and power to
make laws and conduct government
 I.E.- [U.S].
 An assembly of the people’s
representatives may be called a council,
a legislature, a congress or a parliament

Republic
 Voters hold sovereign power.
 Elected representatives are responsible
to the people exercise that power
 Most American view representative
democracy, republic and constitutional
republic mean the same thing: a system
of limited government where the people
are the ultimate source of governmental
power.

Characteristics of
Democracy
 Individual liberty- requires that all people
be as free as possible to develop their
own capacities
 Government in a democracy works to
promote the kind of equality in which all
have equal opportunity
 Government decisions be based on
majority rule
 Constitution helps ensure rights of the
minority

Free Elections
 Give people the chance to choose their leaders
and voice their opinions on various issues
 Everyone’s vote carries the same weight
 All candidates have the right to express their
views freely giving voters access to competing
ideas
 Citizens are free to help candidates or support
issues
 Legal requirements for voting [i.e.: age,
residence, citizenship] are kept to a minimum
 Citizens may vote freely by secret ballot without
coercion or fear of punishment

Competing Political Parties
 Rival parties help
make elections
meaningful
 Give voters a choice
among candidates
 Help simplify and
focus attention of
key issues for voters

The Soil of Democracy
 Active Citizen Participation
 Serving as a juror, voting, informing
themselves of the issues, work for
candidates, run for government
 Free Enterprise
 Stable- better able to support democratic
governments
 People out of work or unable to feed families
become more concerned about security than
voting or political rights

The Seeds to Success
 More likely to succeed
with an educated public
 Education is the great
equalizer
 Civil Society- a complex
network of voluntary
associations, economic
groups, religious
organizations, and many
other kinds of groups
that exist independently
of government
 Give citizens means to
take responsibility for
protecting their rights
Widespread Education Civil Society

Social Consensus
 General agreement about the purpose
and limits of government

Role of Economic Systems
1. What and how much should be
produced
2. How goods and services should be
produced
3. Who gets the goods and services that
are produced
 Capitalism, Socialism, & Communism
answer these differently

Capitalism
1. private ownership and control of
property and economic resources
2. Free enterprise
3. Competition among businesses
4. Freedom of choice
5. Possibility of profits

History of Capitalism
 1776- Adam Smith,
Scottish philosopher
and economist wrote
The Wealth of Nations
 Concept of Laissez-
Faire came about
 Government role
strictly limited to those
few actions to ensure
free competition

Governmental Influence
 1900s- economy of the U.S. increased
 Government has grown and became the
single largest buyer of goods and services
in the country
 Regulated the economy for varying
purposes
 Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and
Drug Act
 The Great Depression of the 1930s left
millions without job- therefore Social
Security and programs to aid unemployed
sprung up

Mixed-Market Economies
 Free enterprise + government decisions
in market place = government keeps
competition free and fair and protects
the public interest

Socialism
1. The distribution of wealth and economic
opportunities equally among the people
2. Society’s control through its
government, of all major decisions
about production
3. Public ownership of most land, of
factories, and of other means of
production

Democratic Socialism
 The people have basic human rights
and have some control over government
officials through free elections and
multiparty systems BUT government
owns the basic means of production and
makes most economic decisions
 Opponents claim socialism stifles
individual initiative and high taxes hinder
economic growth and leads to big
government

Karl Marx
 Karl Marx [1818-1883] German thinker,
writer- a socialist who advocated violent
revolution. Published the Communist
Manifesto & Das Kapital
 Believed that in industrial nations the
population is divided into capitalists
[bourgeoisie] and the workers [proletariat]
 Capitalism is a ruling class because they
use their economic power to force their will
on the workers

Marx and Communism
 Believed wages in a capitalist system
would never rise above a subsistence
level- just enough for workers to survive
 Predicted class struggles
 Promoted Communism- one class
evolving, property all held in common
and no need for government

Command Economy
 Communist nations believe government
planners decide how much to produce,
what to produce and how to distribute
the goods and services produced
 Top-down management
 State owns the land, natural resources,
industry, banks and transportation
facilities as well as mass
communications

1[1].foundations of american government

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1[1].foundations of american government