United States Government Chapters 1 and 2

United States Government Chapters 1 and 2

Chapter 1: Principles of Government

Presentation Question 1-1 What do you think it would have been like if, from an early age, you would have been able to do whatever you wanted without parental oversight?

What is Government? Government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies. Public Policies are all those things a government decides to do Three basic kinds of Governmental Power: 1. Legislative Power--the power to make law and to frame public policies 2. Executive Power--the power to execute, enforce, and administer law 3. Judicial Power--the power to interpret laws, to determine their meaning, and to settle disputes that arise within society

What is Government? A constitution is the body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of a government. Two Basic Types of Governments 1. Dictatorship--the ultimate responsibility for the exercise of the three kinds of powers may be held by a single person or by a small group 2. Democracy--supreme authority rests with the people

Presentation Question 1-2 Is there a difference between politics and government?

The State The state (nation) only exists if it has all four of the following characteristics: 1. POPULATION a. May be very small or very large b. May or may not be homogeneous--members of a group who share customs, a common language, and ethnic background 2. TERRITORY a. Must have land with recognized borders 3. SOVEREIGNTY a. Supreme and absolute power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign and domestic policies 4. GOVERNMENT a. The agency through which the state exerts its will and works to accomplish its goals

Major Political Ideas 1. The Force Theory a. A person or group of peoples claims control over a territory and forces all within it to submit to that person s or group s rule 2. The Evolutionary Theory a. The state developed naturally out of the early family b. Family-->clan-->Tribe-->State 3. The Divine Right Theory a. Widely accepted in the Western world from the 15th through the 18th Centuries b. God created the state and God had given those of royal birth a divine right to rule 4. The Social Contract Theory a. From the works of philosophers Thomas Hobbes, James Harrington, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau in the 17th and 18th Centuries b. The state arose out of a voluntary act of the people c. The people are the source of all political power within the state

The Purpose of Government Preamble to the Constitution (Page 8) Form a More Perfect Union--union is strength Establish Justice--the law, in both its content and its administration, must be reasonable, fair, and impartial Insure Domestic Tranquility--Order is essential to the well-being of any society, and keeping the peace at home has always been a prime function of government Provide for the Common Defense--The nation s defense and its foreign policies are but two sides of the same coin Promote the General Welfare--These are services that are not very likely to be provided by the voluntary acts of private individuals or groups (public schools) Secure the Blessings of Liberty--The American dedication to freedom for the individual recognizes that liberty cannot be absolute

Daily Grade Assignment Page 11--Second Treatise of Government Read and answer question at bottom You have 10 minutes to complete this assignment

Forms of Government

Presentation Question 1-3 Have you ever referred to someone as a dictator, in anger or as a joke? Have you ever taken an informal vote on something--which movie to see, or an activity to pursue--in order to make the decision democratically?

Classifying Government Three ways in which governments are classified: 1. Who can participate in the governing process 2. The geographic distribution of governmental power within the state 3. The relationship between the legislative (lawmaking) and the executive (law-executing) branches of the government

Who Can Participate? Democracy Dictatorship Direct democracy does not exist at the national level anywhere in the world today Americans are more familiar with the indirect form of democracy--that is, with representative democracy The people are sovereign; they are the only source of any and all of government s power Those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people The oldest, and certainly the most common, form of government known to history Autocracy--a government in which a single person holds unlimited political power Oligarchy--a government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite Examples: Fascist Italy (1922-1943), Nazi Germany (1933-1945), the Soviet Union (1917-late 1980s) Dictatorships often present the outward appearance of control by the people. The people often vote in popular elections; but the vote is closely controlled, and ballots usually contain the candidates of but one political party

Geographic Distribution of Power Unitary Government All powers held by the government belong to a single, central agency Most governments in the world are unitary governments Great Britain Federal Government The powers of government are divided between a central government and several local governments Division of power is on a geographic basis (i.e. federal, state, local governments) The division of power is set out in the United States Constitution Examples: Australia, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, Germany, India, and the United States Confederate Government Confederation--an alliance of independent states The European Union (EU) is the closest approach to a confederate government today The United States under the Articles of Confederation (1781-1789) and the Confederate States of America (1861-1865) are example in the history of the United States

Relationship Between Legislative and Executive Branches Presidential Government The executive and legislative branches of the government are separate, independent of one another, and coequal The chief executive is the President The United States Parliamentary Government The executive is made up of the prime minister or premier, and that official s cabinet The prime minister and cabinet themselves are members of the legislative branch, the parliament The executive is chosen by the legislature, is part of it, and is subject to its direct control Great Britain

Basic Concepts of Democracy

Concept #1: Worth of the Individual Each individual, no matter what his or her station in life, is a separate and distinct being. People can be forced to do certain things whether they want to or not It is not simply serving the interests of a mass of people who happen to outnumber the few. It is serving the many who, as individuals, together make up that society

Concept #2: Equality of All Persons It holds with Jefferson, that all men are created equal. The democratic concept of equality insists that all are entitled to: Equality of opportunity Equality before the law

Concept #3: Majority Rule, Minority Rights Democracy argues that a majority of people will be right more often than they will be wrong, and that the majority will also be right more often than will any one person or small group. The democratic process does not intend to come up with the right or best answers. The democratic process searches for satisfactory solutions to public problems.

Concept #4: Necessity of Compromise Compromise: finding the position most acceptable to the largest number. Democracy puts the individual first and, at the same time, insists that each individual is equal of all others. Few public questions have only two sides. Compromise is a process, a way of achieving majority agreement. Compromise is never an end in itself. Not all compromises are good, and not all compromises are necessary.

Concept #5: Individual Freedom Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once had this to say about the relative nature of each individual s rights: The right to swing my fist ends where the other man s nose begins. Democracy does not and cannot insist on complete freedom for the individual. Absolute freedom can only exist in a state of anarchy. John F. Kennedy: The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.

Democracy and the Free Enterprise System The American economic system is often called the free enterprise system. The free enterprise system is based on four fundamental factors: private ownership, individual initiative, profit, and competition. The law of supply and demand states that when supplies of goods and services become plentiful, prices tend to drop. When supplies become scarcer, prices tend to rise.

Democracy and the Internet Democracy demands that the people be widely informed about the government. The speed with which and the quantity in which information can be found on the Internet does not guarantee the reliability of that data.

Daily Grade Assignment Supreme Court Case Study Worksheet

Homework Assignment Choose one of the five basic concepts of democracy and write a one-page essay describing how you believe that concept is important to American democracy. You may point out issues that American society has in living up to this concept or how American society flourishes because of this concept. This assignment will be graded based on content and writing.

The Declaration of Independence

Facts about the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson made the following points: Man is given three unalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When governments become tyrannical, the people should break the bonds of agreement with that government and form a new government. The document refers to King George III as a tyrant. King George III was the king of Great Britain. John Hancock was the president of Congress at the time of the passage of the document, and he signed his name the largest. The document lists grievances the colonists have with the policies of the king. The Declaration is the basis for American Democracy.

Preamble to the Declaration of Independence When in the Course of Human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of nature and of Nature s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of Government.

Daily Grade Assignment Page 43: 1-8

Creating the Constitution The framers of the Constitution included many outstanding individuals. These were men of wide knowledge, public experience, wealth, and prestige. Several well-known leaders of the revolution were not at the Constitutional Convention: Patrick Henry-- smelt a rat Samuel Adams John Hancock Richard Henry Lee Thomas Paine--Paris Thomas Jefferson--Minister to France John Adams--England and Holland

Organization and Procedure The Framers worked in total secrecy. Most of what is known of the work of the convention comes from James Madison s voluminous Notes. James Madison is known as the Father of the Constitution A Momentous Decision On May 30 they adopted this proposal: Resolved, that a national Government ought to be established consisting of a supreme Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary. --Edmund Randolph, Delegate from Virginia

The Virginia Plan Representation in each house was to be based either upon each State s population or upon the amount of money it gave for the support of the central government. This favored the big states Small states such as Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey found the proposal too radical.

The New Jersey Plan Proposed a unicameral legislature where the States were represented equally. Gave small states the same power as large states

Compromises The Connecticut Compromise It was agreed that Congress should be composed of two houses. In the small Senate, the States would be represented equally. In the House of Representatives, the representation of each State would be based upon its population. The Three-Fifths Compromise Question: Should slaves be counted in the populations of Southern States? Southern States wanted slaves to be counted to increase their population and gain more power in the legislature. Compromise counted each slave as three-fifths of a person when calculating population of the States.

Compromises The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise Congress was forbidden the power to tax the export of goods from any State. Congress was forbidden the power to act on the slave trade for a period of at least 20 years. A Bundle of Compromises The convention spend much of its time, said Benjamin Franklin, sawing boards to make them fit. Nearly all the delegates were convinced that the new national government, a federal government, had to be created, and had to have powers necessary to deal with the nation s grave social and economic problems. From this came popular sovereignty, limited government, representative government, spearation of powers, and checks and balances.

Homework Complete Chapter 1 & 2 Study Guide Chapter 1 & 2 Test is TOMORROW!!