FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY STUDENT WORKBOOK Name: Class:
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY READINGS Introduction 2 Why Government? 4 The Sovereign State 6 Who Rules? 8 Limiting Government 10 Rule of Law 11 Cradle of Democracy 12 Niccoló Machiavelli 13 The Enlightenment 14 Baron de Montesquieu 15 Jean-Jacques Rousseau 16 ACTIVITIES Why Government? 19 The Sovereign State 21 Who Rules? 29 Limiting Government 33 Rule of Law 41 Cradle of Democracy 59 Niccoló Machiavelli 61 The Enlightenment 63 Baron de Montesquieu 65 Jean-Jacques Rousseau 67
Photo: Maximilian Blömer INTRODUCTION It All Started When... How did governments get started? Did somebody wake up one day and think, Hey! I know what we need? Not exactly. We don t know what kind of government prehistoric humans may have had, but we know they lived in groups and wherever there are groups of humans, there are leaders. We also know there have been many types of governments over the course of human history. Why? Probably because leaders aren t always effective. Sometimes they re dangerous or even cruel. For centuries, societies simply accepted that a few people were powerful and the rest weren t. But over time, people s ideas about government began to change. A Pinch of This, A Dash of That No single person developed government the way we experience it now. Some characteristics of modern governments are ideas that began thousands of years ago. Some are borrowed from the way ancient civilizations ran their governments. Other ideas about government came from philosophers who have spent lots of time thinking and writing about government and its purpose. Many of these philosophers lived during a time we call the Enlightenment a period when people developed new ideas about humans basic rights and the relationship between people and government. Like anything else humans build, forms of government have been tested and tinkered with over time. Ancient Rome s senate met in this building, the Curia Iulia You + Government Forever! You may never have thought about it this way, but you re going to spend your entire life interacting with government. You ll carry a government-issued driver s license and pay taxes a government will spend on things. You ll follow government-created laws. You might even serve in a government-run military, or at least know someone who does. And like other citizens, you will vote to elect people to represent you in government. Government has so many functions, it s impossible to get away from. It helps to understand why we have a certain type of government, what the other options are, and what government could be like if it had no limits at all! All the Basics In this workbook, you ll explore the answers to some basic questions about government: Why do we have governments? Where do governments have authority??? 2 2 What kinds of leadership structures can governments have? How can a government s power be limited? How has thinking about the role of government changed over time????
READINGS FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 3
Courtesy of New York Public Library. www.nypl.org WHY GOVERNMENT? Thomas Hobbes Nope, Not the Cartoon Tiger (the other Hobbes) Thomas Hobbes was an English scholar and philosopher. He was born in 1588 and later became a tutor to a very wealthy family. As a tutor, Hobbes had access to many books, traveled often, and met many important thinkers. Hobbes lived in Paris through the English Civil Wars and was interested in the nature of government. He wrote about many topics, including politics, geometry, physics, religion, and history. Hobbes was one of many scholars who tried to answer the question, Why do we have government? Poor, Nasty, Brutish, and Short Hobbes saw humans as naturally selfish and quick to fight. He believed that before there were governments, people lived in a state of nature. In a state of nature, everyone had a right to everything. In order to get what they wanted, people would always be at war with everyone else. Nobody would produce anything like inventions, art, or even crops or tools because they would be afraid other people would take them away. Hobbes didn t paint a very pretty picture of life without government. In such condition... the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. - T. Hobbes Leviathan Social Contract Hobbes lived at a time when many philosophers were thinking about the nature of government. He was one of the first of his era to discuss the idea of a social contract between people and their government. A contract is an agreement in which both sides agree to something in order to reach a shared goal. In Hobbes view, people agreed to give up some rights and power in exchange for protection. But for Hobbes, the social contract was no two-way street. He believed that once the people agreed to hand over power in exchange for protection, they lost the right to overthrow, replace, or even question the government. Hobbes wrote a book called Leviathan (luh-vi-uh-then) to explain how he thought governments should work. Hobbes wrote Leviathan during the English Civil War. He wrote about the social contract, and he spent much of the book trying to show that a strong central authority was the only way to avoid the evils of war. Hobbes believed a single sovereign, or ruler, should have total authority over the people. He believed in a monarchy led by a king. That s because he thought that government would work best if all the power rested in one place. No three branches for Hobbes! Many political thinkers including America s Founding Fathers built on Hobbes ideas, especially the idea of a social contract. Hobbes was more concerned with protection and order than rights. But people like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau changed the focus from monarchy to democracy power with the people instead of a sovereign. They began to see that people have rights that must be protected even from 4 government. Cover art from Leviathan.
Courtesy of New York Public Library. www.nypl.org John Locke The Blank Slate A Man with Many Hats John Locke was born in England in 1632, at about the same time that Hobbes was about to begin his life s work as a philosopher. Locke considered becoming a minister, started his career as a doctor, but ended up as a philosopher and political scientist. He had many interests and produced a number of writings that influenced future leaders. One of those leaders was Thomas Jefferson, who helped America gain independence from Britain nearly 150 years after Locke was born. Jefferson studied Locke s writings, and Locke s ideas show up in our own Constitution. One of Locke s books, called An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, took over 18 years to write! In it, he says that people are born with a mind like a tabula rasa, which means a blank slate or page. During life, that blank slate gets filled up with the things a person experiences with the five senses. He said people learn and develop differently because they are exposed to different things. The one thing people have in common is that they are human and share a human nature that is the same for all people everywhere. WHY GOVERNMENT? Experience Exposure to the World People need... Life Liberty Property Natural Rights Locke imagined a set of natural rights that human beings share. These are the right to life, liberty, and property. Life refers to the fact that people want to live and will fight to survive. Liberty means that people want to be as free as possible to make their own decisions. Property represents the fact that people want to own things that help them survive, such as land, food, and tools. Locke believed these rights aren t given to people people are born with them. Why do we need a government? Locke also wondered what life would be like if people didn t have a government. Like Hobbes, he believed this would lead to a state of nature with no rules, no one in charge, and no way for people to protect their natural rights. He believed the purpose of government is to end the state of nature and give people certain protections. But Locke also believed that governments should protect people s natural rights. Government can... Offer protection Provide services The Government The People Social Contract, Take Two... Locke believed a government can only be legitimate, or valid, if it is based on a social contract with citizens. For Locke, the social contract between a government and its people worked both ways: The people agree to give up some freedoms, but only if the government agrees to protect everyone s rights. If the government fails to deliver, the people have the right to revolt like the colonists did during the American Revolution. This two-way exchange between citizens and government was very different from Hobbes view. 5
THE SOVEREIGN STATE The Department of State represents the U.S. when dealing with other nations. Population The State No, not Texas, Oregon, Vermont... Those are states, but a state is something more than that. A state is a body of people, living in a defined space, with the power to make and enforce laws, and with an organization to do this. A state does not have to check with any higher authority in order to make and enforce laws. Its own organization, or government, is its highest authority. A population is the group of people who are the members or citizens of a state. A population can be large or small. China has a population of more than 1.3 billion people, while the island state of Fiji has just over 860,000. The population of a state also has a variety of features. The population might be mainly rural or mostly urban. A state s economic situation might mean most people are very poor, with little access to electricity or even water. Or the people might be generally wealthy, enjoying modern homes, running water, and the latest technology. Often this is connected to the level of education most people within the population have achieved. Populations also have their own cultural traditions, and they usually speak a common language. Territory A state s territory is the area in which a state s rule applies. A state must have set boundaries. However, countries do not always agree on what each other s boundaries are. Boundaries can change over time. Sometimes they change after a war, when the states involved agree on new boundaries. When there is a dispute, states might also negotiate with each other to decide what the actual boundaries should be. Finally, states can purchase territory from other states, although this is less common today than it was in the past. In 1867, the U.S. bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. Sovereignty Sovereignty (pronounced SAW-vren-tee) is the ability to rule absolutely within a territory. The principle of sovereignty means that all states are considered equal to each other, and no state may interfere in the affairs of another state. In reality, the world s states have created a higher authority, called the United Nations. States agree to follow the UN s rules for dealing with each other but they don t have to follow them. Sovereign states are free to set their own foreign policy, meaning the kind of relationships they will have with other states. States also have the power to decide how things will operate inside their own boundaries. Today, though, if a state is unable to keep its population safe and many people are being killed perhaps even by the government the UN allows other states to use military force to protect the population. 6 Each flag outside the United Nations headquarters represents a sovereign state.
Government THE SOVEREIGN STATE A government is the organization inside a state that controls the actions and policies of the state. A government has four main roles. First a government makes laws. In this role, the government provides rules for how things inside the state are run. A government is also responsible for protecting the state. In this role, the government provides a military to defend the state against outside attack. Third, a government keeps order inside the state. It does this by establishing law enforcement agencies that deal with criminal activity. Finally, a government usually helps its citizens by providing services people need. This can be anything from a post office to paving streets to providing health care or unemployment benefits. Government s Roles. Use the word bank to complete the graphic organizer. Write the four roles in the circles. Then connect examples of each role to each circle. Each role has 4 examples. Keep Order Kids under 14 can t work Army The voting age is 18 Marines Make Laws Police Protect the Country Highway Patrol People have freedom of speech Help Citizens FBI Retirement benefits Highway system Sheriff Navy Veterans hospital Air Force Schools Jobs must pay minimum wage Four Roles of Government 7
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FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY ACTIVITIES 17
Why Government? Name: A. Draw It! Use words and images to draw cartoons showing the big ideas of Hobbes and Locke. Thomas Hobbes John Locke State of Nature How would it look? What s happening? What s not happening? Social Contract Who is involved? What is being exchanged? Government Who is the government? Does it ever change? Activity Side A 19
Why Government? Name: B. Compare & Contrast. Write the letter of each word or phrase in the correct part of the diagram. A. Natural Rights B. Life F. No laws G. Laws Social Contract State of Nature C. Liberty H. Compromises are made D. Property I. You are on your own! E. Government J. Rights are protected. C. What s the Connection? Explain how each set of words are related. 1. Life / Liberty / Property 2. State of Nature / War 3. Government / Social Contract D. Hobbes vs. Locke. Decide whether Hobbes and Locke would agree about each statement. There are no laws in a state of nature, and people are always at war. People need government to create laws, protect citizens, and provide services. Rulers should have complete power and should not be able to be kicked out by citizens. Hobbes & Locke would: Agree about this Disagree about this Hobbes & Locke would: Agree about this Disagree about this Hobbes & Locke would: Agree about this Disagree about this If there is a statement where Hobbes and Locke would disagree, explain their differences: 20 Activity Side B
The Sovereign State Name: Brainstorm! What features do all countries have in common? What characteristics do you think a country absolutely must have in order to be a country? Write as many features as you can think of on the mind map below. Add as many extra lines and circles as you need! What makes a country a country? Starter Activity 21
Guided Notes POPULATION A population might be or Populations have different THE STATE 1) a body of 2) living in a 3) with the power to make and enforce and 4) an to do this. TERRITORY A state must have set States don t always on where their boundaries are. Boundaries can SOVEREIGNTY All states are considered to each other. States decide what kind of they will have with other states. This is a state s. States decide how things will inside their boundaries. GOVERNMENT A state is... The Sovereign State Name: Guided Notes 23
The Sovereign State A. Territory. Draw a map of the boundaries of your new country. Then draw the geographical features inside. Is it on the ocean? Does it have rivers and lakes? Mountains? Canyons? Where are the cities and towns? Name: B. Flag. Draw your country s flag here. Your Country s Name: C. Population. Describe the features of your country s population: Level of Wealth Draw a pie graph to show fd how wealthy your population is. ghint: Wealth and education are fdsass directly related! Poverty Language(s) Spoken Level of Education Put an X next to the highest level of education your country will require: Middle Graduate Degree Middle Wealthy Where People Live Draw a bar graph to show how many people live near cities or in the gfgfgfj_ country. 100% 75% 50% 25% 0% Live near large city Live in rural area No school Elementary High School College 2 yrs College 4 yrs Cultural Traditions Name a holiday only your country has: How did the holiday get started? Create a State Side A 25
Why Government? Name: D. Government. Choose one feature from each column to create your country s government. But be careful some options don t go together! Legislative Assembly Citizens elect legislators Head of state appoints legislators No legislative assembly Head of State Legislative assembly chooses a Prime Minister Citizens elect a President Dictator appoints self to power Elections Citizens don t get to vote Citizens vote every years Citizens vote whenever the government calls an election E. Protecting the Country. What outside threat do your citizens fear the most? Draw a picture of the threat and how your military is preparing to defend the country against it: F. Keeping Order. Paul has been convicted of robbing a bank at gunpoint in your capital city. Police records show Paul has a history of drug addiction and had a lot of problems as a child. In your country, what would Paul s sentence be? Official Court Document Starting today, Paul will... G. Helping Citizens. Look at the list of some needs your citizens will have. Decide what your country will do about these needs, if anything. H. Making Laws. Your country s governing document is called the Five Freedoms. What freedoms do people in your country have? NEED Education Safe Food Communication MY COUNTRY WILL The citizens of have the freedom to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Health Care Transportation 26 Create a State Side B Now, name three things everyone in your country knows are against the law: 1. 2. 3.
The Sovereign State Name: Don t Peek! Complete this graphic organizer using ONLY what you remember about states. One thing I learned about this feature: One thing I learned about this feature: Another thing I learned: Another thing I learned: One thing I learned about this feature: Features of a State One thing I learned about this feature: Another thing I learned: Another thing I learned: Closing Activity 27
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