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American Government Chapter 1

Objectives

• 1. Define the basic principles of government. • 2. Describe the four defining characteristics of

a state. • 3. Explain why it is important to study

government.

What is Government?A system that controls how a country operates. The institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policy.

What is a democracy?Where the people have a voice in government.

What is federalism?The balance of power between state & national government.

I. Beginnings of GovernmentGovernment first appeared when human beings realized that they could not survive without some way to regulate both their own and their neighbors’ behavior.

Beginnings of Government

Greek contributions to government1. Laws, Elected officials by secret ballot, Citizens served

on juries.Roman contributions to government

1. Written laws, Duties for citizensH. The Middle Ages = Dark Ages (500-1200 AD)

1. Feudalism develops

I. End of Dark Ages.

1. Return to strong, religious controlled government as nobles left for the Crusades = free the Holy Land (from Muslims).

2. Roman Catholic church became powerful and corrupt.

3. Resulted in the Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther started it).

4. New powerful middle class emerges.

Why have government? Examples

The absence of government: Anarchy

I. Keep order – prevent crime, create courts, make laws, civil rightsII.National Defense – foreign policyIII.Public services/policy: Anything the government decides to do

a. Health – clean water, sanitation, waste management, inspections, licensing b.Safety – traffic lawsc. Transportations – busses, taxis, subwaysd.Education – money for schools, licenses for teacherse.POSTAL SYSTEM

IV.Promote social standards – drugs, drinking under 21, prostitution all illegalV. Assists with economy – manufactures money, collects taxes, spends tax money

I.NO law enforcementII.NO public transportationIII.NO military forceIV.NO school

Where are most Governments?

1. Government– The people and the institutions with authority to establish and

enforce public policies– Leaders could be dictator, king, president, prime minister, etc.– USA has a REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

2. Land/Boundaries/Territory

-- The area within a boundary that separates one nation from another

3. People/Citizens/Population– USA has over 300,000,000 people– India and China have over 1,000,000,000

4. Sovereignty - the state has absolute authority within its boundaries; decides its own foreign and domestic policies; not responsible to any other authority.

STATES (Nations) we call them countries, nation-states or nations – usually share 4 basic characteristics

Why should you study government and what is government?

Government: an institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies, it is made up of those people who exercise powers, authority, and control over the people—{branches of government, police, judges}

•Why study government?I. Understanding your citizenship and knowing how your government

worksII.To know what rights you haveIII.To know how you can legally change our government

a. The Terminator cannot be President, why?IV.Government affects you in numerous ways

a. Taxes, laws, etc.V. So you are not ignorant

POWER OF GOVERNMENTGovernment must have some semblance of power in order to be successful. Most have three kinds of power:

Legislative power: to make laws and public policyExecutive power: Execute, enforce and administer lawsJudicial power: settle disputes and interpret laws

Where do you find these powers of a government?Origins of the State/Government Power

1. Force Theory-person or group forces control over an area of people.

2. Evolutionary Theory-state originated in the family.

3. Divine Right Theory-God gave individuals or groups the right to rule.

4. Social Contract Theory-people agree to give up power in return for service and protection. (JOHN LOCKE)

(People responsible: Locke, Hobbes, Harrington, Rousseau.)

No two governments are exactly alike, so over time political scientists have developed many classifications on which to base them.

Three of these classifications are as follows:

1.      Who can participate in the governing process?

2.      Where the power is located?

3.      The relationship between the legislative and the executive branches of the government. 

The most meaningful of these classifications is the one that depends on the number of persons who can take part in the governing process. There are two we will discuss Dictatorship and Democracy.

State/Government Power

1. Dictatorship-power is limited to an individual (autocracy); or small group (oligarchy).

a. Typical way to gain power-by force.

b. Authoritarianism-gov’t holds absolute and unchallenged authority over the people.

c. Totalitarianism-exercise complete control over every aspect of people’s lives.

2. Democracy-people hold the power and give consent to the gov’t to rule.

a. Direct (pure)-people make all decisions.

b. Representative (republic)-small group is chosen by the people to rule.

Where do WE find the powers of government for the USA?Constitution—body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures,

and processes of a government.What is the US governments fundamental purposes???

Types of governmental powers:

What are the six purposes of the American system of government as stated in the Preamble of the Constitution?

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.

1. Form a more perfect union--to unify, strengthen

2. Establish justice--make fair, reasonable, and impartial laws.

3. Ensure Domestic tranquility--without order there is anarchy (disorder-

confusion)4. Provide for the Common Defense

--nation’s security rests on wise defense5. Promote the General Welfare

--provide services for citizens6. Secure Blessings of Liberty

--give up some free will to obtain safety.

Government Classification

• Three Ways:– 1. Who Can Participate– 2. Geographic Distribution of Power– 3. Relationship Between the Legislative and

Executive Branches

Who Can Participate

• Democracy vs. Dictatorship

5 Basic Concepts of DemocracyA. Foundation

1. The fate of American Democracy rests on people’s acceptance of certain ideas. These ideas present America with problems and challenges.

B. Five concepts1. Fundamental worth of the individual.

a. Democracy insists on the worth and dignity of all.

b. Sometimes the welfare of one must be subordinated to the interest of many.

2. Equality of all persons.

a. Democracy insists on equality before the law/opportunity.

3. Majority rule/Minority rights

a. Majority will be right more often than wrong.

b. Democracy searches for satisfactory solutions to public problems.

c. Majority must recognize the rights of the Minority to become the Majority.

4. Necessity of compromise

a. Compromise - blending, adjusting, and reconciling competing views of interest in order to find a position most acceptable to the largest number.

b. Allows citizens to make decisions.

c. Compromise is not an end, but a means to achieve a public goal.

5. Individual Freedom

a. Freedom can’t be absolute or Anarchy will result.

b. Democracy strives to find a balance between liberty and authority.

c. Quote by G. Washington “The right to swing my fist ends where the other person’s nose begins.”

A democracy can be either direct or indirect.

1.      Direct-also called a pure democracy, exists where the will of the people is translated into public policy (law) directly by the people themselves, in mass meetings. (This can work only in very small communities, where it is possible for the citizenry to meet in a central place, and where the problems of government are few and relatively simple.)

2.       Indirect- a representative democracy, a small group of persons, chosen by the people to act as their representatives, expresses the popular will. These representatives carry out the every day conduct of government. (the representatives are held accountable to their decisions by periodic elections)

DICTATORSHIPa. Typical way to gain power-by force.

b. Authoritarianism-gov’t holds absolute and unchallenged authority over the people.

c. Totalitarianism-exercise complete control over every aspect of people’s lives.

d. Government in which those who rule are not responsible to the will of the people.

E. The government is not accountable for its policies, nor for how they are carried out.

F. The oldest and most common, form of government known to history.

Government in which a single person holds unlimited political power.

2. OligarchyGovernment in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-

appointed elite group.

1. AutocracyThere are two forms of a Dictatorship.

World’s worst dictators today• Dictatorship’s do occur today, but are not common.• Most present-day dictatorships are not nearly absolutely

controlled by a single person. The outward appearance may hide the fact that several groups—the army, religious leaders, industrialists, and others—compete for power. The people often get to vote, but it is closely controlled and ballots usually contain the candidates of only one political party.

• Most dictatorships are militaristic—they gain power by force, they hold power in the major posts of the government.

 

Well Known Dictators

Mussolini-Italy Hitler-Nazi Germany Stalin-Soviet UnionModern Dictators

Syria

Bashar al Assad

Hugo Chavez – Venezuela Omar al Bashir

- Sudan

Kim Jong Il

Kim Jong Un

Geographic Distribution of Power

• Unitary• Federal• Confederate

Three important types of government.1.      Unitary Government

a.  Centralized governmentb.  All powers held by government belong to a single, central agency,

usually dictatorships.c.  Government creates local units for its convenienced.  The local governments have only those powers that the central government gives them.

Example – China, Iran 2. Federal Government

a.  Powers are divided between a central and local governments.

b.  An authority (the Constitution) superior to the central and local governments set up the division of powers.

c.  Both levels of government act through the people and their sets of laws, officials, and agencies.

Examples: USA, Australia, Canada

a.       Alliance of independent states.b.      A central organization, the government, only

handles matters that member states assign to it.c.       Holds limited power in defense and foreign

commerce.

3. Confederate Government

Example: Confederacy during Civil War and European Union today

Two forms of government based on relationship between their legislative and executive agencies. 

1.  Presidential a. The executive and legislative branches are separate and independent of one another, coequalb. The chief executive (president) is chosen independently of the legislatures.

• 1. holds office for a fixed term.• 2. has broad powers not subject to direct control of the legislative

branch.c. Branches have several powers with which each can block (check) actions by the other

branches.d. Usually a written constitution provides for the separation of powers. Example: USA invented idea

2. Parliamentary - example Britain, Canada, and Japana. The executive is made up of the prime minister and the official’s cabinet.b. Both of these are members of the legislative branch, parliament.

c. Prime minister is leader of the majority party and was chosen by that body.

1. Selects the members of the cabinet from among the members of parliament.

d. The executive, parliament, is chosen by the legislature, is a part of it, and is subject to its direct control.

e.  Prime minister and cabinet remain in office only as long as their policies and administration have the confidence of a majority, if not then they could receive a vote of “no confidence” and must resign.

f.  New government is formed, parliament chooses a new prime minister of all the seats go before the voters in a general election.

g.  A majority of all the government’s in the world. 

Democracy and the Free Enterprise/Market System

The American economic system is often called the Free Enterprise System: 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.

What are the four factors underlying the free enterprise system? 1. Private ownership 2. Individual initiative 3. Profit 4. Competition

It does not rely on governments decision, but on the decisions by the market through the Law of Supply of Demand. What is this? (when supplies of goods and services become plentiful, prices tend to drop. When supplies become scarce r, prices tend to rise.)– Democracy and the Free Enterprise System are not the same, but

they both are based upon individual freedom.

What is a mixed economy?

A mixed economy is an economy in which private enterprise exists in combination with a considerable amount of government regulation and promotion.

Why does the government stick its nose in this? 1. To protect the public2. To preserve private enterprise

Government participation is seen at every level: national, state, and local.Which of the following is NOT a way that the government promotes the economy?a. Building roadsb. Grants for scientific researchc. Buying and controlling major industriesd. Provide a postal system

 

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