GOVERNMENT CLASS2010

Second SemesterUnit A: Principles of Government

Government and the State How is government defined? What are the basic powers that every

government holds? What are the four defining

characteristics of the state? How have we attempted to explain the

origin of the state? What is the purpose of government in

the United States and other countries?

What Is Government?

Government

is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public

policies.

The State

PopulationA state must have people,the number of which doesnot directly relate to itsexistence.

TerritoryA state must be comprisedof land—territory with knownand recognized boundaries.

SovereigntyEvery state is sovereign. Ithas supreme and absolutepower within its ownterritory and decides its ownforeign and domesticpolicies.

GovernmentEvery state has agovernment — that is, it ispolitically organized.

The state can be defined as having these four characteristics:

Origins of the State

Some Secular Views of the Origins of the State:

The Force Theory The force theory states that one person or a small

group took control of an area and forced all within it to submit to that person’s or group’s rule.

The Evolutionary Theory The evolutionary theory argues that the state

evolved naturally out of the early family. The Divine Right Theory The theory of divine right holds that God created the

state and that God gives those of royal birth a “divine right” to rule.

The Social Contract Theory The social contract theory argues that the state

arose out of a voluntary act of free people.

Origins of the State BP 1.1 Ordained & Instituted by God  BP 1.1.1 Understand that whatever particular

government exists in a country has been ordained by God. (Romans 13) 

P 1.1.2 Explain that the officials of the government have received authority to govern you and me from God. (John 19:11)

BP1.1.3 Describe how governments serve the church by God’s sovereign might of providence.

Origins of the State Errors of the Social Contract Theory   BP4.1.1 Deny that revolution is allowed when the people

no longer give their consent.

BP4.1.2 Counter the teaching that, Man is born free and naturally has individual rights equal to all other men.

BP4.1.3 Give an answer to those that teach, government is “Of the People” and not of God.

BP4.1.4 Explain that it is not the right of Majority to decide what is right and lawful, but God’s law..

The Purpose of Government

The main purposes of government are described in the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States:

“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.”

The Purpose of Government

The main purposes of government are described in the Bible:

 BP 1.2.1 Confess that the state is rightfully the servant of God. (Romans 13) BP 1.2.2 Know that the state keeps some outward order in society by the punishment of criminals and the protection of those that do well. (I Peter 2:14) BP1.2.3 Understand that governments benefit the Church by allowing them to spread the gospel, extending the Kingdom of God and live a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. (I Timothy 2:2) BP1.2.4 Notice how God providentially assigned spheres of sovereignty to civil governments which prevents the early coming of an anti-Christian one-world power.

The Powers of GovernmentGod Gives Government the Power of the Sword

 BP1.3.1 Explain how the power of the sword is to be used to keep order and restrain sin. – (example: police, judges, prison) BP1.3.2 Identify the implied use of the sword to wage war, to defend from invasion. BP1.3.3 Describe how God has often used war to accomplish His purposes. (Deuteronomy 2:24-36) BP1.3.4 Be aware of how God uses wars and rumors of wars to bring about the coming of Christ. (Mark 13:7)