Chapter 1

1. Chapter 1 Government & the State

2. Section 1What is government • Government: institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies • Public policies: all things a government decides to do (examples?) • Government’s three powers: • Legislative – power to make laws and frame public policies • Executive – power to execute, enforce and administer law • Judicial – power to interpret laws, determine their meaning and settle disputes as they arise within the society

3. Constitution: body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures & processes of government • Forms of government: • Dictatorship: power rests with one or a few people • Democracy: supreme authority rest with the people • Earliest know government dates from ancient Egypt • Politics: the process by which a society decides how power and resources will be distributed in society • Neither good nor bad, but a process

4. The State • State: a body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically, and with power to enforce law without consent of any higher authority • Nation is an ethnic term, country is a geographic term, state is a legal entity

5. Population • Must have people (obviously) • Numbers aren’t important • Country with the smallest population: Vatican City-832, San Marino-31,817 (6th) • Largest: China-1.3 billion • US-313.9 million • Population does not need to be homogeneous

6. Territory • Known, recognized boundaries

7. Sovereignty • Supreme and absolute power within its own territory • Can decide its own foreign & domestic policies • Montana sovereign? Why?

8. Government • Political organization • Includes the machinery and the personnel by which the state is ruled • What would the US look like without government?

9. Major political ideas • 4 theories behind the origin of state • Force Theory: into power through force • One person or small group claimed control • Evolutionary Theory: state developed naturally out of the early family • Primitive family – one was the head and in charge • Families joined together to become clans • When these clans settled in one area, the state was born

10. Divine Right Theory: God created the state and that God gave those of royal birth a “divine right” to rule. • People bound to obey ruler as they would God • Widely accepted in the Western world from 15th-18th century

11. Social Contract Theory: people came together to agree to create a state • Members of the state gave up as much power as was needed to promote the safety and well-being of all • Most significant theory in the American political system • Developed by philosophers Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau • State arose out of a voluntary act of free people • State exists only to serve the will of the people

12. Purpose of Government • Stated in Preamble to the Constitution • Form a more perfect union • First form of government, The Articles of Confederation, proved to be weak • Agreed we needed a stronger union (Constitution) • Establish justice • Law, in both content and administration, must be reasonable, fair and impartial • Has justice always been fair in the US? • How has it gotten better?

13. Insure domestic tranquility • Order, keeping peace at home • What would life with anarchy be like? • “If men were angels, no government would be necessary” Madison. The Federalist No. 51 • Provide for the common defense • Defend against foreign enemies • Defense is mentioned in the constitution more often than other functions of government

14. Promote the general welfare • Services provided by the government that benefit most all of the people • Examples? • Secure the blessings of liberty • Freedom for the individual is not absolute

15. Section 2Forms of Government • How to classify governments • Who participates • Geographic distribution of power • Relationship between legislative and executive branches

16. Who participates? • Democracy • The people hold sovereign power • Government is conducted only by and with the consent of the people • Direct democracy: all people actively participate • Town meetings, class meetings • Indirect democracy: will of the people is conducted through representatives (elected officials) • Congress, student council

17. Dictatorship • Those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people • Oldest and most common form of government in history • Autocracy: single person holds unlimited power (example) • Oligarchy: power to rule is held by a small, usually self appointed elite (example) • All are authoritarian: those in power hold absolute and unchallengeable authority over the people • Totalitarianism: power over all aspect of human affairs

18. Geographic distribution of Power • Unitary: all powers held by government belong to a single, central agency • Example? • Federal: powers of government are divided between a central and local governments • Division of powers • Confederation: alliance of independent states. Government has very limited power • Example?

19. Relationship between Legislative & Executive branches • Presidential: separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches • Branches are independent and coequal • Chief executive is chosen independently of the legislature, holds office for a fixed term, and has a number of significant powers that are not subject to direct control of the legislative branch

20. Parliamentary: executive is made up of the prime minister or premiere and that official’s cabinet • PM and cabinet are members of the legislative branch • PM is leader of the majority party or coalition • PM chosen by legislators • Executive is part of the legislature, chosen by it and is subject to its direct control • Remains in office as long as their policies and administration have the support of the majority in parliament • “Vote of no confidence” PM & cabinet must resign from office and a new government formed

21. Section 3: Basic Concepts of Democracy “No government demands so much from the citizen as Democracy, and none gives so much back.” What do you think he means? Write down your thoughts.

22. Foundations • Democracy will continue to exist only for as long as we, the people, continue to subscribe to and practice the basic democratic concepts

23. Worth of the Individual • Dignity and worth of the individual important in democratic thought • Serves the many who, as individuals, together make up the society • Sometimes the welfare of a one or a few becomes subordinate to the interests of many • Example: Taxes, stopping at a stop sign, registering for the draft

24. Equality of all Persons • Equality of opportunity • Equality before the law • Does not guarantee equality of condition • Not always practiced throughout US History • Examples?

25. Majority Rule, Minority Rights • Majority rule restrained by minority rights • Examples?

26. Necessity of Compromise • Process of blending and adjusting competing views and interests • Examples: individual vs. society

27. Individual Freedom • Not complete freedom of the individual • Absolute freedom can only exist in anarchy • Limited by the rights of others • Maintaining balance between the freedom for the individual and the rights of society as a whole is difficult

28. Free Enterprise System • Economic system characterized by: • Private ownership of capital goods • Investments made by private decision (not government directive) • Success or failure is determined by competition in the market-place • Private ownership, individual initiative, profit, competition • Capitalism

29. Law of Supply & Demand • When supplies of goods and services become plentiful (surplus), prices tend to drop

30. Mixed Economy • Economy in which private enterprise exists in combination with considerable amount of government regulation and promotion • examples of regulation & promotion?

31. Democracy & the Internet • Plethora of information • Is it reliable? • Children’s Internet Protection Act • any library receiving federal funds must filter and block sites containing obscenity or images harmful to minors • Is this constitutional? Does this go against individual freedom? • Look at arguments for both sides on p. 23