Foundations of American Government

1. Foundations of American Government Government and the State Chapter 1 Section 1

2. Vocabulary • Government – the institution through which society makes and enforces its public policies. It must have power and authority over its people • Public Policy – all things the govt. decides to do

3. Vocabulary • Constitution – fundamental laws setting out a country or state’s principles, structure and processes of the government

4. Vocabulary - Powers • Legislative – makes laws (Congress: Senate and House) • Executive – executes, enforces and administers laws (President) • Judicial – interprets laws (Supreme Court)

5. Separation of Powers • The way those three tasks are processed are written into a Constitution.

6. Vocabulary • Popular Sovereignty – the government is responsible to the people and the government is based on the consent of the people • Sovereignty – the people are the source of power

7. Vocabulary • Separation of Powers – our government has three branches, (executive, legislative, judicial) each with its own duties and responsibilities. This system is in place to make sure that no branch has too much power

8. Vocabulary • The state is a body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically and the power to make and enforce laws without the consent of any higher authority • Often, a state is a nation or a country

9. Sovereignty • To be a state, it must have absolute power to decide on its own foreign and domestic politics. • Therefore, Florida is NOT a state in this sense as it does not do this.

10. The Territory • To be a state, it must have land • It does not have to be connected or large.

11. The Population • To be a state, it must have people • They do not have to be united either ethnically, politically or culturally.

12. Why Study Government? • Because our government affects YOU.

13. Why Do We Have Government? • Because our government settles conflicts • We cannot decide among ourselves how to divide our resources • Our government has the authority to make their decisions legal.

14. Why Do We Have Government? • Because our government provides things for us that we could not do independently • Construction of roads, police and fire protection, public health and environmental codes.

15. Why Do We Have Government? • Because our government protects our entire nation. • The government raises and fund the military, defense systems, and immigration

16. Why Do We Have Government? • Because our government makes decisions and policy that directs our country.

17. Who Controls Government? • In a dictatorship, all of these powers are held by one person or a small group.

18. Who Controls Government? • In a democracy, these powers are in the hands of the citizens of that country.

19. Who Controls Government? • All governments involve politics. • Politics is the process that decides who gets what, when and how.

20. Political Origins • Evolutionary Theory • The state evolved out of the early family or clan • The oldest male was the head • The family grew into clans and finally, tribes

21. Political Origins • Force Theory • One person or group claimed control over an area and forced its inhabitants to submit to that group’s rule

22. Political Origins • Divine Right Theory • God decided through birth who was to lead and who was to follow • They believed that because God made the decision, it was not up to people to make changes.

23. Government • Thomas Hobbes and John Locke agreed that all people must have a government to protect ourselves.

24. Thomas Hobbes 1588-1679 • Without government there would be “continual fear and danger of violent death and life would be solitary, poor nasty, brutish and short.” • Humans are basically selfish creatures • Wrote Leviathan

25. John Locke 1632-1704 • Locke believed that man had natural rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of property • People choose to have a government, a social contract, to protect our natural rights.

26. Political Origins • During the 1600’s, several philosophers challenged the divine right theory • Although they all agreed that man must have a government, they disagreed with the idea that the right to rule comes from God

27. Political Origins • Social Contract Theory • People have the power to voluntarily choose to have a government to serve their will • The people are free to give or withhold that power if they choose

28. Political Origins • The Declaration of Independence justified the American Revolution through social contract theory, that King George III violated this contract.

29. Preamble to the Constitution • The purpose of our government is written in the Preamble to the Constitution • “We the People of the United States,

30. Purpose of Government

31. Purpose of Government

32. Purpose of Government

33. Purpose of Government

34. Purpose of Government

35. Purpose of Government

36. Purpose of Government

37. Purpose of Government • Memorize this!!!

38. Review • Why do we study government • What is a government? • Who holds the power in a dictatorship? • Who holds the power in a democracy? • What is the purpose of our Constitution? • How is our Preamble an example of a social contract?

39. Foundations of American Government Forms of Government Chapter 1 Section 2

40. Autocracy – rule by one Dictators and monarchs Oligarchy – rule by selected elite Vocabulary

41. Vocabulary • Unitary govt. - power in the hands of a central agency • Federal govt – power divided between federal and state governments U. S. France

42. Vocabulary • Division of powers – power is in the hands of different branches • Confederation – loosely organized group of states

43. Vocabulary • Presidential government – the executive branch is separate from the legislative branch • Parliamentary government – the prime minister and cabinet are both the executive and legislative body

44. Classifying Governments • Who can participate? • What is the distribution of power within the state? • What is the relationship between the legislative and executive branches?

45. Who Can Participate? • In a democracy, the power is in the hands of the people • Direct democracy does not exist in large communities. Everyone votes for everything. It is not practical in cities and countries.

46. Who Can Participate? • In a representative democracy, or republic, people vote for representatives to carry out their wishes on a day to day basis • They are accountable on election day • 98% are re-elected

47. Who Can Participate? • In a dictatorship, only the ruler makes decisions. • Whether an autocracy or oligarchy, dictatorships are authoritarian. • Dictators control every aspect of peoples’ lives

48. Who Can Participate? • Examples of dictatorships would be Nazi Germany under Hitler • Even children (Aryan) were forced to become members of the Nazi Youth Movement (like the current pope, Benedict

49. Who Can Participate? • Josef Stalin - Russia • Muammar al-Qaddafi – Libya • Fidel Castro - Cuba • Dictatorships stay in power through the use of military might

50. Distribution of Power - Unitary • All governmental power is centralized into a single agency • Local governments have only the power than the central government allows it to have