Introduction to Government

1. Introduction to Government

2. We can think of government as the institutions and their systems that rule a country and its people. • Simply put: To govern is to rule.

3. A government can be one of three types: • An autocracy • Controlled by a single individual • An oligarchy • Small, powerful groups are in control • A democracy • More people participate in the governing process and have some influence

4. Democracy Then and now

5. The most important feature of democracy is that it is a government whose citizens grant it the authority to rule. • Comes from two Greek words: demos (the people) and kratos (rule or power) • True or False: The founders of our country didn’t like democracies. • True—they felt no one would be in charge and a mob mentality would result.

6. Direct versus Representative Democracy Direct Representative • Each has a direct and equal say in the government • The people elect certain individuals to represent their opinions, concerns, and desires • A republic is another name for a representative democracy

7. How They Govern • Besides differing in who governs, governments also differ in how they govern. • Totalitarian Governments: those in authority have complete control and unlimited power • Authoritarian Governments: power is limited by a group (maybe the military, religious group, labor union) • Constitutional Governments: a framework of written laws limits government officials • Our government follows the laws written in our Constitution while operating as a democracy; thus, our system of government is a constitutional democracy

8. Our Ideals Our government works because the citizens of our country believe in certain ideals—that is, we have agreed to live by the following: • We accept majority rule. • We agree that the rights of the people who were in the minority must be protected. • We want to be ruled by laws, not powerful individuals. • We want freedom of speech—that is, we want to be allowed to question and criticize our elected officials for the purpose of improving our government. • We want our government to serve the people, not the other way around. We call this popular sovereignty.

9. Making our Constitutional Democracy Work • We have set up our government so it can support our ideals. We want our government to be strong, but not so powerful that it endangers our freedoms and rights. • We accomplish this goal through a fair system of representation.

10. The people delegate or lend their authority to their elected representatives. • To earn the right to represent us, these officials must first become candidates in an election, which is a formal process in which the people vote for their representatives. • Once we have elected our representatives, we must limit their power through a system of checks and balances.

11. Federalism • The division of political power between the national government and the individual state governments.