Unit One - Principles of Democracy - Part 1 - Foundations of American Government
Government and power defined, purposes of government, concept of sovereignty, reasons for the emergence of government, the Social Contract Theory, philosophical ideas and historical foundations, influence of Locke, Montesquieu, de Tocqueville, and others, fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy.
Important Vocabulary
· Articles of Confederation
· Baron de Montesquieu
· Consent of the governed
· Declaration of Independence
· Democracy
· Jean Jacques Rousseau
· John Locke
· Natural rights
· Political power
· Popular sovereignty
· Representative democracy
· Republicanism
· Thomas Hobbes
· Thomas Jefferson
What is government? Every society has some form of government. Government institutions make rules for the distribution of rewards in a society.
Nation refers to a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular territory.
Country refers to a place or region.
State refers to a sovereign government with respected borders and without any higher authority than itself.
Politics implies the competition among differing visions, plans, rules, laws, policies, and goals for a society – pure dictatorships lack politics, right?
What is the state?
· A recognition of the fundamental worth of every person
· A respect for the equality of all persons
· A faith in majority rule and minority rights
· An acceptance of the necessity of compromise
· An insistence on the widest possible degree of personal freedom
Comparative Governments
· Oligarchy - by the few
· Democracy - by the many
· Anarchy - by no one
· Monarchy - by one ruler
· Autocracy - by an autocrat
· Democracies can be direct or indirect. The term “republic” to refer to indirect democracies.
Essential Questions
· How do democratic governments balance the rights of individuals with the common good?
· Discuss the influence of the political philosophers on America’s founding documents.
· According to Thomas Hobbes, what problems arise in a world where everyone is completely free to do what he or she wants?
· According to Hobbes, what did people do in order to preserve their safety?
· According to Locke, what are the 3 natural rights which should never be taken away?
· When people enter into a social contract, what is lost and what is gained?
· What is limited in a limited government?
· According to Locke and the Founding Fathers, what is the main purpose of government?
· What were the achievements and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
· What is the basis of the theory of government in the Declaration of Independence?
· How did the Declaration of Independence establish the American ideals of government?
Government and power defined, purposes of government, concept of sovereignty, reasons for the emergence of government, the Social Contract Theory, philosophical ideas and historical foundations, influence of Locke, Montesquieu, de Tocqueville, and others, fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy.
Important Vocabulary
· Articles of Confederation
· Baron de Montesquieu
· Consent of the governed
· Declaration of Independence
· Democracy
· Jean Jacques Rousseau
· John Locke
· Natural rights
· Political power
· Popular sovereignty
· Representative democracy
· Republicanism
· Thomas Hobbes
· Thomas Jefferson
What is government? Every society has some form of government. Government institutions make rules for the distribution of rewards in a society.
Nation refers to a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular territory.
Country refers to a place or region.
State refers to a sovereign government with respected borders and without any higher authority than itself.
Politics implies the competition among differing visions, plans, rules, laws, policies, and goals for a society – pure dictatorships lack politics, right?
What is the state?
- Population – people
- Territory – land
- Sovereignty – how a government is determined
- Government – the machinery and personnel by which a state is run
- Force Theory – one person or group forces control over another’s area and people
- Evolution Theory – originated with the family
- Divine Right – God given right to rule
- Social Contract – people agree to give up rights to the state in return for services to care for the well being of the people. Voluntary act of free people.
- Strength - strength in unity
- Justice – enforce and administer states laws
- Order – avoid anarchy
- Defense – against foreign enemies
- General Welfare – pooled public services
- Secured Freedoms – insure our liberty/freedoms are protected
- Legislative Powers – Make laws and frame Public policy
- Executive power – The power to execute, enforce and administer law
- Judicial Power - Power to interpret laws, determine their meaning and settle disputes.
- Unitary – power is held in a single, central agency
- Federal – power is divided between a central and several local governments
- Confederate – limited central government with most authority resting in local states
- Democracy, the supreme authority rests with the people. The people hold the sovereign power. The government operates with the consent of the people.
- Dictatorship – rulers not responsible to the people. The most common government known.
- Autocracy, a government in which power is held by a single person.
- Oligarchy, government rules by a small, self-appointed elite.
- Presidential government – separate and co-equal
- Parliamentary government – the executive id the prime minister or premier, and their cabinet. They are members of eh legislature, or parliament. The PM is the leader of the party that has the most members
· A recognition of the fundamental worth of every person
· A respect for the equality of all persons
· A faith in majority rule and minority rights
· An acceptance of the necessity of compromise
· An insistence on the widest possible degree of personal freedom
Comparative Governments
· Oligarchy - by the few
· Democracy - by the many
· Anarchy - by no one
· Monarchy - by one ruler
· Autocracy - by an autocrat
· Democracies can be direct or indirect. The term “republic” to refer to indirect democracies.
Essential Questions
· How do democratic governments balance the rights of individuals with the common good?
· Discuss the influence of the political philosophers on America’s founding documents.
· According to Thomas Hobbes, what problems arise in a world where everyone is completely free to do what he or she wants?
· According to Hobbes, what did people do in order to preserve their safety?
· According to Locke, what are the 3 natural rights which should never be taken away?
· When people enter into a social contract, what is lost and what is gained?
· What is limited in a limited government?
· According to Locke and the Founding Fathers, what is the main purpose of government?
· What were the achievements and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
· What is the basis of the theory of government in the Declaration of Independence?
· How did the Declaration of Independence establish the American ideals of government?