American Government

Chapter 1

Government

• Institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies. Government is made up of those people who exercise government’s powers, those who have authority and control over people.

Governments

• The oldest of human inventions and records date back to the 6th century in Egypt

• “Man is by nature a political animal”

• Each state has its own political system through which public policy is made

What is Politics?

• Social Conflict—The idea that people in a society disagree over beliefs, value, and what the society’s priorities should be.

 • Politics—A way to resolve a social conflict.

• Democracy is the union of two Greek words: demos—people, kratos—rule

Plato

•   authored “The Republic”

•   First, stated that society is best ruled by an individual

•   Later in life changed his philosophy, called for a division of power.

Basic types of Government Power

• 1.  Legislative power—the power to make laws and shape public policies

• 2.  Executive power—the power to execute, enforce, and administer law

• 3.  Judicial power—the power to interpret laws, to determine their meaning, and settle disputes within the society.

State

• A body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically, and with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority.

 

• State is a legal term, nation /country are terms of popular usage.

World “State” Facts

• There are over 180 states in the world

• The largest population in China has over 1 billion

• The largest in territory in Russia is 8.5 million square miles

• The smallest in population and territory is Vatican City (900 people and 109 acres)

A state must have:

• 1.    Sovereignty

• 2.    Population

 

• 3.    Territory

 

• 4.    Government

Sovereignty

• Refers to the fact that every state in the world has absolute power to govern its own territory.

Ruling any area includes the following:

• 1. Settling conflicts among people.

• 2. Making laws that everyone must obey.

• 3. Using force, if necessary, to make people accept the ways conflicts are settled.

Major political ideas/Origin of the state

• The Force Theory—One person or a small group claimed control over an area and forced all within it to submit to that person’s or group’s rule.

• The Evolutionary Theory—State developed naturally out of the family. Families became clans, clans became tribe.

Major political ideas/Origin of the state

• The Divine Right Theory—Western world. God created the state and God had given those of royal birth a “divine right” to rule. People were bound to obey their ruler as they would God.

• The Social Contract Theory—Developed by Thomas Hobbes, James Harrington, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. Argues that the state arose out of a voluntary act of free people. State exists only to serve the will of the people, and the people are free to give or withhold that power as they choose.

Major political ideas/Origin of the state

• Democracy—Supreme political authority rests with the people.

 • Direct Democracy—Large meetings or assemblies

where citizens discuss what should be done. Citizens vote on an action at these assemblies. All decisions are made in this fashion. Few elected officials, each w/little power. Not used at the national level anywhere in the world today. 

• Ex) Athens, Clinton’s town meetings

Major political ideas/Origin of the state

• Representative Democracy• * Citizens vote for representatives• * Elected for a specific length of time• * Maybe be reelected or voted out of office---ex)

U.S.

• Dictatorship—Those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people. One person holds total power. Usually seizes control of government. No opposition is tolerated.

U.S. purpose of Government

(According to the Preamble):

1. To form a more perfect union. * Built in the belief that in unity there is strength. 2. To establish justice. * Laws must be reasonable, fair, and impartial. 3.  Insure the domestic tranquility * Keeping the peace at home.

U.S. purpose of Government(According to the Preamble):

4.  To provide for the common defense. * Security for the United States. 5.  To promote the general welfare. * Government acts as the servant of its

citizens (public schools). 6.  To secure the blessings of liberty. * Dedication to freedom.Liberty is not absolute, but relative.

Governments may be classified in three ways:

1. Defined by who may participate in the government.

2. Defined by where government power is held.

3. Describes the relationship between legislative and executive branches of government.

Defined by who may participate in the government.

1.    Autocracy-single person holds unlimited political power.

2.    Oligarchy—a small, usually self-appointed elite holds the power to rule.

 

(Ex. of dictatorships…. Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, the old Soviet Union)

Defined by where government power is held.

• 1.    Unitary Government—A single central agency holds all governmental powers.

2. Federal Government---A central government and several local governments share governmental powers in a division of powers. 

Ex. U.S. is a federal government.  **A federal system is different from a

confederation , which is an alliance of independent states.

Describes the relationship between legislative and executive branches of government.)

• 1.    Presidential Government divides power between the branches.

 

• 2.    Parliamentary Government focuses power on the legislative branch.

Confederation

• An alliance of independent states and may handle only matters given to it by the states

• Today the former Soviet Union is a shaky Confederation—now Russia (Since 1991)

• The U.S. had Confederations– 1781 to 1789– 1861 to 1865 (Civil War)

Dictatorship

• Power held by one person and is probably the oldest form of government

• Is military in the make-up

Dictatorships in the 20th Century

• Nazi German- Hitler• Facist Italy- Mussolini• Communist Russia

– Nicolai Lenin– Joseph Stalin– Nikita Khrushchev– Mikail Gorbechev

• Communist China– Mao Zedong – Den Xiaopeng– Jiang Zemin

• Communist Cuba– Fidel Castro

• Facist Libya– Mummar Quadaffi

• Facist Iraq– Saddam Hussein

Democracy

• Political power rests with the people

• Direct democracy– People make policy by mass meetings

• Indirect democracy– People elect others to make the law – They are held accountable by elections

Five Foundations of Democracy

• Recognition of fundamental worth of individual

• Respect for equality of all people

• Faith in majority rule and insistence of minority rights

• Acceptance of compromise

• Insistence of individual freedoms

Economic Forms of Government

• Capitalism- people have freedom of choice, incentives to make money, often referred to as free enterprise– Developed gradually over time– Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” introduced

the lassiez-faire theory– No nation today has a pure capitalistic society

(The U.S. is the leader)

5 Characteristics of Capitalism

• Private ownership

• Free enterprise

• Competition

• Freedom of Choice

• Possibility of Profits

Socialism

• Economy where the government controls the basic means of production and determines the uses of resources and the means of distribution of products

• They also set the wages.

Three main goals of Socialism

• Distribute wealth equally among the people

• Control all major decisions on production

• Public ownership of land, factories, and production

Socialism

• The philosophy began in the 19th century

• When industrialization started it caused severe hardships on women and children

• Two types of Socialists– Those who believe in violence (Karl Marx)– Democratic socialists

• Believed in change through peaceful means• England and Scandinavia were leaders with social

benefits

Communism

• Karl Marx- father of communism

• Marx advocated violence in which he wrote two books:– Das Kapital– Communist Manifesto

• Marx divided nations into two groups:– Industrialized– Non- industrialized

Communism

• Marx argued that workers were cheated in their work efforts and that this would lead to a class struggle.– Bourgeoisie- the capitalist owners– Proletariat- the workers– Marx believed the capitalists would become

smaller and wealthier

Communism

• Marx believed the workers would rise up and overthrow the capitalists by violence where they would then let the government own their industries

• Marx referred to this as scientific socialism

Communism

• Did not sustain its growth because of Lenin, Stalin, Castro, and Mao put their spin on communism and these men failed to meet the needs of a majority of the people.

Facism

• A doctrine followed by Benito Mussolini, Hitler, and Saddam Hussein

• They focused on their own needs before the needs of their people.

Etatism

• Most extreme form of Communism and Totalitarian Politics

Anarchy

• Political disorder• is the lack of government due to either a

revolution or the collapse of the previous government due to discontented citizens.

• While no government is in existence – no taxes are collected – no science research is conducted– no progress is put into either City

improvements