Government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies. Public policies are all the things a government decides.

Government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies.

Public policies are all the things a government decides to do.

Taxation, defense, education, and healthcare are examples of public policies.

Government needs power to function – power is the ability to command or prevent action.

Government has three basic forms of power• Legislative power• Executive power• Judicial power

Legislative power is the power to make laws.

Executive power is the power to execute, enforce, and administer laws.

Judicial power is the power to interpret laws, determine their meaning and settle disputes.

Who holds the power to run government makes a big difference.

When one person or a small group holds all the power it is called a dictatorship.

When the power is held by the majority of the people it is called a democracy.

Government is one of the oldest human inventions – dating back before ancient Egypt.

Each state in the world has a form of government – and by state we do not mean United States.

A state is a legal entity – also called a nation or a country.

What do you need to make a state?• Population – The people who live there.• Territory – The land where the state is,

defined by clear boundaries.• Sovereignty – All of the governing power is

controlled by the state.• Government – The state has the ability to

make and enforce public policies.

Scholars have identified four ways in which a state is created.

1. Force Theory – An individual or group claimed control over a territory using force.

2. Evolutionary Theory – A population formed out of primitive families and heads of the state were named.

3. Divine Right Theory – God created the state and chose the leaders while the people must obey or go against God.

4. Social Contract Theory – government protects people’s life, liberty, and property.

Summaries

• A constitution is the body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of government – RULE BOOK.

• A preamble is an introduction – like to state your reasons for why you did something.

• Thus, the Preamble to the Constitution is an introduction to the fundamental laws in America.

We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The preamble introduces six key points about the PURPOSE and GOALS of the American government.

1. Form a more perfect Union: To make sure that the states stayed unified and together.

2. Establish Justice: The laws of the United States must be reasonable, fair, and impartial.

Even though the United States has not been perfect at achieving justice, we are constantly amending our laws to get there.

3. Insure domestic Tranquility: To make sure that law and order is followed in our society.

Humans are not perfect – what would society be like without any laws or order?

4. Provide for the Common Defense: To defend the nation against foreign enemies.

This is why the United States has an army, navy, air force and coast guard – to protect us as American citizens.

5. Promote the General Welfare: The government acts as a servant to us as Americans.

Government provides schools, keeps our food and water safe, protects the air we breathe, and aids our transportation.

6. Secure the Blessings of Liberty: America was founded on the basis of liberty – that everyone possess individual freedoms.

As American citizens we are protected under basic rights and no one should be allowed to take those away.

Summary

Determining how much power the people have can help you identify the form of government.

In a democracy, the people or majority hold the power over the government.

However, not all democracies are the same.

• For example, there are direct democracies in which the majority make all decisions.

• This works for small states where it is easy for the people to meet and the problems are small.

• The government of the United States is not a direct democracy.

• Instead, the United States is an indirect democracy.

• People vote for representatives to serve in government offices to make decisions for them.

• A representative democracy is also called a republic.

The opposite of democracy is dictatorship.

In a dictatorship, the rulers of a state cannot be held responsible to the will of the people.

Dictatorships are the oldest and most common form of government in past history.

Just like democracies, not all dictatorships are the same.

An autocracy is a government where one single person is in charge completely.

An oligarchy is a government where a small group of people are in charge.

Some more notorious dictatorships from modern history are Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union.

Most dictatorships that exist today are ruled by small groups of people and hide behind fixed elections like China and Iran.

Democracy in America rests on these basic notions:• 1. Equality in voting.• 2. Equality of all persons.• 3. Individual freedom.• 4. Majority rule and minority rights.• 5. Voluntary consent to be governed.

Equality in Voting:

Citizens need equal opportunity to express their preferences about policies and leaders.

One person, one vote.

Equality of all persons:

Even though we are all not created the same, we believe we should be treated equally.

Equality of opportunity, and equality before the law – true justice.

• Individual freedom:

• All individuals may do as they like, as long as their actions do not violate the rights of others.

• “The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.” – Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Majority rule, and minority rights:

Democracy is the voice of the people – therefore majority rules.

However, the majority must be willing to listen and compromise with the minority view for democracy to stay strong.

Voluntary consent to be governed:

This goes back to the social contract theory – democracy only works if the people believe in the government.

The people give the government permission to make, enforce, and interpret policy.

• Voluntary consent to be governed also means that people have duties and responsibilities to government.

• However, there is a difference between a duty and a responsibility.

• Duties are requirements of every citizen, while responsibilities are encouraged of every citizen.

Duties include: • Serving on a jury.• Serving as a witness when called.• Attending school.• Pay taxes.• Register for draft (men only).• Obeying laws.• Respecting the rights of others.

Responsibilities include:• Voting• Volunteering• Participate in civic life.• Understand the workings of our

government.

summary

America’s commitment to freedom does not stop with democracy.

America also believes in a free enterprise system when it comes to the economy.

Americans have the freedom to economically grow as they wish.

Free Enterprise, also known as Capitalism, is based on four factors:• 1. Private ownership of capital goods.• 2. Investments made by private decision,

not government direction.• 3. Profit.• 4. Competition.

• The successes or failures of American business are determined by the market-place…..or supply and demand.

• However, this does not mean government sits out of the economy completely.

• Government regulates the economy to protect the consumer and protect private industry.

The question remains debated today – how much should government be involved with business?

The answer is found in everyone’s political philosophy – or a set of notions or ideas about how people should be governed.

Your political philosophy drives your political opinion.

People choose to get involved in politics with other people who share their interests – and they see those interests being affected by government.

If the people feel that the government is no longer working for them they have options.

They can use the power of democracy to vote for changes to be made.

Or they can use force and overthrow the government – also called a revolution.

Revolutions have occurred numerous times throughout history.

The United States of America was developed as a direct result of a revolution.

The goal of a revolution is to make a better system of government.

So, how do you know when a government is the right one?

“The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people whatever they need done, but cannot do at all, or well, for themselves.” – Abraham Lincoln.

summary

• Many American political ideas came from English documents – such as the Magna Carta.

• Ordered government– Local governments should be divided

into units and ruled by officers according to law.

• Limited government– Individual citizens have basic rights– There are limits on government power

Representative government•Government should serve the will of the people. In other words, people should have a say in what the government does or does not do.

But…the colonists still became upset over the treatment they received from the English government and the King.

• Over time the colonists began getting used to more and more self-rule.

• England was over 3,000 miles away and it took two months to sail from England to the colonies.

• Colonial legislatures sometimes withheld governor’s pay until they agreed with the colonists.

• By 1760 King George III ruled England and Britain became more strict with the colonies.

• Increased taxation on the colonists began to make the colonists resentful.

• King George increased British soldier population in the colonies and made colonists pay for the expenses.

• The Stamp Act of 1765 added fuel to the colonists fire – taxing them on all business documents.

• The colonists were upset at England’s policy of taxation without representation.

• Even though they were upset, the colonists tried to resolve problems with the king.

• Failing to come to an agreement with the king, small revolts broke out in the colonies.

• In 1770 British soldiers fired their guns into an angry colonial mob killing five – this was called the Boston Massacre.

• In 1773 colonists dressed as Native Americans destroyed tea from England in the Boston Harbor – called the Boston Tea Party.

• England responded by punishing the colonists even more.

• This prompted the first meeting of the colonies in Philadelphia in 1774.

• This meeting is called the First Continental Congress – they discussed what to do.

• Some wanted to separate from England, others wanted to ask King George for relief.

• The Petition to the King was sent to England asking one last time for a change in English policy.

• Their request was rejected, and met with even more severe taxes from England.

• By the time the Second Continental Congress met in 1775 shots had been fired between British troops and colonists at Concord and Lexington.

• George Washington from Virginia was named leader of the Colonial Army.

• The Second Continental Congress became the first American government.

• About one year after the American Revolution began, the colonies issued the Declaration of Independence to England on July 4, 1776.

• It was mostly written by Thomas Jefferson, a delegate from Virginia.

• The document discussed the belief that government be held accountable by the people it governs.

The Declaration of Independence also uses such terms as:

• “all men created equal”• “certain unalienable rights”• “consent of the governed”

• These terms, especially “unalienable rights” or “natural rights” were ideas from past philosophers like John Locke.

• It was Jefferson’s idea to incorporate the ideas of John Locke and other famous past Enlightenment era philosophers into the Declaration of Independence to increase its credibility.

summary

• We declared independence! So…what now? We needed to create a government.

• To meet this need the Articles of Confederation was created – our FIRST attempt at a government.

• However The Articles of Confederation FAILED – it was too weak – gave the individual states too much power – and set up a “firm league of friendship” between the states.

The Articles of Confederation created an alliance instead of a country.

The states held most of the power to govern themselves as they saw fit.

No binding authority to help defend each other or pay taxes – to do these things states had to be ASKED.

The Articles of Confederation went into effect in 1781.

In 1783 the American Revolutionary War came to an end with the Treaty of Paris – HUGE upset – we won.

Afterwards, states bickered and could not come to an agreement on issues.

• There was a real fear that the 13 states would split up.

• In 1787 a meeting of all states was called in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

• While the purpose of the meeting was to revise the Articles of Confederation, it eventually created the U.S. Constitution.

• At the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 representatives from the 13 states met to create a new central government.

• They met during the summer months – very hot, no air conditioning, windows closed to stop eavesdroppers.

• “The most wonderful work by the brain and purpose of man.”

The meeting place was Independence Hall where the “D of I” was signed 11 years earlier.

George Washington was elected president of the convention.

First order of business was to set up ground rules for the convention.

Each state would receive one vote, and majority was needed to pass a resolution.

Their goal was to write a new constitution.

There was yelling, bickering, arguing among the representatives – some even left the room at certain points.

Two major plans were offered as replacements to the Articles of Confederation.

First was the Virginia Plan, developed by future president James Madison.

It featured three branches of government, a legislature, executive and judicial branch.

Legislature was made up of two houses – a House of Representatives and a Senate called the Congress.

Total population of a state determined how many Reps and Senators each state had.

Congress could also force states to obey laws.

Congress chose a “National Executive” and a “National Judiciary” to balance power.

The Virginia Plan had the support of large states – but smaller states rejected it.

Instead they favored the New Jersey Plan which was different from the Virginia Plan.

• New Jersey Plan called for a one-house Congress with each state having equal representatives, regardless of population.

• It also gave Congress the power to tax the states to fund the government.

• The question between the two plans – how should the states be represented?

• The conflict was settled through the Connecticut Compromise – also called the Great Compromise.

• The compromise created two houses – House of Representatives and a Senate.

• Number of HOR was based on state population – Senate was equal representation.

The next question was about slaves – should they count towards total population?

Southern states said yes because it would give them more HOR seats.

Northern states said no because they did not want the south to out vote them.

• The Three-Fifths Compromise resolved the issue – all “non-free persons” equal 3/5 when counting population.

• It was a mixture of compromises that made the U.S. Constitution.

• They did not agree on everything, but did agree on liberty and sovereignty for all (kind of).

summary

After the Constitution was written a new challenge presented itself.

The Constitution needed to be ratified – or approved – by a vote in all of the states.

Copies of the Constitution has been made and were being read by every citizen in the U.S.

• Not everyone was in agreement with the Constitution however.

• In each state, two distinct groups were forming – Federalists and Anti-Federalists.

• Thus first political parties were created…

• Federalists were those who were in favor of the Constitution and Anti-Federalists were opposed to the Constitution.

Federalists believed that the Constitution was necessary because the Articles of Confederation were too weak.

Federalists were led by those at the Philadelphia Convention when the Constitution was written.

• Anti-Federalists claimed that the Constitution gave too much power to the central government.

• They also were worried that the president – or executive branch – was too powerful.

• Anti-Federalists feared the president turning into another monarchy.

Anti-Federalists also were concerned about the absence of a list of rights for each American.

The right to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press was not in the Constitution.

• Federalists said that there doesn’t need to be a list of rights.

• Their argument was that because there was a separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branch, people’s rights would never be threatened.

• Separate and divided – each branch of government has specific powers that do not overlap.

• The Anti-Federalists got their way – a list of rights called the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution.

• The Bill of Rights was 10 specific freedoms that each citizen held which was protected by the Constitution.

• The goal now was to get all 13 states to ratify.

Getting the Constitution ratified was not easy.

Both sides campaigned and wrote essays expressing their view points.

Eventually, all 13 states did ratify the Constitution – but vote was very close in Rhode Island and New York.

• Finally, the Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. had a new framework for government.

• The new Congress met in 1789 for the first time.

• New York City was named a temporary capital where Congress would operate.

George Washington – the Revolutionary hero – was elected as the first President.

John Adams was elected as the first Vice President.

summary