1. Role of Government Pages 2-19
Government Chapter 1
Role of Government
Pages 2-19

2. Generate words describing the importance or symbolism of the items sitting on the table.
Activity

3. In Chapter 1 you will learn about different types of government, what government is, why it is important, and what functions it serves.
Symbols are everywhere and serve as reminders of the importance and the role of the U.S. government.
Reflection

4. Section 1 Objectives Government and the Public Good
Define government and explain its importance.
Identify how some philosophers have described the nature and purpose of the state.
List the functions that government performs.
Describe how government promotes the public good.
Section 1 Objectives Government and the Public Good

5. Activity Divide into a group of two to three people.
In your group identify a law or rule that they must follow in their daily lives.
Discuss what life would be like without that law or rule. Consider both the positive and negative outcomes.
Activity

6. Governments serve the people they govern, but it is the people’s responsibility to see to it that they do.
An institution with the power to make and enforce rules for a group of people.
Thomas Hobbes the English philosopher ( ), life without such security would be “nasty, brutish, and short.”
Government

7. State- political authority to set rules for all the people living in the state.
Citizens-are members of the state.
Sovereignty-absolute authority that a government has over its citizens.
examples: United States, France, Russia, etc…
What is Government?

8. What is Government? Law- set of rules, made and enforced by government
Natural law-system of justice derived from nature rather than from the rules of society. This applies if government or laws did not exist.
Public Policies- plans and decisions that a government makes in a particular area of public concern.
What is Government?

9. Public Policy Example of public policy: driver’s license
All laws and policies have two things in common
A. deal with a public problem
B. are enforceable
Public Policy

10. Divine right of kings-kings and queens, received their authority to govern from God.
Legitimacy-rightful authority any government has over its citizens.
Social contract- Thomas Hobbes (1600s) discussed that people create the state by entering into a social contract. People give up their individual sovereignty to the state. The exchange, the state provides peace and order.
Origins of Government

11. John Locke (1634-1704), English philosopher
John Locke ( ), English philosopher. He developed his own idea about the social contract. The contract creates a limited government that relies entirely on the consent of the governed. Government has legitimacy because the people, not God or anyone else, give it authority to govern.
Government

12. Natural rights- Locke believed that government’s job was to secure people’s natural rights. These are rights that people have because they are human beings.
The U.S. Declaration of Independence lists some of these natural rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Government

13. Functions of Government
Maintain Order
Providing Services
Resolving Conflict
Promoting Values
Directions:
Title: Functions of Government
Columns: Maintain Order, etc…
Under each column explain the particular function of government.
Functions of Government

14. We have discussed the major political ideas in history such as natural law, natural rights, the divine rights of kings, and the social contract theory. Work in groups of three to create encyclopedia entries for each of these topics. Include historic examples of countries that have followed these concepts.
Activity