Chapter 1 – PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT Section 1 Government & the State

Guiding Question: What is government and what is its purpose? Essential Question for Unit 1: What should be the goals of government? Essential Question for Chapter 1: Is government necessary?

Objectives: Define government and the basic powers every government holds. Describe the 4 defining characteristics of a state. Identify 4 theories that attempt to explain the origin of the state. Understand the purpose of government in the US & other countries.

In Brief: Government enables a society to protect the peace and carry out its policies. A state, not to be confused with one of the 50 states of the US, is a land with a people, defined territory, and sovereign government. Several theories attempt to explain the origin of the state. Among these theories, the political philosophy of John Locke had the most profound impact on the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. The goals of the Federal Government are described in the Preamble of the Constitution.

FACTS: Society makes & enforces public policies through the institution of government. A state has a population, a defined territory, sovereignty, and a government. Basic concepts of American government evolved from the Social Contract Theory. The Preamble of the Constitution established the basic goals of democracy.

Enduring Understandings: Government affects our daily lives by maintaining civil society, safeguarding rights, and preventing anarchy. Liberty is not absolute; One person’s freedom cannot infringe on the rights of others.

Terms to Know Government - The institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies. Public Policy - All the many goals that a government pursues in all of the many areas of human affairs in which it is involved. Legislative Power - The power to make a law and to frame public policies. Executive Power - The power to execute, enforce, and administer law. Judicial Power - The power to interpret laws, to determine their meaning, and to settle disputes within the society.

Terms to Know (Continued) Constitution - The body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of a government. Dictatorship - A form of government in which the leader has absolute power and authority. Democracy - A form of government in which the supreme authority rests with the people. State - A body of people living in a defined territory who have a government with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority. Sovereign - Having supreme power within one’s own territory; neither subordinate nor responsible to any other authority.

What is the difference between a government & a state? Government is the institution through which society creates and enforces public policy. A state is a body of people living in defined area with a government and the power to govern themselves.

Purpose of American Government: To serve the citizens of the United States

Characteristics of a State a) POPULATION Large or small, every state must be inhabited (have a population). b) TERRITORY Every state must have land with known and recognized borders. c) SOVEREIGNTY The state has absolute power within its territory. It can decide its own foreign & domestic policies. d) GOVERNMENT Government is the mechanism through which a state makes and enforces its policies.

How did the state come to be? (4 Theories on the Origin of the State) Force - An individual or group claimed control over a territory and forced the population to submit. In this way, the state became sovereign, and those in control formed a government. Evolutionary - A population formed out of primitive families. The heads of those families became the government. When those families settled in one territory and claimed it as their own, they became a sovereign state. Divine Right of Kings - God created the state, making it sovereign. The government is made up of those chose by God to rule a certain territory. The people (population) must obey their ruler. Social Contract - A population in a given place (territory) gave up as much power to a government as needed to promote the well-being of all. In doing so, they created a sovereign state. Background – The Divine Right of Kings King James I of England was a firm believer in the divine right of kings. In 1598, James set forth his views in a document entitled The True Law of Free Monarchies, in which he declared: “The State of monarchy is the supreme thing on Earth… As to the dispute what God may do is blasphemy, so is it treason in subjects to dispute hwat a king may do… “ In James’s Basilikon Doron (1599), he stated that God gave political power directly to a monarch; that monarch’s power which was absolute; and that those who opposed the monarch were guilty of treason, which was punishable by death. After England’s “Glorious Revolution” of 1688, the theory of divine right of kings was no longer taken seriously. However, the coronation ceremony for British monarchs still retains some of the divine right symbolism. (The monarch is annoited with holy oils and crowned in a Christian ceremony.)

Constitution Principles & the Enlightenment The Constitution was a product of the Enlightenment. 17th and 18th Century intellectual movement Science over religion Emphasis on reason Questioned authoritarian rule Considered new ways to govern through natural rights & democracy. Social contract with the governed conflicted with divine right of kings philosophy. In many ways, the US Constitution was a product of the Enlightenment, a 17th and 18th Century intellectual movement. Scientific advances led European thinkers to realize that reason could uncover the best method in which to organize society. They began to question authoritarian rule and consider new ways to govern through natural rights and democracy. The idea of government as a social contract with the governed conflicted with the prevailing concept of government by divine right.

Constitution Principles & the Enlightenment (Continued) Colonists brought Enlightenment ideas to America. Declaration of Independence & American Revolution Enlightenment ideas put into practice for the first time These ideas became the basic principles of the Constitution. As colonists arrived in America, they brought these radical ideas with them. Europeans viewed the Declaration of Independence and American Revolution as enlightened ideas put into practice for the first time. These ideas became the Constitution’s basic principles.

Constitution Principles: Individual rights Popular sovereignty Limited government Separation of Powers Checks & balances

6 Purposes of Government for the United States To form a more perfect union To establish justice To insure domestic tranquility To provide for the common defense To promote the general welfare To secure blessings of liberty These purpose are found in the Preamble of the Constitution