Introduction to Government Unit One

We can think of government as the institutions and their systems that rule a country and its people. Simply put: To govern is to rule.

A government can be one of three types: An autocracy Controlled by a single individual An oligarchy Small, powerful groups are in control A democracy More people participate in the governing process and have some influence

Democracy Then and now

The most important feature of democracy is that it is a government whose citizens grant it the authority to rule. Comes from two Greek words: demos (the people) and kratos (rule or power)

QUIZ True or False: The founders of our country didn’t like democracies. True—they felt no one would be in charge and a mob mentality would result.

Direct versus Representative Democracy Each has a direct and equal say in the government The people elect certain individuals to represent their opinions, concerns, and desires A republic is another name for a representative democracy

How They Govern Besides differing in who governs, governments also differ in how they govern. Totalitarian Governments: those in authority have complete control and unlimited power Authoritarian Governments: power is limited by a group (maybe the military, religious group, labor union) Constitutional Governments: a framework of written laws limits government officials

Our Government Our government follows the laws written in our Constitution while operating as a democracy; thus, our system of government is a constitutional democracy

Our Ideals We want freedom of speech. Our government works because the citizens of our country believe in certain ideals—that is, we have agreed to live by the following: We want freedom of speech. We want our government to serve the people, not the other way around. We call this popular sovereignty. We accept majority rule. We agree that the rights of the people who were in the minority must be protected. We want to be ruled by laws, not powerful individuals.

Making our Constitutional Democracy Work We have set up our government so it can support our ideals. We want our government to be strong, but not so powerful that it endangers our freedoms and rights. We accomplish this goal through a fair system of representation.

The people delegate or lend their authority to their elected representatives. To earn the right to represent us, these officials must first become candidates in an election, which is a formal process in which the people vote for their representatives. Once we have elected our representatives, we must limit their power through a system of checks and balances.

Federalism The division of political power between the national government and the individual state governments.