Foundations of Government State of Nature Social Contract Government Thomas Hobbes John Locke A Government Can Provide Protections Offer Services People need: Life Liberty Property
Why Government? 1. State of Nature-everyone has a right to everything. 2. Contract-an agreement in which both sides agree to something in order to reach a shared goal. 3. Social Contract-an agreement between people and their government. 4. sovereign-ruler 5. Thomas Hobbes-believed that a single sovereign should have total authority over the people and that once people agreed to hand over power in exchange for protection, they lost the right to overthrow, replace, or even question the government.
Why Government? 6. Natural Rights-rights that people are born with. They are life, liberty, and property. 7. Life-refers to the fact that people want to live and will fight to survive. Liberty-means that people want to be as free as possible to make their own decisions. 9. Property-represents the fact that people want to own things that help them survive, such as land, food, and tools. 10. John Locke-believed a government could only be legitimate if it is based on a social contract with citizens. For Locke, the social contract worked both ways: The people agree to give up some freedoms only if the government agrees to protect everyone’s rights. If the government fails, the people have the right to revolt.
The Sovereign State 11. state-is a body of people living in a defined space, with the power to make and enforce laws. 12. population-is the group of people who are members or citizens of a state. 13. territory-the area in which a state’s rules applies. 14. sovereignty-the ability to rule absolutely within a territory. 15. government-the organization inside a state that controls the actions and policies of the state. Roles of Government-A. Makes Laws B. Protects the Country C. Keeps Order D. Helps Citizens
Who Rules? 17. Autocracy- is a government in which one person has all the power. There are two main types of autocracy: a monarchy and a dictatorship. 18. Monarchy-a government where a king or queen rules. 19. Dictatorship-a form of government where one leader has absolute control over citizen’s lives. 20. Democracy-a form of government where citizens hold the power. There are two main types of democracy: Representative democracy and direct democracy.
Who Rules? 21. Representative Democracy-citizens elect leaders to represent their rights and interests in governments. 22. Direct Democracy-there are no representatives. Citizens are directly involved in the day-to-day work of governing the country. 23. Oligarchy-is a type of government where a small group of people hold all of the power. 24. Junta-is a small group of people, usually military officers, who rule a country after taking it over by force. 25. Theocracy- is a type of government that recognizes God or a divine being as the ultimate authority. A theocracy can be a democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, or just about any type of government.
Who Rules? Limiting Government 26. Anarchy-nobody is in control Limiting Government 27. Constitution-the rulebook for a country’s government. A constitution usually explains what kind of government a country has and how it functions. 28. Rule of Law-means laws are fair, they’re enforced, and nobody is above the law. 29. Separation of Powers-dividing powers between several branches of government. 30. Consent of the governed-citizens of a country give their permission to be governed by the country’s government, and they do this by voting.
31. Rights of the minority-means protecting the rights of small or unpopular groups regardless of what the majority believes.