US Government Unit 1: Principles of Government

Nation vs. Nation State Nation: A grp. of people who are united by a common bond. Nation-State: a political community that occupies a definite territory and has an organized gov’t. They have sovereignty! Sometimes, there are nations of people, w/o a state….

Essential Features of a State Nation of People Territory Sovereigny Government

Purpose of Government: Maintain Social Order Provide Public Services National Security- Defense Provide and control the economy? How they implement these describes the type of gov’t you have.

Theories of Government: 1. Evolutionary Theory: 2. Force Theory: 3. Divine Right Theory: 4. Social Contract:

Social Contract: Hobbes vs. Locke Hobbes: w/o authority to protect people, life is nasty.. Give pwr to gov’t to protect you. Cannot be broken Locke: people have nat’l rts. Life, liberty, property. Give pwr to gov’t to protect you, if it does not, you have right to overthrow..

Formation of Government Unitary vs. Federal: Unitary: gives all key pwrs to nat’l or central gov. Central gov’t has the pwr to create stat or local gov’ts. May give the states limited sovereignty. Ex. Great Britain, Italy, France. Federal: Divides pwr btwn National and State. Each level has sovereignty in some areas. Ex. USA, Canada, Mexico Confederacy: Loose union of independent states. Weak national gov. Articles of Confederation, United Confederate States of America, German Confederation

Purpose of a Constitution: 1. Sets out ideas of the nation that bind them. 2. Est basic structure of gov’t and defines gov’t pwr and duties. 3. Provides a supreme law of the land.

Constitutional Governments All governments have a constitution or plan for organizing and operating the country. BUT Constitutional Governments are special. Why? They have limits placed upon them by the constitution, that can only be changed by the people.

Types of Governments Autocracy Totalitarian Dictatorships Oligarchy Theocracy Monarchy Absolute Constitutional Democracy Direct Republic

Characteristics of Democracy: 1. Individual Liberty: be as free as possible to develop their own capacities. Equal opportunity 2. Majority Rule: with respect to minority rights. Protected by the constitution. 3. Free Elections: one person, one vote. 4. Competing Political Parties:

Free Enterprise and Democracy Democracies are successful where there is a large middle class. Why? Countries w/ stable, growing economies seem better able to support democracy

Functions of an Economic System: All economies must answer these three questions: What and how much to produce? How to produce? For whom to produce? Who answers these questions, tells us the type of economic system it is. These questions are primarily influenced by The Factors of Production: Land, Labor, and Capital

Capitalism: Characteristics: 1. Private ownership 2. Free Enterprise 3. Competition 4. Freedom of Choice 5. Profit Free Market Laissez- Faire

Socialism: Three Goals: 1. Distribution of Wealth 2. Societies control of all major decisions of production. 3. Public ownership of most land, factories, and other means of production. Most are Democracies! Governments are elected to implement the system. Sweden.

Mixed-Market Economies Free enterprise combines w/ and supported by gov’t decisions in the marketplace. Gov’t keeps competition fair and protects the publics interests.