1. American Government and Politics in a Racially Divided World
Chapter 1

2. The Nature of Government
Government is a social institution that controls the behavior of people
Government is a major mechanism for managing conflicts and controlling behaviors when people interact to maintain peace and order

3. The Functions of Government
Providing security
Serving the public good
Managing and resolving conflict
Offering services

4. Types of Government
Democracy: A system of government in which the people exercise political power

5. Types of Government
Direct democracy: A democracy in which the people are able to participate directly in the decision-making process
Indirect/representative democracy: A democracy in which people do not participate directly in decision making but instead elect individuals to represent their interests

6. Types of Government
Constitution: A set of formal written rules and principles governing a state
Constitutional democracy: A government that derives its authority from a constitution

7. Types of Government Characteristics of constitutional democracies:
Free elections with free political opposition
Free press and media that operate independently of the government
Regularly held elections; peaceful transitions of power
Protections for personal and civil rights

8. Principles of Constitutional Democracies
The rule of law
The predominance of law over discretionary authority
Natural law
Law that comes from nature and is superior to statutory law
Natural rights
Rights to which every person is entitled, such as life and liberty; these rights are not dependent on government

9. Foundations of American Government
The American political system is based on several theories of government and political traditions:
Classical liberalism
Classical republicanism
Inegalitarianism (tradition of exclusion)

10. Foundations of American Government
Classical liberalism
A body of Western European political philosophy that is concerned with the freedom of the individual and the role of government in protecting that freedom
Largely based on the work of liberal theorists Thomas Hobbes and John Locke
Classical liberalism is largely concerned with the idea that people enter into a social contract, by way of creating a government, to protect themselves and create a civil society

11. Foundations of American Government
Four characteristics of classical liberalism
Liberalism is optimistic
Liberalism favors the individual over the group
Liberalism supports free-market economics
Liberalism places reason before faith

12. Foundations of American Government
Classical republicanism
A theory that rule by the people ought to be indirect through representatives
This philosophy has its roots in ancient Rome
Western European republican theorists include James Harrington, Algernon Sydney, and Baron de Montesquieu
Classical republicanism is largely concerned with civic virtue, which is the subordination of individual self-interests and individualism to the interests of society

13. Foundations of American Government
Five characteristics of classical republicanism:
Republicanism believes in a virtuous citizenry
Republicanism is concerned with property
Republicanism sees the people as the ultimate authority but believes they must be kept at a distance
Republicanism advocates a distribution of power across branches of government
Republicanism believes that the rights of individuals must be protected

14. Foundations of American Government
Inegalitarianism (tradition of exclusion)
A tradition of excluding large segments of the American population from participating in the political system despite the language of equality, liberty, and freedom
The basis for exclusion from the political system is subordinate ascriptive traits, largely in terms of race, gender, and religion

16. Foundations of American Government
Assumptions underlying the tradition of exclusion
Men were naturally suited to rule over women
White northern Europeans were superior, culturally and biologically, to southern, darker-skinned Europeans, African Americans, American Indians, and all other races and civilizations
Protestant Christianity was superior to any other form of religion

17. Foundations of American Government
Tradition of exclusion
White women
Justification for exclusion based on the idea that women are and should be less strong, intelligent, and powerful than men
Aspects of English common law and the doctrine of coverture defined the role of and encouraged the exclusion of White women from the political sphere in the new nation
Coverture: Transference of a woman’s civic identity to her husband upon marriage, thus giving him the use and direction of her property

18. Foundations of American Government
Tradition of exclusion
Blacks
Skin color and religion were the basis for the justification of the exclusion of Blacks from the social, economic, and political systems in the new nation
These justifications were based on ideas and opinions brought to the new world by European colonists
Permanent enslavement of Africans and African Americans helped to solve a labor shortage in the American colonies

19. Foundations of American Government
Tradition of exclusion
Blacks (cont.)
This enslavement needed to be justified in the context of the language of freedom, liberty, and equality
Race is a social and political construction and is not biological, as directly demonstrated by the definitions of “who is Black?” that varied by state
These varying definitions, such as one-eighth or “one drop of Negro blood,” constructed the Black race as one that has tremendous variation in skin color, phenotype, and physical traits
(See social construction of race)

20. Foundations of American Government
Tradition of exclusion
American Indians
Skin color and religion were the justification of the exclusion of American Indians from social, economic, and political systems in the new nation
These justifications were based on ideas and opinions brought to the new world by European colonists
The perception that American Indians could not comprehend European traditions served as justification to take over Indian lands

21. Exclusion and the Founding
The Founders did not intend for the rights and guarantees of the Constitution to extend to all individuals living within the new nation
The natural law and natural rights language of “all men are created equal” did not apply to White women, African Americans, and American Indians because these groups were not viewed as belonging to this category of “men”
The Founders avoided perceiving and addressing contradictions in the language of the founding documents and the realities of their traditions of exclusion

22. Measuring Equality: Who Was Eligible to Be Included in “We the People”?

23. Exclusion and the Founding
White males who did not own property were not allowed to vote
Property ownership was viewed as demonstrating that an individual had a stake in the political system
Despite their status as citizens, White women were excluded from the political sphere
The idea of giving women the right to vote was tantamount to giving a man two votes (his and his wife’s), which was highly undemocratic

24. Exclusion and the Founding
African Americans and American Indians were not considered “free” and thus were not citizens of the new nation
Naturalization Act of 1790
Only a “free White person” could be naturalized to become a citizen
This was legislation passed under the first Congress under the U.S. Constitution

25. Exclusion and the Founding
Blacks were viewed as property, and their status as property trumped their right to liberty
American Indians were deemed foreign aliens who were not to be included as citizens
Despite the perception that American Indians could not comprehend European ideas, American Indians practiced democratic norms long before contact with Europeans
The Founders drew on various Iroquois Confederation practices to develop colonial and American institutions
Albany Plan of Union (1754); U.S. Constitution; Bill of Rights