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Purpose of Government
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2. Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Objective: Students will be able to explain major political ideas in history, including the laws of nature and nature's God, unalienable rights, divine right of kings, social contract theory, and the rights of resistance to illegitimate government.
Purpose: Knowing about the major ideas that led to the creation of our government will emphasize what the most important concepts are about American democracy.

3. What should governments do?
Read the reasons on the following slides and write a sentence about whether or not each concept is necessary in order for a democratic government to be effective.
Remember too that sometimes a government may not always appear to act in the best interests of the people. When this happens, such acts go against these concepts.

4. Recognizing the dignity of its citizens

5. Respecting all citizens

6. Majority rule and insistence on minority rights

7. Importance of compromise

8. Recognition of individual freedoms as much as possible

9. What is Government?
Government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies
It is made up of those who have power and use it to exercise authority over the people of a society
Governments are classified by who can participate, the distribution of power, and the relationship between lawmakers and those who enforce laws.

10. What should governments do?
Democracy is one form of government.
How does democracy help determine what the government should do? (Remember, democracy exists because people want it.)
In order for democracy to survive, certain principles must be agreed upon
In the United States, we have five concepts that form the backbone of our government system, which provides guidance in determining what to do.

12. Reflect on the Essential Question: What Should Governments Do?
At the beginning of your study of government, you considered a list of ideas that help to define the kinds of things a government under a democracy should do:
Recognizing the dignity of its citizens
Respecting all citizens
Majority rule and insistence on minority rights
Importance of compromise
Recognition of individual freedoms as much as possible
The fourth item on the list is the "importance of compromise," meaning that a continual "give-and-take" is very important to deciding how a government should work. How important do you think this idea is in understanding the question about what a government should do? Give at least three reasons supporting your position.