3. Self Government  Who are the founding fathers?  What is self government?  When the colonies were officially under the control of the British Government, the colonists made many local decisions on their own  Town hall meetings  Juries  Local elections

4. PLATO  Leaders should be “wise”  Purpose of government = unite people and provide ways for people to work within their community (people have a responsibility to contribute to the community)

5. ARISTOTLE  3 main responsibilities of a state:  Discuss and create public policy  Carry out public policy  Solve disputes and interpret public policy  Different forms of government  Corrupt governments = autocracy  Government run by the wealthy = oligarchy  Government ruled by the people = democracy

6. WHAT DID WE “LEARN” from GOVERNMENT PHILOSOPHY?  Human nature (Hobbes and Locke)  Social contract (Hobbes and Locke)  Natural Rights (Locke)  Democracy v. Republic (Aristotle and many others)  Limited Government and Constitutions

8. The Parliament  Started as a group of advisers, but slowly evolved into a more representative body  In time, as the Parliament gained more power, they began to limit the power of the British Monarch by forcing him to agree to certain documents or “contracts”

9. Common Law  Common law = unwritten laws that exist based on the decisions made by judges  When judges publish their decisions, it is understood that everyone follows that decision like they would follow a law  These decisions became PRECEDENTS  Precedents = rules that guide future decisions  Why is common law “judge made laws?”

10. MAGNA CARTA  Created to put down on paper, rights that already existed (just not officially)  Placed a check on the absolute power of the King (in writing)  Focused on taxation issues  It included:  Rule of Law  Basic Rights  Government by agreement or contract  This document emphasized the idea that law also applied to the King

11. PETITION OF RIGHT  The King tried to raise money (tax) without the consent of Parliament  Because of this violation, the Parliament created the Petition of Right  Rights that were included in this document:  Quartering of soldiers  Habeas corpus (people held in custody by the government are to be informed for the reasons for why they are being held)

12. ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS  1688: Glorious Revolution: While the Parliament was recognized as the dominant legal force in the British Government, they still struggled with the King for power- this struggle turned in a revolution  After the Revolution, the new King was required to agree to the Bill of Rights  It included:  Limited the Kings ability to tax without Parliament’s consent  Emphasized the legitimacy of the Parliament (representative government)