Magruder`s American Government Magruder`s American Government

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Magruder
’s
Magruder’s
American Government
CHAPTER 1
Principles of Government
© 2001 by Prentice Hall, Inc.
CHAPTER 1
Principles of Government
SECTION 1
Government and the State
SECTION 2
Forms of Government
SECTION 3
Basic Concepts of Democracy
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Chapter 1
SECTION 1
Government and the State
• How is government defined?
• What are the basic powers that every
government holds?
• What are the four defining characteristics of
the state?
• How have we attempted to explain the origin
of the state?
• What is the purpose of government in the
United States and other countries?
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Chapter 1, Section 1
What Is Government?
• Government is the institution through which a society
makes and enforces its public policies
• Every government has and exercises three basic
kinds of power
1) Legislative power: the power to make law and to frame public policies
2) Executive power: the power to execute, enforce, and administer law
3) Judicial power: the power to interpret laws, to determine their meaning,
and to settle disputes that arise within the society.
• The powers of government are outlined in a country’s
constitution.
• Politics is a process, while government is an
institution.
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Chapter 1 Section 1
The State
The state can be defined as having these four
characteristics:
Population
A state must have people,
the number of which does
not directly relate to its
existence.
Sovereignty
Every state is sovereign. It
has supreme and absolute
power within its own
territory and decides its own
foreign and domestic
policies. A dictatorship can
exist in a sovereign state.
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Territory
A state must be comprised
of land—territory with known
and recognized boundaries.
Government
Every state has a
government — that is, it is
politically organized.
Chapter 1, Section 1
Origins of the State
The Force Theory
•
The force theory states that one person or a small group took
control of an area and forced all within it to submit to that
person’s or group’s rule.
The Evolutionary Theory
•
The evolutionary theory argues that the state evolved naturally
out of the early family.
The Divine Right Theory
•
The theory of divine right holds that God created the state and
that God gives those of royal birth a “divine right” to rule.
The Social Contract Theory
•
The social contract theory argues that the state arose out of a
voluntary act of free people.
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Chapter 1, Section 1
The Purpose of Government
The main purposes of government are described in the
Preamble of the Constitution of the United States:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a
more perfect Union, establish Justice (the law, in both its
content and its administration, must be reasonable, fair,
and impartial), insure domestic Tranquility (peace), provide
for the common defense (defend the nation from foreign
nations), promote the general Welfare (act as a servant to
its citizens---public schools, protecting the water and food
we consume etc.), and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.”
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Chapter 1, Section 1
Section 1 Review
1. A government is
(a) the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies.
(b) a collection of people.
(c) always democratic.
(d) the organization representing farms and industries.
2. A state has the following four characteristics:
(a) population, territory, sovereignty, and government.
(b) sovereignty, a perfect union, welfare, and territory.
(c) people, places, force, and divine right.
(d) justice, defense, liberty, and domestic tranquility.
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Chapter 1, Section 1
SECTION 2
Forms of Government
• How can we classify governments?
• How are systems of government defined in
terms of who can participate?
• How is power distributed within a state?
• How are governments defined by the
relationship between the legislative and
executive branches?
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Chapter 1, Section 2
Classifying Governments
Governments can be classified by three
different standards:
(1) Who can participate in the governing process.
(2) The geographic distribution of the governmental
power within the state.
(3) The relationship between the legislative
(lawmaking) and the executive (law-executing)
branches of the government.
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Chapter 1, Section 2
Classification by Who Can Participate
Democracy
•
In a democracy, supreme political
authority (sovereignty) rests with
the people.
•
A direct democracy exists where
the will of the people is translated
into law directly by the people
themselves. (not possible today
because of large populations)
•
In an indirect democracy, a small
group of persons, chosen by the
people to act as their
representatives, expresses the
popular will.
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Dictatorship
•
A dictatorship exists where
those who rule cannot be held
responsible to the will of the
people. Have complete
authority over the people
•
An autocracy is a government
in which a single person
holds unlimited political power.
•
An oligarchy is a government
in which the power to rule is
held by a small, usually selfappointed elite.
Chapter 1, Section 2
Classification by Geographic
Distribution of Power
Unitary Government
Confederate Government
•
A unitary government has
all powers held by a single,
central agency.
•
A federal government is one in which the powers of government are
divided between a central government and several local governments.
•
An authority superior to both the central and local governments makes
this division of power on a geographic basis. (In the U.S. the Natl.
Govt. has certain powers and the 50 states have others----they are
defined in the Constitution.
•
A confederation is an alliance
of independent states. Only
have powers to handle matters
that the member states have
assigned to it. Typically have
very limited powers.
Federal Government
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Chapter 1, Section 2
Presidential Government (relationship b/t
Legislative and Executive branches)
•
Features a separation of powers between the executive and
legislative branches. The two branches are independent of one
another and coequal
•
The chief executive (president) is chosen independently of the
legislature (by the citizens via vote) and holds office for a fixed
term.
•
The executive and legislative branches each can check the
actions of the other branch.
•
The President has a number of significant powers not subject to
the direct control of the legislative branch.
•
The U.S. is the world’s leading example of presidential
government.
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Parliamentary Government (relationship b/t
Legislative and Executive branches)
•
•
The executive is made up of the prime minister and that official’s cabinet.
•
The prime minister is the leader of the majority party in Parliament and is
chosen by that body. Therefore, he/she is subject to the legislature's control
•
With parliament’s approval, the prime minister selects the members of the
cabinet from among the members of parliament.
•
The prime minister and cabinet remain in office only as long as their policies
and administration have the support of a majority in parliament.
•
If parliament defeats the prime minister and cabinet on an important matter,
the government may receive a “vote of no confidence” and the prime
minister and the cabinet then must resign.
The prime minister and cabinet themselves are members of the legislative
branch (Parliament).
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Classification by the Relationship Between
Legislative and Executive Branches
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Chapter 1, Section 2
Section 2 Review
1. In a democracy,
(a) independent states form an alliance.
(b) supreme political authority rests with the people.
(c) those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people.
(d) the rule by a few, select individuals regulates the will of the people.
2. The United States government has the following characteristics:
(a) confederate, parliamentary, and dictatorship.
(b) unitary, presidential, and democracy.
(c) federal, presidential, and democracy.
(d) unitary, parliamentary, and dictatorship.
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Chapter 1, Section 2
SECTION 3
Basic Concepts of Democracy
• What are the foundations of democracy?
• What are the connections between
democracy and the free enterprise system?
• How has the Internet affected democracy?
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Chapter 1, Section 3
The American concept of democracy rests on
these basic notions:
(1) A recognition of the fundamental worth and dignity of every person;
(2) A respect for the equality of all persons; (does not claim that all
people are born with the same mental and physical abilities)
(3) A faith in majority rule and an insistence upon minority rights; the
will of the many is elevated above the interests of a few. Democracy
doesn’t say that the majority will always be right.
(4) An acceptance of the necessity of compromise; it is vital in the
decision-making process of democracy. Compromise helps serve
the varied needs of citizens when forming public policies.
(5) An insistence upon the widest possible degree of individual freedom
(still have to do things we don’t want to….like pay taxes….b/c the
govt. needs to be able to provide services for its citizens.)
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Chapter 1, Section 3
Democracy and the Free Enterprise System
•
The free enterprise system (capitalism) is an
economic system characterized by private or corporate
ownership of capital goods; investments that are
determined by private decision rather than by state
control; and determined in a free market.
•
Decisions in a free enterprise system are determined
by the law of supply and demand.
•
An economy in which private enterprise exists in
combination with a considerable amount of
government regulation and promotion is called a
mixed economy.
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Chapter 1, Section 3
Democracy and the Internet
• Democracy demands that the people be widely
informed about their government.
• Theoretically, the Internet makes knowledgeable
participation in democratic process easier than ever
before.
• However, all data on the World Wide Web is not
necessarily true, and the long-term effects of the
Internet on democracy has yet to be determined.
• The ability to get information quickly does not
guarantee its reliability.
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Chapter 1, Section 3
Section 3 Review
1. All of the following are basic notions found in the American
concept of democracy EXCEPT
(a) a recognition of of the fundamental worth and dignity of every person.
(b) a respect for the equality of all persons.
(c) the rule of government by a single individual.
(d) an acceptance of the necessity of compromise.
2. In a free enterprise system, the means of capital are owned
(a) by private and corporate entities.
(b) by government agencies.
(c) by only the agricultural sector.
(d) equally by the collective citizenry.
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Chapter 1, Section 3