introduction to government. what is a state? central message: what is a government? government is...
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction to Government
What is a State?
Central Message:
What is a government?
• Government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policy.
• Public policy is all of the goals a government sets and the various courses of action it pursues as it attempts to realize these goals.
• Our institutions are Congress, the president, the courts, and federal agencies
• AKA “the Bureaucracy”
Central Message:
Three types of power
• Legislative Power: the power to make laws
• Executive Power: the power to enforce laws
• Judicial Power: the power to interpret laws
Central Message:
Characteristics of a State
• A state is a body of people living in a defined territory who have a government with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority.
PopulationTerritory
Governm
ent
Sove
reig
nty
Central Message:
Origins of the State
• Force Theory
• Evolutionary Theory
• Divine Right Theory
• Social Contract Theory
• Thomas Hobbes
• John Locke
Origins of the State
The Force Theory 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.
Central Message:
Purpose of Government Preamble to the
Constitution
• Form a more perfect union.
• Establish justice.
• Insure domestic tranquility.
• Provide for the common defense.
• Promote the general welfare.
• Secure the blessings of liberty.
Government
5 Functions of a National Government
1. Maintain a National Defense Govt. protects its national sovereignty, usually by
maintaining armed services Nuclear age has sophisticated weapons U.S. spends over $300 billion/year on defense
Government
2. Provide public services Aka public goods (goods that everyone shares) Schools, libraries, highways, public parks, clean air
and water Provided for those not able to access privately owned
services (i.e. private schools)
Government
3. Preserve Order Govt. may resort to extreme measures to restore
order when people protest in large numbers 1970: Kent State 1992: LA Riots
Government
4. Socialize the Young Most modern govts.
pay for education and use it to instill values among the young
5. Collect Taxes– Used to pay for the
public goods and services
– Approx. 1 out of every 3 dollars earned by American citizen is used to pay for national, state, and local taxes
Government
• Govt. functions = weighty decisions by political leadersHow much should we spend on national defense as
opposed to education?How high should taxes for Medicare and SS be?
The way we answer those questions is through politics
Classification by Geographic Distribution of Power
Unitary Government• A unitary government
has all powers held by a single, central agency.
Confederate Government• A confederation is an
alliance of independent states.
Federal Government• 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.
Government
Government Types
1. Autocracy Absolute Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy,
Dictatorship Unitary System Queen, King, Dictator, King or Queen w/leg.body AM: Saudi Arabia, Qutar, Bhutan, Swaziland CM: England, Netherlands, Denmark, Nepal,
Sweden Dict: Cuba, North Korea
Government
Constitutional Monarch:• Shares govt. powers with
elected legislatures or serve as ceremonial leaders
Queen Elizabeth II
(Great Britain)
Absolute Monarch:• Has complete and unlimited
power to rule
King Fahd
(Saudi Arabia)
Government
Dictators Govt. not responsible to the people and people lack the power to
limit their rulers
Fidel Castro (Cuba)
Kim Jong(N.Korea)
Government
Government Types
2. Oligarchy Unitary Small group rules Membership based on wealth, lineage, military
power, religion China
Government
Government Types
3. Democracy Federal Direct Democracy – people rule directly
Citizens come together to discuss and pass laws, and select rulers (most turn to mob rule)
Indirect Democracy (Representative) – people rule through elected representatives
• Aka republic
DD: Switzerland has mixture of DD and ID ID: U.S., Canada, Australia, Italy
What is the difference between Presidential and Parliamentary
Governments?
Democracy
Democracy
• Word comes from two Greek words – Demos (people) and Kratos (authority of the people)Supreme political authority rests with the peopleGovernment is only conducted w/ people’s consent
Democracy
Basic Concepts of Democracy
(What is necessary for the establishment and maintenance of a Democracy?)
1. Individual Liberty (Effective Participation) Citizens must be as free as possible to develop and
express their preferences through the decision-making process
Democracy
2. Majority Rule with Minority Rights• Govt. decisions must be
based on the will of the majority (over half the voters)
• Will of minority always heard and protected
• Interest groups protect minority rights and promote minority opinion
3. Free Elections• People have chance to
choose their leaders and voice opinions on issues
• Every vote carries same weight
• Citizens free to support issue or help candidates get elected
• Racial, ethnic, religious tests cannot restrict voting
• Citizens vote by secret ballot w/out fear of punishment for their vote
Democracy
4. Competing Political Parties• Voters must have access
to competing ideas• Democrats and
Republicans (2 major U.S. parties)
5. Education• Voting makes little sense
unless a large number of voters can read and write to express their interests and opinions
Democracy
6. Equal Distribution of Wealth• Relatively prosperous nation with equitable
distribution of wealth• Extreme amount of wealth or poverty lessens
possibility of healthy democracy
Democracy
7. Inclusion• Citizenship open to all if Democratic
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;(3) A faith in majority rule and an insistence
upon minority rights;(4) An acceptance of the necessity of
compromise; and(5) An insistence upon the widest possible
degree of individual freedom.
• Free enterprise system 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.
Democracy and the Free Enterprise System