TOPIC 1 PRINCIPLES AND FOUNDATION OF GOVERNMENT

THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT

• Government is an institution in which leaders use power to make and enforce laws.

• Governments set priorities and make decisions, and they maintain order by enforcing laws.

• Governments provide public services and promote public health and safety.

• Governments provide national security to protect the people against external threats.

• Governments protect the economic security of their people and may provide assistance to those in need.

NATION, STATE, AND COUNTRY

• A nation is a large group of people united by common bonds of race, language, custom, or religion.

• A state and a country are both political communities that occupy a definite territory and have an organized government.

• A state has sovereignty, which means that its government makes and enforces its own laws.

• States in today’s political world share four essential features: population, territory, sovereignty, and government.

ORIGINS OF THE STATE

• Evolutionary theory suggests that the idea of state evolved from the structure of ancient family groups.

• According to force theory, states emerged when people needed to cooperate to survive and one person or a group took control.

• The divine right theory refers to European rulers who proclaimed that their right to rule came from God alone.

• Thomas Hobbes developed the social contract theory, in which people gave up their freedom to the state in return for order and security.

CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENTS

• A constitution is a plan that identifies the people’s ideals; establishes government structure, powers, and duties; and provides the supreme law.

• A constitutional government is limited because the constitution places limits on the powers of government officials.

• No written constitution can spell out all the laws, customs, and ideas that evolve around it.

• Governments do not always follow the laws of their constitutions

MAJOR TYPES OF GOVERNMENT

• Authoritarian governments, or totalitarian states, control all aspects of citizens’ economic, political, and social lives.

• Monarchy is a form of government in which one person—a king, queen, or emperor—inherits the throne and heads the state.

• A democracy is a system of government in which the people rule, either directly or through representatives.

• In an indirect or representative democracy, the people elect representatives and give them the power to make laws and conduct government.

SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT

• A unitary system of government gives all key powers to the central government, which gives some powers to state and local governments.

• A confederacy, or confederate system of government, is a loose union of independent and fairly sovereign states.

• A federal system of government divides the powers of government between the national and state or provincial government, with each level having sovereignty in some areas.

PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY

• Principles which guide a democracy include citizen participation, regular free and fair elections, rule of law, and majority rule with minority rights.

• Accountability, transparency, limited government with a list of citizens’ rights and freedoms, control of the abuse of power, and economic freedom are also key principles.

• Further principles include equality for all individuals, respect for individual or human rights, an independent judiciary, and competing political parties.

PRINCIPLES OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

• The Constitution limits the power of the national government by specifying what it can and cannot do.

• Federalism limits central power by dividing power among national, state, and local governments.

• Power is divided among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

• A system of checks and balances allows each branch to have some control over the other two.

• The Bill of Rights outlines and protects individual rights from government overreach.

STRUCTURE OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

• Under the Articles of Confederation, the Founders learned the value of a strong central government.

• Under King George III, the Founders learned to fear a government with too much power.

• The Founders created a central government with limited power.

• The Constitution consists of the Preamble, seven articles, and a series of amendments.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

• The president heads the executive branch, which includes the departments that enforce the laws passed by Congress.

• The executive branch includes federal agencies, commissions, government corporations, and boards that carry out specific duties.

• The president is empowered to grant pardons, make treaties, appoint key officials, and serve as commander in chief of the military.

JUDICIAL BRANCH

• Article III establishes the federal court system, consisting of a Supreme Court and the lower courts.

• The federal court system hears cases about the Constitution and other federal issues.

• The judicial branch’s power comes from judicial review, the court’s ability to interpret the Constitution and overturn laws that violate it.

• This power gives the judicial branch a status equal to the other two branches of government.

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

• The enumerated powers of Congress are listed in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which explains what kinds of laws Congress can make.

• The final clause gives Congress authority to make whatever laws are “necessary and proper” to carry out its other powers.

• Congress has used this elastic clause in many ways.

THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

• To become law, the Constitution had to be ratified by nine of the thirteen states.

• In The Federalist Papers, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay argued in support of the Constitution.

• A key argument was that the division of power made it impossible for one person to have absolute power.

• The government was limited by assigning different powers to each branch and providing each with checks over the power of the others.

FEDERALISM IN THE CONSTITUTION

• Expressed powers are stated in the Constitution, and implied powers are not stated but form the basis for carrying out stated powers.

• Powers not given to the national government are reserved for the states.

• Concurrent powers are shared by the federal government and the states.

• The Constitution specifically denies some powers to all levels of government.

• Under the supremacy clause, state and local laws may not conflict with the U.S. Constitution.

STATE POWERS

• States regulate corporations within their borders and promote those businesses.

• Protecting life and property is the primary duty of state and local governments.

• Education, health, and welfare account for the largest portion of state spending.

• States try to preserve their natural resources by regulating air and water pollution.

• Federalism gives a lot of freedom to each state, so there are important differences among states.