Chapter 1

PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT

THE STATE

• A political community that occupies a define territory and has an organized government with the power to make and enforce laws without approval from any higher authority.

• Aristotle was one of the first students of government

• It takes 4 aspects to make a state

• Population

• Territory

• Sovereignty

• Government

• A State must have people.

• The smallest state in the world has 22,000 people.

• Can anyone guess what it would be.

• San Marino

POPULATION

• Known land and recognized boundaries.

• San Marino = 24 sq. miles

• Russia = 7 million sq. miles

TERRITORY

• A state has supreme and absolute power with in its own territory.

• Each state decides it's own foreign and state policies

• Choose their own form of government

• States with in the US are not sovereign.

SOVEREIGNTY

ORIGINS OF THE STATE

• Political scientists don't really know how states formed, however there are 4 theories that have emerged.

• 1. The Force Theory

• 2. The Evolutionary Theory

• 3. The Divine Right Theory

• 4. The Social Contract Theory

THE EVOLUTIONARY THEORY

• Developed naturally out of early family

• 1. 1 person was in charge of a family

• 2. Over years original family became a network of families (clans)

• 3. Clans became tribes

• 4. When a tribe transformed into an agriculture society from a nomadic society, the state was born

THE DIVINE RIGHT THEORY

• The State was created by God and the God had given those of royal birth the "Divine right to rule."

• People had to obey their ruler like he or she was God

THE FORCE THEORY

• One person or groups claimed control over an area and forced all with in it to submit to that person's or groups rule.

• When rule was established the 4 basic elements were presented

THE SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• Earliest humans lived in a "State of Nature"

• There was no government that existed. people took by force

• "Survival of the Fittest"

• Humans overcame their unpleasant conditions by agreeing to develop a state

• The most influential in the founding of the US

THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT

• 1. To maintain social order

• 2. To provide public services

• 3. To provide for national security and a common defense

• 4. To provide for and control the economic system

THE FORMATION OF GOVERNMENTS

• The power of government are divided between a central government and several local governments.

• Example: United States

• Confederacy: a loose union of independent states.

• Centralized Government

• All powers held by the government belong to a single, central agency.

• Example: Great Britain, France, and Italy

GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS

Unitary System Federal System

• Constitution is a plan that provides the rules for government

• Purposes• Sets out ideals that people bound

by the constitution believe in and share

• Establishes the basis structure of government and defines powers and duties

• Provides the supreme law for the country

CONSTITUTIONS AND GOVERNMENT

STATEMENT OF GOALS

• Preamble- a statement that sets forth the goals and purposes to be served by the government

• “We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Unites States of America.”

Chapter 1 Section 3

LIST, DESCRIBE AND GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF EACH ONE OF THE TYPES OF GOVERNMENT

• Power and authority to rule are in the hands of a single individual.

• Totalitarian & dictatorship: Power is in a single leader or group of leaders. Example: Hitler

• Monarchy: A King, Queen, or emperor exercise the supreme powers of government. Example: Saudi Arabia

• Constitutional Monarchs: Monarchs share the power of government with elected officials. Example: Great Britain

AUTOCRACY

• Any system of government in which a small group holds power.

• Communist countries

• China

• They might hold elections, but offer only one candidate, or control the election results in other ways.

OLIGARCHY

• Is any system of government in which rule is by the people.

• People hold the power.

• Direct Democracy: the people govern themselves by voting on issues individually as citizens.

• Representative Democracy: People elect representative and give them the responsibility an power to make laws and conduct government

DEMOCRACY

ECONOMIC THEORIES

• 5 characteristics

• 1. Private Ownership

• 2. Free Enterprise

• 3. Competition among business

• 4. Freedom of choice

• 5. Possibility of profits

CAPITALISM

CAPITALISM

• Laissez-faire- Government should keep its hands off of the economy.

• Free Market Capitalism- Buyers and sellers were free to make ultimate economic decisions in the market place

• Mixed Market Economy- Free enterprise is an economy in which free enterprise is combined with and supported by government decisions in the marketplace. Governments role is to protect public interest.

• America is an example of this

SOCIALISM

• Government owns the means of productions, determines the use of resources, distributes the product and wedges, and provides social services such as welfare, education, and health.

• Goals

• 1. Distribution of wealth and economic opportunity for all

• 2. Society controls through its government

• 3. Public ownership of most land, factories, and other means of production

• People have basic human rights and have some control over government officials through free election and multiparty systems.

• Great Britain

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM

• The central government directs all major economic decisions

• Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto

• Population was divided between two social classes Bourgeoisies (owners of the means of productions) and Proletariat (workers)

• Goal of his revolution was government ownership of the means of production and distribution.

COMMUNISM

COMMUNISM AS A COMMAND ECONOMY

• Decisions are made by upper levels of government and handed down to the people.

• State owns the land, natural resources, industry, banks and transportation facilities.

• The state also controls all means of communication including newspapers, magazines, and televisions, radios and motion picture production.

• Example: Peoples Republic of China