Hey! What do you know about this thing called “a country” …?

Hey! What do you know about this

thing called “a country”

…?

You mean like the United States or Canada?

Yeah, how is a country or a

nation different than a state, like Colorado?

Hmmm. Good question.

Let’s find out.

OH! Cool…

with the with the power to make and power to make and enforce lawsenforce laws without having to without having to

check with any higher check with any higher authority, authority,

What is a What is a Country?Country?a body of a body of peoplepeople, ,

living in a living in a defined spacedefined space, ,

and with anand with an organizationorganization to do this. to do this.

CountriCountriesesYou can tell from the

definition that there are four key features

of a country…What are they?

PopulatiPopulationon TerritoryTerritory

SovereigSovereigntynty

GovernmGovernmentent

a body of a body of peoplepeople, ,

living in a living in a defined defined space,space,

with the with the power to power to make and enforce make and enforce

laws laws without having without having to check with any to check with any higher authority,higher authority,

and with an and with an organization to organization to

do this.do this.

What is a country? • Territory:

• Population:

• Sovereign

• Government:

TerritoTerritoryry

A country must have set boundaries, but they are not always agreed on. Boundaries can change in three ways:

• war – people win or lose territory• negotiation – people agree to trade

territory• purchase – countries can buy territory

from other countries

Definition: the area in which a country’s rule applies

Open your text book to page 571

How is this map of Europe from 1918 different than the map in your book?

PopulaPopulationtion

That’s us!

Definition: People who are the members or citizens of a country

The size of the population doesn’t matterPopulation has a big influence on the type

of government chosen by the country:• Is the population rural or urban?• What do people do for jobs?• Do people get along or disagree on

basic issues?

Open your text book to page 522

What country in Europe has the largest population?

What country has the smallest?

WAIT! Where did the

word “SOVEREIGNTY”

come from?

SovereiSovereigntygnty

SovereiSovereigntygntyDon’t worry guys!

“Sovereignty” is just a big word that means a state has the ability to rule within its border

as it chooses…

Remember the definition of “country”? It says, “…with

the power to make and enforce laws without having

to check with any higher authority…”?


That’s SOVEREIGNTY!

Oh! Ok, cool…

Because of sovereignty…

Countries can set their own foreign policy and agendas.

Countries are all equal in theory, but in reality that isn’t always the case.

Definition: the ability to rule absolutely within a given territory


GovernGovernmentment

That’s us!

Definition: the organization that makes and enforces the laws Government has many roles that all involve making public policy, but there are four main ways their governing affects the public… Public policy is

the laws and rules that affect the

public!

GovernGovernmentment

That’s us!

Government has many roles that all involve making public policy, but there are four main ways their governing affects the public… • Keeping Order

• Protecting the Country• Providing Services• Making Economic Decisions

Definition: the organization that makes and enforces the laws

Keeping Keeping Order Order

Roles Roles

of of

GovernGovern

mentment Making and enforcing laws is all a part of keeping order in society

Structures like the police force and court system are in place to enforce the laws and settle disputes

Protecting the Protecting the CountryCountry

Roles Roles

of of

GovernGovern

mentment The government is responsible for defending the territory of the state Security organizations like the Department

of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense are established to protect citizens

Roles Roles

of of

GovernGovern

mentment The government is responsible for defending the territory of the state Security organizations like the Department

of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense are established to protect citizens Treaties and alliances are formed with other countries to help keep our citizens safe

Protecting the Protecting the CountryCountry

Providing Providing Services Services

Roles Roles

of of

GovernGovern

mentment The government is responsible for providing basic services…

Postal ServiceLibraries

Garbage Collection

Road Repair

Bridge BuildingSchools

Providing Providing Services Services

Roles Roles

of of

GovernGovern

mentmentThe government is

responsible for providing basic services…

Programs for people who need help:

Programs to keep people safe:

• welfare • medical services

• help buying food

• food• buildings

• medicine

Paying for Services Paying for Services

Citizens pay taxes to pay for servicesIncome taxSales taxPayroll taxProperty taxInheritance taxAnd more!

Making Making Economic Economic DecisionsDecisions

Roles Roles

of of

GovernGovern

mentment The government makes decisions every day about how it spends money

The government also makes decisions about how our economy is going to function

Most public policy set by the government has to do with how money is spent!!

So by that definition of country…

…the United States is

definitely a country!

Figure It Figure It Out!Out!Is the United

States a country?

Does it have a population?

YESYES NNOO

Does it have a territory?

Does it have sovereignty? Does it have government?

YESYES

YESYES

YESYES

NNOO

NNOO

NNOO

Figure It Figure It Out!Out!What about “states”

like Colorado? Could Colorado be

considered a country?

Does it have a population? YESYES NNOO

Does it have a territory?

Does it have sovereignty?

Does it have government?

YESYES

YESYES

YESYES

NNOO

NNOO

NNOO

Colorado can’t make laws that go

against the U.S. Constitution…

Colorado has a higher

authority above them!

Figure It Figure It Out!Out!Oops! I forgot. What four

things does the government do?

Keeps _________ORDERORDER

Protects the __________

Provides ___________

Makes___________ decisions

COUNTRCOUNTRYY

SERVICESSERVICES

ECONOMIECONOMICC

Let’s take a mini-quiz, kiddos, and see what you learned!

THUMBS UP or THUMBS THUMBS UP or THUMBS DOWNDOWN

If there are less than 30,000 people it can’t be

considered a country.

Monaco has only 27,000 people! Size doesn’t matter!



The boundaries of a territory can change.

Can you name

the three ways

that boundaries

change?



Sovereignty means that you have to check with someone above you.

Just the opposite! Sovereignty means there is NO ONE above you!



Government only exists to keep order and provide

security.

What are the

four roles that

governments

have?



The 50 states that make up the USA are not considered

independent states internationally.

That’s right! They don’t have full sovereignty!


Now, how about creating your own

country?

Alright. Let’s do it!

Documents

Hey! What do you know about this thing called “a country” …?