-
What is government?
a formally established way of making and carrying out political decisions
-
why do we have government?
because government can do things for us. Life without government would be worse. Without government, we would have to exist in a state called the "state of nature"
-
politics
the competitionto shape government's impact on society's problems and goal
-
social contact theory
it is not a written contract, but rather, a general agreement between the people and their government
-
normative
the way things should be
-
empirical
the way things actually are
-
purposes of government
to protect the natural laws
-
natural laws
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
-
What purpose have government traditionally served? What does government do?
protect life, rights and liberties, provide public goods, promoting equalitiy (contravesal)
-
political idealogy
a coherent set of beliefs about how policies affect society and which policies are desirable.
-
Examples of political ideology
- *liberals
- *conservatives
- *populists
- *libertarians
- communist
- socialist
-
the policy process
people (interest, concerns, problems),linkage processes (elections, polls, lobbying), linkage institution (political parties, interest groups, media, and government agendas),government (congress, president, courts) policies (expenditures, regulations, taxes, non-decision)
-
the requirements for a democracy
popular sovereignty, political equality, political liberty
-
popular sovereignty
people are the ultimate source of all public authority
-
political equality
each person carries the same weight in voting and other political decision making
-
political liberty
freedoms of speech, press, religion, assembly, etc. are essential for democracy to work
-
six conditions of popular sovereignty
- government polices reflect the wishes of the people
- government leaders are elected
- elections are free and fair
- people participate in the political process
- high-quality information is available
- the majority rules
-
delegates
do what the people want (democratic ideal)
-
trustees
do what they thinkis best (republicanism)
-
the constitution
a definition : document that specifies the basic structure of government
-
our Constitution embraces four basic principles
- republicanism
- federalism
- separation of powers
- check and balances
-
republicanism
a form or government in which power resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives
-
federalism
the division of sovereignty(power), and hence power, among two or more government
-
Setting of the Consitution
britain war w/ france-- france repelled(1763) britian broke.... tax colonist (stamp act, writs of assistance, tea)
-
the declaration of independence
- an example of social contract theory
- it did not toutline the structure of our new government
- gave them propaganda for the war
-
the articles of Confederation
- they were a failure
- none of the important powers could be exercised unless 9 states agreed, even when a decision was reached; there was no method of enforcing those decisions
-
the constitutional convention of 1787
- Initially the plan was to revise the Articles of Confederation
- had the effect of writing a whole new charter of government
-
constitutional itself
- create a powerful national government
- prevent an excess of democracy
- acquire popular consent
-
federalist #10
- purpose of the constitution is to "break or control the violence remove its causes
- control its effects
-
federalist #51
- how to prevent the possibity of tyranny from other sources, from w/in the gov't/ambition must be made to counteract ambition
- distribute the power among three branches
- give each branch some ability to counteract the others
- federalism helps too
-
Why did the anit-federalist object?
because the constitution did not contain a list of rights and liberties to protect people from a powerful central government
-
federalism
def. at least two separte governments share responsibility for the governing the same people and territory
-
federalism is seen as a continuum
confederal--> fedeal-->unitary
-
national government has powers to promote commerce
coining money, building post offices, roads, railroads, protecting inventions with patents
-
states have the coercive powers
to define and maintain public order through laws and regulations
-
civil liberties- freedoms...what governments can't take away..(have's in society)
civil rights-what the government must do ... (have nots
|
|