Government and the State

What is government? Government is: the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies. Governments have the power to coerce or to make you do something (coercion)

Coercion The State has a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence- Max Weber Who is legally allowed to kill? Only the state. All others are viewed as criminals.

Some types of government Dictatorship- all powers are held by a single person (can also be called an autocracy) Democracy- powers rest with the majority of the people Oligarchy- powers rest with a small group of people

The State The state is the dominant political unit in the world All states have: 1) people living in them (a population) 2) a defined territory 3)Sovereignty- the state is not controlled by another state 4) All states have government

Is Sealand a state?

The earliest states Egypt Mesopotamia (Iraq, Iran Syria) India China Notice anything about the geography of the places mentioned?

The first civilizations- River valleys Fertile river valleys grow crops well. Growing crops well means people can have healthy women that have healthy babies Healthy babies reach adulthood more often Result= population increase in these areas

How do you deal with so many people? Political scientists are not quite sure how the state first was created. There are four theories All of them deal with the question of governing people.

What if government disappeared? Thomas Hobbes said “without government there would be war of every man against every man” It is necessary to have government so that we aren’t constantly watching our back to make sure our neighbor isn’t attacking us. Without government the people with the better weapons would be able to take from us at will. Life would be brutally short

Why do we need government? Protection To meet basic needs safely

Anarchy Anarchy- the total absence or lack of government.

How was the state created? 4 different theories 1) force- somebody back in the day got a band of warriors together and took over some land and the people on it. Everyone then had to submit to that person’s rule 2) Evolutionary theory- the family evolved into a larger family, then a clan, then a tribe and then a state

3) Divine right theory- “I am king, therefore since I am king that is proof that God wanted me to be King” If you opposed a divine king it was both treason and sin 4)Social Contract theory- argued that originally people were completely free. Problem is that everyone is completely free and you are only as safe as you are strong. People agreed to band together and form states and to give up as much power as was necessary to be safe.

Hammurabi’s code Around 1750BCE a warrior King named Hammurabi took power in Babylon His people had different customs and laws He unified them all under a single code… So that there was no dispute what the law was…

He placed them in the center of town All the laws had a punishment This way the local magistrate could simply look up the crime and pass judgment on the spot.

Some of the laws of Hammurabi’s code “if a man practice robbery and be captured, that man shall be put to death” “If a son has struck his father, they shall cut off his hand” “Eye for an eye”

Other things in the code you don’t need to copy If a builder builds you a house and it falls down and kills your son, you get to kill the builder’s son. If your home catches fire and while you are out getting water to put it out somebody comes by and steals from you, they get thrown into the fire.

History of Governments Ancient Egypt had the Pharaohs which were Kings that were worshiped as Gods on Earth. We call this a theocracy –Who is power vested in?

Who can participate? There are two types of democracy- Direct and Representative (Also called a Republic) Direct Democracy- everyone has a say or a vote in what happens. (works great in very small groups) Representative Democracy- this is where the people vote a representative to represent them and vote for them. This is the method and system the United States uses. Your elected officials vote for you so that you can get other things done.

What does Democracy mean and where does it come from? The word Democracy comes from the Greek words “Demos” meaning people and “Kratos” meaning rule. The word implies a system where the people have a say in their government and are not lead by a single authoritarian leader The first democracies came out of ancient Greece.

Athens Athens is considered the birthplace of Democracy In Athens only citizens of Athens could vote.

To be a citizen meant you were male and not a slave and also from Athens. Citizens of Athens gathered in the assembly and voted all at once on important matters.

Wait a minute…. Not fair What about the women? What about slaves? What about the men who had no property? These people were not allowed to vote The slaves worked while the elite passed the laws and the women were confined to their homes unable to leave without an escort.

What kinds of issues were important to the ancient Athenians? They held court and voted on mass juries of over 500 people. They voted to pass laws or not. They had a system by which unpopular people could be kicked out of Athens for ten years called Ostracism that they would also put to a vote.

Sparta In Sparta there were two Kings, one for at home and one for at battle To vote you would reach first have to reach the age of 60 and be male. Sparta also had a council of 28 males who would cast these votes. (they were the ones who had to be 60 years of age)

Rome Rome took a different approach originally Offices were to be elected (even if they were from the elite) There was a Senate and gradually people won the right to vote for Senators This era in history was called the Republic because republics are any governments that allow for representative government

What? You have a busy life You don’t have time to vote on whatever bill has been brought before the people today. Imagine if everyday you had to meet in the center of the city and vote on every bill or piece of legislation. How would you get your work done? Representative Democracy hires someone else to do it for you!

Do we use Representative Democracy in the United States Yes we do. Any person you vote for to pass laws for you is an elected representative.

Social Contract A theory proposed by Jean Jacques Rousseau, french philosopher of the enlightenment. Answers the question “Which do you prefer absolute freedom or being the most secure you can be?”

A delicate balance In order to be secure we must sacrifice some amount of freedom. We enter into a type of “social contract” when we agree to live in society.

Other options Suppose we didn’t want to live in this society what could we do? Live somewhere where other people don’t live. –Not easy to do. Break societies rules. –There are consequences to this choice.

Dictatorship 1)Things get done quickly and effectively. 2) Personal freedom doesn’t exist. In many cases the people belong to the state. Dictatorships do not answer to the will of the people, the people answer to the dictator

Examples of Dictatorships In ancient Rome during emergencies the Republic would had over power to one powerful leader During the 1930’s and 40’s: Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Josef Stalin and Francisco Franco were all dictators Recent places that have had dictatorships: Libya, Burma (Myanmar), Iraq, Chile, Pakistan, Cuba to name a few.

What is patriotism? What is nationalism? Patriotism- a feeling of pride in one’s country Nationalism- a feeling of pride in one’s country. (may be taken a step further than patriotism) “My country is better than your country.”

Things to consider What makes you proud of your country? Do you suppose if you were a citizen of another state (country) you would feel just as strongly about that place?

1. Government ruled by the few is called what? 2. Government that is lead by one person and answers to no one is called what? 3. List one of the four theories of how the state was created. 4. Which system of democracy does the United States use? 5. Where did the first democracies come from? 6. Who could vote in Athens? 7. Why are dictatorships sometimes more effective at getting things done? 8. What often doesn’t exist under a dictatorship? 9. What is anarchy? 10. What is coercion?