US Government and Politics August 17, 2015 The Course Basics First Lessons

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1 2 Course Materials and Pacing Guide

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Unit 1: The Purposes and Origins of Government Lesson Objectives Identify the purposes of government. Explain the types of government. Describe the basic ideas of American democracy.

What is government? Government creates stability, unity, safety, services, and regulations for a society. It is a way to mange the country’s internal affairs and relationships with other country’s. It creates the law of the land based on society’s culture and values. Government should protect people’s rights

Rights, Responsibilities and Power Rights are people’s privileges – what they should be free to do and make decisions about. In the United States this includes freedom of speech, religion, right to own property and many others! Responsibilities are people’s duties and participation in the government processes. In the U.S. this includes obeying the law, paying taxes, voting and others as well. Power is the ability to make decisions that affect the government practices and policies. In the U.S. people’s vote is their power and if elected or appointed their ability to hold and carry out a government job is also power.

Democratic Republic When our nation’s Founding Fathers were designing the U.S. government, they took ideas that worked in the past and used their own experiences with government to guide them. The Founding Fathers wanted to ensure that the government would not be a monarchy in which people inherit power. They wanted to create a government that allowed for the people to have a voice, participate and hold government positions, and represent the needs of the people.

Taking what works! Democracy Modeled from the Ancient Greeks This government type allows for the people to attend government meetings and vote to help the government make decisions. It means the people govern themselves. Republic Modeled from the Romans People vote to elect others to government positions who then make government decisions. People vote for those who are most like themselves and will make decisions as they would – so their needs are represented. It is a representational government.

Putting it together The U.S. government has combined these two types of government and created a Democratic Republic. The government framework is detailed in the Constitution. This is an official and working document. The Constitution spells out the powers and jobs of government as well as the powers and rights of the people. This helps prevent an abuse of power. Because the Founding Fathers knew that society would change over time – they created an amendment process or the way for the people and government to add to or change the Constitution when needed.

Assignments for this week Complete the 1.03 Discussion: Who Are You? For full credit post your response by Sunday, 8/16 The Discussion Board will stay open until Sunday, 8/23