Government and Politics What is government and politics?

John Locke’s Contribution to American Democracy Perhaps no other individual influenced the author of the Declaration of Independence more than John Locke (1632-1704). He was a British philosopher who rejected the idea that Kings had a divine right to rule. Instead, Locke developed a theory which argued that people are the source of power.    Locke argued that people are born with certain "natural" or "inalienable" rights. These include the right to "life, liberty and property." Government did not give people these rights; rather they are born with them and as such, no government can take them away. According to Locke, people formed governments to protect their rights. People enter into what he called a "social contract."  Under this contract, people agreed to obey the government who in return, had the responsibility to protect peoples' natural rights. (Life, Liberty, and Property)   

Locke also argued that if the government failed to protect our natural rights, then the people had the right to replace the government. Locke's ideas became very influential in developing democratic ideas. Thomas Jefferson, in writing the Declaration of Independence, drew heavily from the writings of John Locke.  Locke’s Fundamental Truth that is expressed by the Declaration Of Independence

The US Constitution is based on the ideas of democracy The US Constitution is based on the ideas of democracy. What do we mean by the word democracy? In a democracy: Citizens elect their leaders People have a right to change their leaders People choose their leaders through elections which are held frequently. Elections are free and fair People have civil rights.

Principles of Government Government- The institution through which a society makes and enforces its public polices. Government is made up of those people who exercise its powers. Public Policies- all the things a government decides to do which include taxation, education, crime, health care, and transportation.

Basic Powers of Government Legislative power- the power to make laws and to frame public policies Executive power- the power to execute, enforce, and administer laws Judicial power- the power to interpret laws, to determine their meaning and to settle disputes that arise with the society/community

State(Country/Nation) Defined as a body of people living in a defined territory, organized politically and with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority. There are more than 200 states in the world today that vary greatly in size. Each posses all four characteristics of a state(Population, territory, sovereignty, and government) The word Nation is an ethnic term referring to races or other large groups of people The word Country is a geographic term referring to a particular place, region, or area of land

Population Size of the population has nothing directly to do with the existence of a state One of the smallest states is San Marino which lies in the middle of Italy and contains only 30,000 people While China is the world’s most populous state with around 1.3 billion people(1/5 of the world’s population) The US is closer to around 310 million people and ranked third only behind India and China

Population People who live in the same state may or may not be homogeneous Describes members of a group who share customs, a common language, and ethnic background

Territory Recognized boundary lines San Marino covers less than 24 square miles which is smaller than thousands of cities and town in the U.S. Vatican City which is completely surrounded by the city of Rome and has a population of 900 and only covers about 109 acres Russia is the world’s largest state and stretches 6.6 million square miles The total area of the U.S. is only 3.8 million square miles

Sovereignty Sovereign- has supreme and absolute power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign and domestic policies Means that the state doesn’t have to answer to any higher power The states within the United States are not sovereign because they have to answer to the Constitution(just like any state that has provinces or regional governments)

Government Politically organized: each state has its own government The agency through which the state exerts its will and works to accomplish its goals. Thomas Hobbes- “the war o every man against every man” (anarchy) Hobbes states that without government there would be “continual fear and danger of violent death and the life of man would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”