Government Government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies. Government is made up of those people who exercise its powers, all those who have authority and control over people. The government makes decisions on behalf of the people concerning taxations, defense, education, crime, health care, transportation, the environment, civil rights, working conditions, and countless other issues.

Government cont… The governments decisions impact your everyday life. In a short list, you are affected everyday by governmental decisions that influence the food you eat in the cafeteria, how many schools days you have in a year, the amount of police and traffic cameras in your area, the sales tax you pay on an item, and the price of tuition to a public university.

Types of Governments Dictatorship – Ultimate responsibility for the exercise of these powers may be held by a single person or by a small group. Why do some countries have dictatorships? What are the advantages and disadvantages? What dictatorships have been in the media recently?

Types of Government Cont… Democracy – a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. Advantages and Disadvantages to types of democracy.

Origins of the Political Unit The Divine Right Theory – It held that God created the state and that God had given those of the royal birth a “divine right” to rule. The people were bound to obey their ruler as they would God; opposition to the divine right was both treason and sinful. Social Contract Theory - One theory about how political authority can arise is social contract theory. According to social contract theory, consent is the basis of government. It is because people have agreed to be ruled that governments are entitled to rule. Thomas Hobbes, James Harrington, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau developed the theory in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Social Contract Theory Cont… Thomas Hobbes – Individuals were only as safe as their own physical strength and intelligence could make them. Therefore, people overcame their unpleasant conditions by agreeing with one another to create a state, and agree to give up to the state as much as needed to promote the safety and well being for all. The state arouse out of voluntary acts of free people.

Purpose of Government Form a more perfect union – Articles of Confederation. Very weak agreement between the 13 states, did not meet the needs of the union. The states were jealous of each other and had rivalries that compromised national stability. Establish Justice Insure Domestic Tranquility – “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” – James Madison, The Federalist No. 51. Example: Somalia.

Purpose of Government Cont… Provide for the Common Defense Promote General Welfare – Education, environmental control, FDA. Secure the blessings of liberty – No one can be free to do whatever he or she pleases, for that behavior would interfere with the freedom of others. Clarence Darrow: “You can only be free if I am free.”

The Magna Carta The Petition of Right The English Bill of Rights Ordered Government -Limited Government -Representative Government