1. Purpose & Types of Governments

2. What is the purpose of government?
Warm Up:
What is the purpose of government?

3. FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT:
Protect
People from each other and outsiders
Individual rights and liberties
Provide public goods and services
Parks, monuments, environmental regulations, anti-monopoly policies, commerce, welfare, medical, etc…

4. TWOVERSIONS OF THE “SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY”
THOMAS HOBBES
“Every man is against every man… and the life of man is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
SO, give power to a KING to…
Enforce Laws
Punish Criminals
Defend people from invasion
**SOME RIGHTS HAVE TO GO IN ORDER TO HAVE LAW AND ORDER.

5. John Locke “Life, liberty, and the enjoyment of personal property”
GOVERNMENT EXISTS TO GUARANTEE PEOPLE’S “NATURAL RIGHTS”
Power to the People
**NO RESTRICTIONS ON CITIZENS WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT.

6. Types of (government) Rule:
Democracy
rule by many
Oligarchy
rule by few
Autocracy
rule by one

7. Classification of Political Systems
Anarchy
Absence of government
Theocracy
Control of governance by a religion, church and/or clergy. Church law above civil law (Iran)
Pure (direct) Democracy
Direct citizen participation in daily governance (ancient Athens, colonial New England town meetings)
Representative Democracy – REPUBLICANISM
Election of government officials to manage the state (USA, many others)

8. Types of Governments Continued:
Absolute Monarchy
Government by a monarch with absolute power descending from God (absolutism in Europe, Louis XIV)
Constitutional Monarchy
Government by a monarch with a constitution, limited monarchy (Great Britain and Denmark today)
Dictatorship
Single leader rule by force, no consent of the governed at all (USSR under Stalin, IRAQ under Saddam Hussein)

9. Elements of Democracy

10. Functioning civil institutions
Police
fire dept education

11. Free press
freedom to share information

12. Educated middle class
promotes conditions that lead to growth & prosperity

13. open economic system
Trade
all can participate

14. increased prosperity
ability to improve economic growth

15. Free elections
open to all
no corruption

16. Pluralism
multi-class system & ability to changes class status

17. Respect for law
for the will of the people and the Constitution

18. Independent judicial branch
courts not run by lawmakers

19. Rule of Law
no one is above the law…even the govt!

20. Freedom from oppression
balance of power
provision of civil rights