1. Principles of Government Unit 1

2. Chapter 1: Section 1: Government and the State Government Public policy Legislative power Executive power Judicial power Constitution Dictatorship Democracy State Popular Sovereignty Separation of Powers Federalism Vocabulary

3. What is Government? Government the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies Public policies: all of those things a government decides to do Power is the ability to command or prevent action, the ability to achieve a desired end Three basic kinds of power: Legislative power—the power to make law and to frame public policies Executive power—the power to execute, enforce, an administer law Judicial power—the power to interpret laws, to determine their meaning, and to settle disputes that arise within the society Outlined in a CONSTITUTION

4. Government is among the oldest of all human inventions Egypt Aristotle: “man is by nature a political animal” Politics and government are two different things Politics: process; by which society decides how power and resources are distributed within the society Politics Who will reap the benefits Who will pay the costs of public policies Government: Institution

5. The State State a body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically (that is, with a government), and with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority (sovereignty) Population Group of people, any size Territory Land with known and recognized boundaries Sovereignty Supreme and absolute power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign and domestic policies Government An institution through which society makes and enforces its public policies; an agency through which the state exerts its will and works to accomplish its goals. Includes the machinery and personnel by which the state is ruled

6. The Island

7. Major Political Theories The Force Theory One person or a small group claimed control over an area and forced all within it to submit to that person’s or group’s rule Evolutionary Theory The state developed naturally out of the early family; First stage in political development Family Clan Tribe State

8. Major Political Theories Divine Right Theory Widely accepted in much of the Western world from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries. God created the state and had given those of royal birth a “divine right” to rule. People were bound to obey their ruler as they would God; opposition was both treason and a mortal sin

9. Major Political Theories Social Contract Theory 17 th century; challenged the divine right theory. People overcome their unpleasant condition by agreeing with one another to create a state. By contract, people within a given area agree to give up to the state as much power as was needed to promote the safety and well being of all. The people of the state create a government to exercise the powered they had voluntarily given to the state Contract = constitution The state arose out of a voluntary act of free people. The state exists only to serve the will of the people, that they are the sole source of political power, and that they are free to give or to withhold that power as they choose. Popular sovereignty

10. The Purpose of Government The Preamble of the Constitution Form a more perfect Union Establish Justice Insure Domestic Tranquility Provide for the common Defense Promote the General Welfare Secure the Blessings of Liberty HOMEWORK: Create a Poster showing the purposes of government Analyze the “Second Treatise of Government” pg. 11 Memorize the preamble of the Constitution