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1.
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Examine the graphic above. What
do you expect to learn from this section? Answer this question in the space provided on the right.
Review the vocabulary that you will encounter in this section. Look for these terms as you work
through the section. You will be tested on these terms.
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What Is
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 public policies of a government
are, in short, all of those things a government decides to do. Public policies cover matters ranging
from taxation, defense, education, crime, and health care to transportation, the environment, civil
rights, and working conditions. The list of public policy issues is nearly endless.
Governments must have power in order to make and carry out public policies. Power is the
ability to command or prevent action, the ability to achieve a desired end.
Every government
has and exercises three basic kinds of power: (1) legislative power—the
power to make law and to frame public policies; (2) executive power—the power
to execute, enforce, and administer law; and (3) judicial power—the power
to interpret laws, to determine their meaning, and to settle disputes that arise within the society.
These powers of government are often outlined in a country’s constitution. A constitution is the body of
fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of a government.
The
ultimate responsibility for the exercise of these powers may be held by a single person or by a small
group, as in a dictatorship.
In this form of government, those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people. When
the responsibility for the exercise of these powers rests with a majority of the people, that form of
government is known as a democracy. In a democracy, supreme
authority rests with the people.
Government is among the oldest of all human inventions. Its
origins are lost in the mists of time. But, clearly, government first appeared when human beings
realized that they could not survive without some way to regulate both their own and their
neighbors’ behavior.
The earliest known evidences of government date from ancient Egypt.
More than 2,300 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle observed that “man is by nature a
political animal.”1
As he wrote those words, Aristotle was only recording a fact that, even then, had been obvious for
thousands of years.
What did Aristotle mean by “political”? That is to say, what
is “politics”? Although people often equate the two, politics and government are very
different things. Politics is a process, while government is an institution.
More specifically,
politics is the process by which a society decides how power and resources will be distributed within
that society. Politics enables a society to decide who will reap the benefits, and who will pay the
costs, of its public policies.
The word politics is sometimes used in a way that suggests that it
is somehow immoral or something to be avoided. But, again, politics is a process, the means by which
government is conducted. It is neither “good” nor “bad,” but it is necessary.
Indeed, it is impossible to conceive of government without politics
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2.
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What institution society use to
make and enforces its public policies.
a. | government | c. | the environment | b. | communism | d. | transportation |
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3.
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What does the government need
in order to carry out its public policies?
a. | sympathy | c. | intelligence | b. | order | d. | power |
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4.
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What is the difference between
a dictatorship and a democracy
a. | In dictatorships and democracies the
people are supreme | c. | Democracies have
to pay attention to the people, dictatorships do not | b. | Democracies do not have to pay attention to the
people | d. | Dictatorships have to carry out the will of the
people |
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5.
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From where did the earliest
known government come?
a. | Greece | c. | Egypt | b. | Rome | d. | Iraq |
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6.
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Which statement is
true?
a. | Politics and government are the
same | c. | Politics is the way that society
uses to decide who will have the power and how resources will be
distributed. | b. | Government decides how power and resources will be distributed in
society | d. | All government and politics are
corrupt. |
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7.
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Which statementis
true?
a. | politics is the process by which a
society decides how power and resources will be distributed within that
society | c. | Government and
politics are really the same thing | b. | government is the process by which a society decides how power and resources
will be distributed within that society | d. | politics is always a bad thing because it always corrupts
government |
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The
State
Over the course of human
history, the state has emerged as the dominant political unit in the world. The state can be defined as 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.
There are more
than 190 states in the world today. They vary greatly in size, military power, natural resources, and
economic importance. Still, each of them possesses all four characteristics of a state: population,
territory, sovereignty, and government.
Note that the state is a legal entity. In popular usage,
a state is often called a “nation” or a “country.” In a strict sense,
however, 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.
Patriotism in a Time of Crisis Americans showed their pride in their country and support for
their government in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
H-SS 12.2.4
Population
Clearly, a state must have people—a population. The size
of that population, however, has nothing directly to do with the existence of a state. One of the
world’s smallest states, in population terms, is San Marino. Bounded on all sides by Italy, it
has only some 27,000 people. The People’s Republic of China is the world’s most populous
state with more than 1.3 billion people—just about one fifth of the world’s population.
The nearly 300 million who live in the United States make it the world’s third most populous,
after China and India.
The people who make up a state may or may not be homogeneous. The
adjective homogeneous describes members of a group who share customs, a common language, and ethnic
background. Today, the population of the United States includes people from a wide variety of
backgrounds. Still, most Americans think of themselves as exactly that: Americans.
Territory
Just as a state cannot exist without people, so it must have
land—territory, with known and recognized boundaries. The states in today’s world vary as
widely in terms of territory as they do in population. Here, too, San Marino ranks among the
world’s smallest states. It covers less than 24 square miles—smaller than thousands of
cities and towns in the United States.2
Russia, the
world’s largest state, stretches across some 6.6 million square miles. The total area of the
United States is 3,787,425 square miles.
Sovereignty
Every state is sovereign—it has supreme and
absolute power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign and domestic policies. It is
neither subordinate nor responsible to any other authority.
Thus, as a sovereign state, the
United States can determine its form of government. Like any other state in the world, it can frame
its economic system and shape its own foreign policies. Sovereignty is the one characteristic that
distinguishes the state from all other, lesser political units.
The States within the United
States are not sovereign and so are not states in the international, legal sense. Each State is
subordinate to the Constitution of the United States.3
Government
Every state is politically organized. That is, every state has a government.
Recall, a government is the institution through which society makes and enforces its public policies.
A government is the agency through which the state exerts its will and works to accomplish its goals.
Government includes the machinery and the personnel by which the state is ruled.
Government is
necessary to avoid what the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) called “the war
of every man against every man.” Without government, said Hobbes, there would be
“continual fear and danger of violent death and life [would be] solitary, poor,
nasty, brutish, and short.” The world has seen a number of examples over recent years of what
happens when a government disappears: In Lebanon, Bosnia, Somalia, and many other places, life became
“nasty, brutish, and short.”
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8.
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Which statement is not true of
all states?
a. | They can make and enforce law
without permission from any other authority | c. | They are democratic | b. | They are organized politically into a
government | d. | They are a body of people, living in
a defined territory |
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9.
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Which statement is
not true about the population
of a state?
a. | There is no maximum or minimum on
the number of people in a state | c. | The people who make up a state may or may not be
homogeneous | b. | The Republic of China has the greatest number of people
| d. | All people in a state must have the same customs and
language |
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10.
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A state must have well defined
borders
a. | true | c. | neither true nor false | b. | false |
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11.
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Which statement is not
true?
a. | The United States is under the
United Nations and must follow its laws | c. | The United States does not have to answer to any other authority in the
world | b. | The United States can decide what government it wants to
have | d. | The United States can make its own foreign policy and
economic policy |
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12.
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What did Thomas Hobbes say about government?
a. | People do not really need a
government. | c. | The purpose of
government is to protect people from each other | b. | The purpose of governemnt is to provided social services
for people | d. | The purpose of goernment is to help
spread Christian doctrine |
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13.
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What are the four things that
every government must have?
a. | population, territory, democracy,
sovereignty | c. | a homogenious
people, territory, sovereignty, government | b. | Sovereignty, population, government and
territory | d. | none of these answers are
correct |
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Major Political
Ideas
For centuries,
historians, philosophers, and others have pondered the question of the origin of the state. What set
of circumstances first brought it into being?
Over time, many different answers have been
offered, but history provides no conclusive evidence to support any of them. However, four theories
have emerged as the most widely accepted explanations for the origin of the state.
The Force
Theory Many scholars have long believed that the state was born of force. They hold that 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. When that rule was established, all the basic elements of the
state—population, territory, sovereignty, and government—were present.
The
Evolutionary Theory Others claim that the state developed naturally out of the early family.
They hold that the primitive family, of which one person was the head and thus the
“government,” was the first stage in political development. Over countless years the
original family became a network of related families, a clan. In time the clan became a tribe. When
the tribe first turned to agriculture and gave up its nomadic ways, tying itself to the land, the
state was born.
The Divine Right Theory The theory of divine right was widely accepted in
much of the Western world from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries. It held that God
created the state and that God had given those of royal birth a “divine right” to rule.
The people were bound to obey their ruler as they would God; opposition to “the divine right of
kings” was both treason and mortal sin.
During the seventeenth century, philosophers began
to question this theory. Much of the thought upon which present-day democracies rest began as a
challenge to the theory of divine right.
Different explanations have been offered for the origin
of the state. Pharaoh Akhenaten of Egypt (third picture, above) believed that power flowed from Aten,
the god of the sun disk. Critical Thinking Can more than one of these theories accurately explain the
origin of the state? Explain why or why not. H-SS 12.1.1
The notion of divine right was not
unique to European history. The rulers of many ancient civilizations, including the Chinese,
Egyptian, Aztec, and Mayan civilizations, were held to be gods or to have been chosen by the gods.
The Japanese emperor, the mikado, governed by divine right until 1945.
The Social Contract
Theory In terms of the American political system, the most significant of the theories of the
origin of the state is that of the “social contract.” Philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes,
James Harrington (1611–1677), and John Locke (1632–1704) in England and Jean Jacques
Rousseau (1712–1778) in France developed this theory in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries.
Hobbes wrote that in earliest history humans lived in unbridled freedom, in a
“state of nature,” in which no government existed and no person was subject to any
superior power. That which people could take by force belonged to them. However, all people were
similarly free in this state of nature. No authority existed to protect one person from the
aggressive actions of another. Thus, individuals were only as safe as their own physical strength and
intelligence could make them.
Human beings overcame their unpleasant condition, says the social
contract theory, by agreeing with one another to create a state. By contract, people within a given
area agreed to give up to the state as much power as was needed to promote the safety and well-being
of all. In the contract (that is, through a constitution), the members of the state created a
government to exercise the powers they had voluntarily given to the state.
In short, the social
contract theory argues that the state arose out of a voluntary act of free people. It holds that 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. The theory may seem
far-fetched today. The great concepts that this theory promoted, however—popular sovereignty,
limited government, and individual rights—were immensely important to the shaping of the
American governmental system.
The Declaration of Independence (see Chapter 2, Section 2)
justified its revolution through the social contract theory, arguing that King George III and his
ministers had violated the contract. Thomas Jefferson called the document “pure
Locke.”
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14.
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Which statement is not
true?
a. | The Force Theory says that states
are created by a group of people forcing their will on others to create a
state | d. | All of these statements are
true | b. | The Evolutionary Theory says that states have evolved over time out of ancient
civilizations | e. | Only some of these statements are
true | c. | The Divine Right Theroy says that god created the state and established the
king as its ruler |
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15.
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Which statement is true about
the Social Contract Theory of Government?
a. | In a state of nature people were
free and no one was aggressive | c. | In a state of nature everone was happy and
prosperous | b. | Before governments, in a state of nature, people had very little protection
from other people. | d. | Governments are not
necessary |
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16.
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Which statement is true about
the Social Contract Theory of government?
a. | People agree with the divine right
of kings | c. | Kings are needed
to peotect people from each other | b. | People really do not have a free will and cannot decide how much power a
government should have | d. | People decide to give the government
enough power to protect them from the aggression of other
people |
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17.
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In the United States
what do we call the contract that the
members of the state use to create a government to exercise the powers they had voluntarily given to
the state
a. | The Divine Right of
Kings | c. | The Declaration of
Independence | b. | The Constitution of the United States | d. | The Divine Right of Govrnment |
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18.
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Which idea is
NOT part of the Social Contract
theory
a. | popular sovereignty (the people
rule) | c. | individual rights (the individual is
superior to the state) | b. | limited government (the government should not be too
big) | d. | the military is superior to the civilian so it can protect
people from each other |
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19.
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How did the Declaration of
Independence justify the American Revolution?
a. | it said that England never did have
a social contract with America | c. | it said nothing about the Social Contract
theory | b. | it said that England had violated its social contract with
America | d. | it said that England violated the American
Constitution |
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The Purpose of
Government
What does government
do? You can find a very meaningful answer to that question in the Constitution of the United States.
The American system of government was created to serve the purposes set out there.
From The
Constitution
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
—Preamble to the
Constitution
Form a More Perfect Union
The United States, which had just won its
independence from Great Britain, faced an altogether uncertain future in the postwar 1780s. In 1781,
the Articles of Confederation, the nation’s first constitution, created “a firm league of
friendship” among the 13 States. That league soon proved to be neither very firm nor very
friendly. The government created by the Articles was powerless to overcome the intense rivalries and
jealousies among the States that marked the time.
The Constitution of today was written in 1787.
The original States adopted it in order to link them, and the American people, more closely together.
That Constitution was built in the belief that in union there is strength.
Establish
Justice
To provide justice, said Thomas Jefferson, is “the most sacred of the duties of
government.” No purpose, no goal of public policy, can be of greater importance in a
democracy.
But what, precisely, is justice? The term is difficult to define, for justice is a
concept—an idea, an invention of the human mind. Like other concepts such as truth, liberty,
and fairness, justice means what people make it mean.
As the concept of justice has developed over
time in American thought and practice, it has come to mean this: The law, in both its content and its
administration, must be reasonable, fair, and impartial. Those standards of justice have not always
been met in this country. We have not attained our professed goal of “equal justice for
all.” However, this, too, must be said: The history of this country can be told largely in
terms of our continuing attempts to reach that goal.
Insure Domestic Tranquility
Order
is essential to the well-being of any society, and keeping the peace at home has always been a prime
function of government. Most people can only imagine what it would be like to live in a state of
anarchy—without government, law, or order. In fact, people do live that way in some parts of
the world today. For years now, Somalia, which is located on the eastern tip of Africa, has not had a
functioning government; rival warlords control different parts of the country.
In The Federalist
No. 51, James Madison observed: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
Madison, who was perhaps the most thoughtful of the Framers of the Constitution, knew that most human
beings fall far short of this standard.
Provide for the Common Defense
Defending the
nation against foreign enemies has always been one of government’s major responsibilities. You
can see its importance in the fact that defense is mentioned far more often in the Constitution than
any of the other functions of the government. The nation’s defense and its foreign policies are
but two sides of the same coin: the security of the United States.
The United States has become
the world’s most powerful nation, but the world remains a dangerous place. The United States
must maintain its vigilance and its armed strength. Just a glance at today’s newspaper or at
one of this evening’s television news programs will furnish abundant proof of that
fact.
Promote the General Welfare
Few people realize the extent to which government acts
as the servant of its citizens, yet you can see examples everywhere. Public schools are one
illustration of government’s work to promote the general welfare. So, too, are
government’s efforts to protect the quality of the air you breathe, the water you drink, and
the food you eat. The list of tasks government performs for your benefit goes on and on.
Some
governmental functions that are common in other countries—operating steel mills, airlines, and
coal mines, for example—are not carried out by government in this country. In general, the
services that government provides in the United States are those that benefit all or most people.
These are the services that are not very likely to be provided by the voluntary acts of private
individuals or groups.
Secure the Blessings of Liberty
This nation was founded by those
who loved liberty and prized it above all earthly possessions. They believed with Thomas Jefferson
that “the God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time.” They subscribed to
Benjamin Franklin’s maxim: “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
The American dedication to freedom for
the individual recognizes that liberty cannot be absolute. It is, instead, a relative matter. No one
can be free to do whatever he or she pleases, for that behavior would interfere with the freedoms of
others. As Clarence Darrow, the great defense lawyer, once said: “You can only be free if I am
free.”
Both the Federal Constitution and the State constitutions set out many guarantees of
rights and liberties for the individual in this country. That does not mean that those guarantees are
so firmly established that they exist forever, however. To preserve and protect them, each generation
must learn and understand them anew, and be willing to stand up for them when necessary.
For many
people, the inspiration to protect our rights and liberties arises from deep feelings of patriotism.
Patriotism is the love of one’s country; the passion which aims to serve one’s country,
either in defending it from invasion, or by protecting its rights and maintaining its laws and
institutions in vigor and purity. Patriotism is the characteristic of a good citizen, the noblest
passion that animates a man or woman in the character of a citizen. As a citizen, you, too, must
agree with Jefferson: “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
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20.
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What does, “To Form a
more perfect union,” mean?
a. | the constitution was written to make
America strong by uniting the colonies under one government | c. | the American union was perfect because of the divine right
of kings | b. | to make the labor movement more strong in the United
States | d. | the constitution was written to allow every state to be
independent of each other in all things |
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21.
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What does “Establish
Justice” mean in American political thought?
a. | The laws are made to protect the
rich from the poor | c. | The Constitution
is not a set of laws an has nothing to do with justice | b. | People can establish their own laws and do not need to pay
attention to the government | d. | The law, in both its content and its
administration, must be reasonable, fair, and
impartial. |
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22.
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What does “Insure
Domestic Tranquility,” mean?
a. | a government is needed to keep peace
inside the borders of the United States | c. | In Africa all nations have domestic tranquility because it is insured to
them | b. | some laws are needed to keep peace between husbands and
wives | d. | none of these statements are
true |
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23.
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What does “Provide for
the common defense,” mean?
a. | A government is needed so the United
States can protect its citizens from other countries in the world. | c. | The United States does not need to protect itself from
other countries in the world | b. | Only common people need to be defended | d. | The United Nations should provide for the defense fo the United
States |
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24.
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What does “Promote the
general welfare mean?”
a. | All people have a right to welfare
checks | c. | In the U.S. the government owns all
major industry for the good of the people | b. | In the U.S. only the poor are protected
| d. | in the U.S. the government makes laws that protect all the
people, such as environmental laws. |
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25.
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Who said “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a
little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
a. | Thomas
Jefferson | c. | George
Washington | b. | Benjamin Franklin | d. | Thomas Hobbs |
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26.
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According to Thomas Jefferson,
Where do the American people get their freedom from?
a. | it was given to them by King George
III | c. | The United States
government | b. | God | d. | The United
Nations |
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27.
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The American dedication to
freedom for the individual recognizes that liberty cannot be absolute. What does this
mean?
a. | Every person can do whatever they
want to do at all times | c. | You cannot use
your freedom to take away the freedom of other Americans | b. | There is no real freedom in
America | d. | Animal have the same rights as U.S.
citizens |
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