Origin of Government
Terms
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- 3 things required for a government
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1. a recognized region that is realized as a territory to be run
2. you have to have sovereinghty
3. you have to have people - 4 Theories of the Origin of Government
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1. Force Theory
2. The Divine Right Theory
3. The Evolution Theory
4. The Social Contract Theory - Force theory
- Someone decides that they can make others do what they want
- The Divine Right Theory
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The "God Said" Theory
God said someone was supposed to be king - The Evolution Theory
- governments evolve out of family relationships
- The Social Contract Theory
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Jean-Jaques Rousseau
Enlightenment thinker
“The Social Contract Theoryâ€
It would be better to not have a government, but people need a government
People would come together and write a social contract form governing
People that are governed have agreed to be governed - 3 Types of Government
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1. Unitary (One ruler)
2. Federal (Dividing powers between central and regional, central holding the majority of the power)
3. Confederate (Regional areas hold the majority of the power with a weak central government) - European Nations involved in the New World
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English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Russia
(All except portugal in North America) - Why did the English use a policy of Salutary Neglect?
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1. The king lef the colonies in others hands to run
2. They had 2 civil war(1649-Charles I was killed, Oliver Cromwell became console, William and Mary then took it over, instability caused them not to care)
3. to have taxed the colonies in the beginning would have killed them - 3 Types of Colonies
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1. Propietor
2. Charter Colonies
3. Royal Colonies (Ruled by the King) - 2 Reasons for founding colonies
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1. Economic
2. Religious - How Many Religious Colonies were there?
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Four
1. Pennsylvania (Quakers)
2. Delaware (fleeing from Puritans)
3. Massachusetts (Puritans)
4. Maryland (Catholics) - 3 General concepts about government that English people accepted
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1. Ordered Government
2. Limited Government
3. Representative - Ordered Government
- Government has a system and the people know how it is run: Parliament and the King
- Limited Government
- Government is not all powerful; parliament and the King can not do whatever they want
- Representative Government
- The people in England had a say through their representation in parliament
- What did the English people have to ensure their rights?
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1. Magna Carta
2. Petition of Right
3. English Bill of Rights - Magna Carta
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1. Stated the power of the king is not absolute
2. You have the right to a trial by jury, Due Process of law
3. Everyone has to follow rules
4. The king can not arbitrarily take away life, liberty, or property
5. Signed in 1215 by King John - Petition of Right
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1. The king cannot imprison political critics
2. The king cannot declare martial law during peacetime
3. The King cannot require private citizens to house soldiers in their homes during peacetime
4. No one can be forced to pay taxes without giving their consent
5. Signed by Charles I in 1621 - English Bill of Rights
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1. No standing army in peacetime
2. The Monarch cannot suspend laws
3. The right to petition the king
4. The right to a fair and speedy trial
5. No cruel or unusual punishments, no excessive fines or bail
6. 1689 - Types of governments in the 1700s
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1. Democracy
2. Monarchy
3. Dictatorship
4. Theocracy
5. Aristocracy
6. Oligarchy - 3 Types of Democracy
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1. Greek
a. Direct Democracy
2. Roman
a. RepresentativeDemocracy
3. Republic
a. the most educated, wealthy will rule; the most able will rule - What kind of Government is the US?
- Social Contract
- Principles of a Democratic Government
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1. Recognition of the fundamental worth and dignity of the individual
(Each person is worthy of respect)
2. Respect the equality of all persons
(All people are equal)
3. Equality of opportunity
(Everyone can start at the same place, we don’t guarantee the outcome only the beginning)
4. Equality before the law
(Law is to be equal to all people)
5. Faith in Majority Rule
(We believe that a group of people are going to be more right than wrong)
6. Popular Sovereignty
(People holding the power)
7. The Necessity of Compromise
(If we don’t compromise there will be continual fighting)
8. Personality Liberty
(Individual freedoms)
9. Civil Society - Civic Virtue
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Civic- the community of the citizens
Virtue- Holding to the highest ideals of how we are supposed to behave, good to the extreme, sacrifice yourself for others
 When everyone in society is willing to sacrifice themselves for others
 Democracy can not exist with selfishness, the more selfish people are, the more laws there will have to be
o James Madison says that when it becomes a government of laws and not of freedom, then it is no longer a democracy - Conservative
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o Conservatives are for tradition
o They like the way things are and do not like to change the system
o Smaller government, more money in their pockets
o Not all change is good - Liberal
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o Liberalism is about change
o Radical, because they want to change the system to something new and different
o See the only way to change the system is with a strong government and often higher taxes
o Always want things to be moving in a progressive direction - Libertarian
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o Focus on people’s freedoms
o They want to legalize drugs
o They want to focus on their personal liberties and want the government to not interfere with their lives