Government_Ch1_info

=**Ch. 1 People and Government Background Information**=

**Principles of Government:**
What is the state? Many concepts of government originate from ancient Greece and Rome where Aristotle was one of the first students of government. A state is a political community in a precise territory. A state is sovereign and has a government to make and enforce laws. A state exists without approval of a higher authority. State means the same as nation or country. Don't confuse this definition with PA being a U.S. state. There are 193 states/nations in the world today. A nation is any sizable group of people who are united by common bonds such as race, language, custom, or religion.

There are four essential features that comprise of a state or nation. One is population. To be a nation, an area has to have people in which the population has a consensus (agreement about basic beliefs) that is stable. Often times there are shifts in population. Two is territory or established boundaries. Three is sovereignty. Sovereignty means absolute authority within its territorial boundaries or complete independence and complete power to make laws. Four is a government, which is an institution through which the state maintains social order, provides public services, and enforces decisions that are binding on all people in the state.

There are four major theories on why states (or nations) developed. One theory is the Evolutional Theory, which is the idea that authority grew out of the family and extended families grew and needed more organization (the Biblical Abraham is an example). A second theory is the Force Theory, which is the idea that governments emerged when people of an area were brought under authority of one group or person that started from people working to protect their city, which led to leaders and soldiers fighting for the city. A third is the Divine Right Theory, which is the idea that a god(s) chose certain people to rule (examples from the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Aztecs) and to oppose the monarch was treason as well as sinful. A fourth theory and the theory our Founding Fathers bought into is the Social-Contract Theory developed in the 1600s by Thomas Hobbes and later John Locke. Hobbes wrote than in nature no government exists, so to keep safe, the people will give up power for protection. Locke took it further by saying people have natural rights (life, liberty, and property) that government protects and therefore people could break this contract with the government if the government did not protect natural rights.

There are several purposes of government. Governments get their authority from having legitimacy, or the willingness of citizens to obey the government as well as coercive force, or punishment if laws are violated. One purpose of government is to maintain social order. Governments provide a way to resolve conflict and puts limits on what individuals can do to keep people safe. Effective government allows citizens to plan for the future, get an education, raise a family, and live orderly lives. A second purpose is to provide public services in order to help people do things they can or cannot do on their own (such as build sewer systems, inspect foods and medicines, raise an army...). A third purpose is to provide national security to protect the people and economy in a nation. A fourth purpose is to make economic decisions and try to keep from economic unrest in a country. The overall major purpose of government is to keep the people safe.

**Formation of Governments:**
There are three major systems of government. Systems of government show the relationship between a nation's central government and subdivisions. The U.S. has subdivisions called states. Canada has subdivisions called provinces. Britain has subdivisions called shires. A Unitary System is one in which all key powers are with the central government, which controls all subdivisions (Britain, Italy, and France are examples). Another system is a Confederal System or Confederation, which is a loose association of states/nations in which the subdivisions are free and independent and any central authority that exists only has the power that the subdivisions give it (the U.S. used this style immediately after independence, the South in the Civil War used this, an example today is the United Nations). A third system is a Federal System, which power is divided between the central/national/federal government and its subdivisions - the central government has power over the subdivisions although the subdivisions have some sovereignty in certain areas but are not the ultimate sovereign power.

Many governments have constitutions. A constitution is a plan that provides the rules for the government to follow. A constitutional government is one in which a constitution has the authority to place clearly recognized limits on the powers of those who govern, which makes it limited government (there are limits on government power). The U.S. Constitution is an example. It starts with the Preamble, which is a statement of goals (to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty). Constitutions (include ours) is a plan for the government and creates the government's framework. Constitutions spell out powers to make, enforce, and interpret laws. The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land and is America's highest law. Constitutional law involves the interpretation and application of the constitution.

Politics is the effort to control or influence the conduct and policies of government. Politics often involves seeking benefits from the government. There is a struggle over what benefits and services the government should provide, how much they should cost, and who should pay for them. The Framers believed the government should operate in the interest of all of the people, not favoring any special group or interest. Today, many different groups lobby, or try to influence, the government for laws and regulations.

Since our world is complex, policies and boundaries of the government can change. There are inequalities among states/nations. Some nations are industrialized nations that have large industries and advanced technology that provide a more comfortable way of life than developing nations that are developing industrially and technologically. There is growing interdependence in the world. People and nations must interact with each other politically and economically and what happens in a nation affects others. The Internet and World Wide Web links billions of people and organizations. There are nonstate groups, which are organizations that exist beyond boundaries of a nation. One example is terror groups that aim to achieve goals by use of violence such as al Qaeda (terror group responsible for 9/11) and the PLO, or Palestinian Liberation Organization which targets Israel. There are multinational corporations have offices and factories in many countries, often called "stateless" corporations. International organizations also exist, which are made of many nations working together for common goals, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) that seeks to improve economic development around the world. The United Nations is a nonstate international group that aims to keep world peace.

**Types of Government:**
There are several types of government based on the type of rule. An autocracy is the power and authority to rule being in the hands of a single individual. One example of an autocracy is a monarchy, or rule by a king, queen, or emperor. A monarch has power based on birth. An absolute monarch has unlimited power. A constitutional monarch is one that is more ceremonial and shares power with an elected legislature (Britain today is a constitutional monarchy). Another type of autocracy is a dictatorship, with power based on fear or force. A totalitarian dictator controls all aspects of life in a nation. A second type of government is an oligarchy, which a small group holds power usually from wealth, military power, social position, or small combination of these elements. Communist governments and theocracies (rule by relgious groups such as in the Middle East) are modern examples of oligarchies. The third type is democracy, which is rule by the people. Democracy was first seen in ancient Greece in Athens. There are two types of democracy. One is a Direct Democracy, which the people rule themselves by voting on issues individually as citizens and the other is a Republic (or Representative Democracy), which voters elect people to make decisions on their behalf.

There are several characteristics of democracies. One is individual liberty. All people should be as free as possible to develop their own capacities and equal opportunity. A second characteristic is majority rule with minority rights. This means that laws are enacted by the majority and such law are seen as legitimate, but also protect the rights of those in the minority in a debate. A third characteristic is free elections in which everyone's vote carries the same weight (one person, one vote) with all candidates having the right to express their views. Citizens can help candidates support issues as well. A fourth characteristic is competing political parties. A political party is a group with common interests who organize to nominate candidates for office, win elections, conduct government policy, and determine policy. The U.S. is a two-party system in which two major parties (Republican and Democrat) compete in elections and debates.

There are several elements that are essential for a democracy. Democracies succeed in countries with five general criteria. One element is active citizen participation. Voting, staying informed, and speaking out are all ways that citizens can be active. A second essential element is a favorable economy. The U.S. is a free enterprise, which is a type of economy that everyone controls their own economic decisions and therefore are free to make political decisions. A third is widespread education. Public education began in the 1830s with one of the first being Pennsylvania in 1835 with Thaddeus Stevens as one of the biggest in favor. A fourth element is a strong civil society. A civil society is a complex network of voluntary associations, economic groups, religious organizations, and many other kinds of groups that exist independently of government. A fifth element is a social consensus, which means having a general agreement. Democracies work where people have a consensus on benefits of limited government.

**Economic Theories:**
Economics is the study of human efforts to satisfy seemingly unlimited wants through the use of limited resources (natural materials such as land, water, minerals, trees, and human factors such as knowledge and labor). There are various types of economic systems, which play various roles. Economic systems determine what and how much should be produced. They determine how goods and services should be produced. Finally, economic systems determine who gets the goods and services that are produced.

Capitalism is the private ownership of business and property as well as economic resources. It's associated with a market economy. It's also called free enterprise. In capitalism, there is competition among businesses as well as freedom of choice and the possibility of profits. Capitalism developed gradually with the growth of wealth and trade routes that led to a new free market with no limits on the decisions of buyers and sellers. Adam Smith wrote //Wealth of Nations//, which led to a belief called Laissez-faire, or "hands off" of the economy with competition playing a key role. In our free enterprise system, the government's influence has grown over the decades and is now itself one of the largest buyers of goods and services. There are increased regulations on private businesses and much bigger role for the government. This makes the U.S. more of a mixed economy, or one in which there is private ownership of business and property but the government does have some controls.

Socialism is an economic system in which the government owns the basic means of production, determines teh use of resources, distributes the products and wages, and provides social services. It's associated with a command economy. The goals of socialism are to redistribute wealth, control of economic decisions and production through the government, and government (public) ownership of land and factories. Many European countries are Democratic Socialist nations in which the people have basic human rights and some control over government officials through elections, but the government owns the basic means of production and makes economic decisions (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and really Western Europe are examples). There are fears that America is moving in this direction of a Western European model as the government grows bigger in its control over business and as more Americans are reliant on the government. The problem with this model is that it stifles (hurts) individual initiative, there are high tax rates that hinder economic growth, and creates a massive government that could lead toward total government.

Communism is a theory that was developed by Karl Marx in //The Communist Manifesto// and //Das Kapital// in which he wrote that industrialized nations get divided into capitalists (bourgeoisie) who own the means of production and workers (proletariat) who work to produce goods, which will see the workers rise up, take power, and set up Communism. He and Friedrich Engels wrote about class struggles and that workers would rise up in a violent revolution and overthrow the capitalists to set up a socialist economic system that would lead to Communism, a society with one class with property held in common with no need for government. The idea is to set up a command economy in which government planners decide how much to produce, what to produce, and how to distribute the goods and services produced. The major flaw in this whole system (and history proves the failures) is that it takes away the incentive to work hard and takes away incentives to be entrepreneurial, which is how industrialized nations grow economically.

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