The document discusses the foundations of the American legal and political system. It focuses on social contract theory, which influenced the development of the US system. According to social contract theory, government is formed through an implicit agreement between citizens to protect natural rights in exchange for obedience to laws. The document also discusses checks and balances built into the US Constitution to limit government power, including separation of powers among the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

1. LAW & POLITICS
The aim of this tutorial is to help you learn to
identify and evaluate the foundations of the
American legal and political system.

2. The social contract theory of
government
Several strands of philosophical and political thought
influenced the development of the American political
system. One of the most important of the these was social
contract theory, first developed by the English
philosopher John Locke (1632-1704). According to Locke,
the primary purpose of government is to protect us in our
exercise of our natural rights. These natural rights, such as
freedom of speech and the right to debate controversial
ideas, would best be protected by a government that
recognizes the existence of a social contract.
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3. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke
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4. What is a social contract?
 A social contract is a voluntary, unanimous agreement
among the people in a society to unite as a political
community and to obey the laws enacted by the
government they select. This is an implicit arrangement,
and holds that the people accept the government’s
sovereignty—its exclusive rights to exercise political
authority—only so long as the government protects
people from harm and does not abuse them.
 A social contract must be mutually beneficial to both
citizens and government.
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5. Hot or Not?
Why should we obey the laws
of our country?
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6. International law, which regulates relations between
nations, presents a dilemma because it conflicts with
the concept of absolute national sovereignty.
The current United Nations is not a world government
but a collection of independent, sovereign nations.
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7. The development of democracy in the
United States
 In a democracy, the legitimate authority of the
government comes from the people themselves.
As citizens of the United States, it is important we
understand how our democracy works and how we can
use our critical-thinking skills to influence the political
process.
 In a direct democracy, all the people directly make laws
and govern themselves. In a representative democracy
like the United States, the people turn over this authority
to elected representatives.
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8. James Madison
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9. Checks and balances
To protect citizens against the abuse of government
power, the authors of the United States Constitution
built in checks against government power. One of these
checks is federalism, a system of government where
power is divided between a central authority—the federal
government—and constituent state governments. Another
check is the division of the federal government into three
branches: executive, judicial, and legislative, known as the
separation of powers.
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10. To vote or not to vote
One of the principal ways we as citizens participate in a
representative democracy is through voting. Despite its
crucial role, voter turnout in the United States is one of
the lowest among the world’s democracies. This is due
in large part to the voluntary nature of the voting system in
the United States, unlike in other democracies, such as
Australia, where voting is mandatory. It is important to
recognize that failure to vote is a form of participation,
in that it supports the status quo or the most vocal
and powerful political groups.
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11. Reported voting in the United States, 1964 to 2008
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12. In 2008 Barack Obama ran on a
platform of “Change We Need.”
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13. The executive branch
In the United States the executive branch of government
is headed by the president, who is the head of state and
the highest government official in the country. In addition
to the president and his or her White House staff, the
executive branch of the federal government includes the
agencies that carry out much of the work of government.
The executive branch usually has increased power in
times of war; for this reason, it is important we use our
critical-thinking skills in evaluating government policy
and directives during these times.
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14. Checks on executive power
 Several groups within our society act as checks on
executive power. These include:
 The legislative branch, which possesses
the power of impeachment
 The judicial branch
 The media
 The citizenry—that is, us
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15. Martin Niemoeller
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First they came for the
communists, and I did not
speak out—because I was
not a communist;
Then they came for the
socialists, and I did not
speak out—because I was
not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade
unionists, and I did not
speak out—because I was
not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews,
and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—
And there was no one left to
speak out for me.
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16. The legislative branch
 In a democracy we have the rule of law, in which
government authority must be exercised in accordance
with written laws, to protect us from the rule of men,
where law-making is elitist and arbitrary.
 The United States Constitution created the legislative
branch, or Congress, for the purpose of making and
enacting laws. There are two houses of Congress: the
Senate and the House of Representatives.
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17. Congress enacts laws and acts as
a check on executive power.
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18. Participating in the legislative process
As citizens, there are several ways we can participate in
the legislative process. These ways include directly
contacting legislators, lobbying, volunteering, interning,
and getting initiatives placed on the ballot. In cases where
these efforts fail, or where we consider existing laws to be
unjust, we can protest the law or engage in civil
disobedience.
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19. Top ten spenders on lobbying 2008*
*Statistics from the Senate Office of Public Records; compiled by the Center for Responsible Politics
at www.Opensecrets.org
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20. Hot or Not?
Do lobbyists undermine the basic
principles and goals of democracy?
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21. Tea Party protest rally
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22. Civil disobedience
Since the early nineteenth century, Americans have used
civil disobedience—the active, nonviolent refusal to obey
a law that is deemed to be unjust—as a political instrument
to bring about changes in legislation or government policy.
Individuals as varied as Henry David Thoreau and Rosa
Parks have used civil disobedience to challenge authority.
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23. African-American sanitation workers protested unfair
and inhumane work conditions in Memphis, 1968.
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24. Cardinal Roger Mahoney
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25. Engaging in civil disobedience
 Engaging in civil disobedience requires careful use of
our logical and critical thinking skills. In 1849, Henry
David Thoreau outlined four criteria for engaging in
effective civil disobedience:
 Use only moral and nonviolent means to achieve goals.
 First make an effort to achieve change legally.
 Be open and public about your actions.
 Be willing to accept the consequences of your actions.
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26. The judicial branch
 Article III of the Constitution created the judicial branch
of the federal government, which comprises the court
systems. Their members, the justices (judges), are
usually elected for life. Because of this, judges are not
as exposed to legislative or public pressure as other
elected government officials.
 While legislators consider and construct laws, the
judicial branch asks when the law should be applied and
how it should be interpreted. This is known as judicial
review. The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in
the land.
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27. The U.S. Supreme Court justices
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28. Legal reasoning and the doctrine of
legal precedent
Legal reasoning requires the use of inductive and
deductive arguments, and also the use of inductive
arguments using analogies. These analogies take the form
of an appeal to precedents. Legal precedents form what is
known as common law. According to the doctrine of legal
precedent, if previous cases are similar in relevant ways
to the current case, then the current case should be
decided in the same way.
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29. Evaluating legal precedence
 To determine if a previous case provides legal
precedence, use the following criteria:
 Research the present case. Study the relevant details and
issues.
 Examine possible precedents. Find other similar cases,
and their court decisions.
 Identify shared general principles. Look for principles that
apply both to your case and the precedent(s).
 Evaluate the analogy. Determine how strong and relevant
the similarities and dissimilarities are.
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30. Conclusions
Our legal and political system is designed to allow us as
citizens to participate in a number of ways, both legal and
non-legal. A healthy democracy requires continual input
from a well-informed citizenry who apply critical-thinking
skills to the study of political and legal developments. This
is also true when examining the judicial system and the
legal process itself. As such, critical-thinking skills are vital
in the preparation, presentation, and evaluation of a strong
legal argument.
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31. Perspectives on torture and the
war on terrorism
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