This document provides an overview of key concepts in American government, including definitions of government, democracy, and federalism. It describes the origins of government in human societies and early contributions from Greek and Roman civilizations. The document also discusses why studying government is important, the purposes of the US government outlined in the Constitution, different forms of government classification, and the relationship between democracy and free enterprise systems.

1. American
Government
Chapter 1
1

2. Objectives
• 1. Define the basic principles of government.
• 2. Describe the four defining characteristics of
a state.
• 3. Explain why it is important to study
government.

3. What is Government?
A system that controls how a country operates. The institution
through which a society makes and enforces its public policy.
What is a democracy?
Where the people have a voice in government.
What is federalism?
The balance of power between state & national government.
I. Beginnings of Government
Government first appeared when human beings realized that they could not
survive without some way to regulate both their own and their neighbors’
behavior.

4. Beginnings of Government
Greek contributions to government
1. Laws, Elected officials by secret ballot, Citizens served
on juries.
Roman contributions to government
1. Written laws, Duties for citizens
H. The Middle Ages = Dark Ages (500-1200 AD)
1. Feudalism develops

5. I. End of Dark Ages.
1. Return to strong, religious controlled government as nobles left
for the Crusades = free the Holy Land (from Muslims).
2. Roman Catholic church became powerful and corrupt.
3. Resulted in the Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther started it).
4. New powerful middle class emerges.

6. Why have government? Examples
I. Keep order – prevent crime, create courts, make laws, civil rights
II.National Defense – foreign policy
III.Public services/policy: Anything the government decides to do
a.Health – clean water, sanitation, waste management, inspections, licensing
b.Safety – traffic laws
c.Transportations – busses, taxis, subways
d.Education – money for schools, licenses for teachers
e.POSTAL SYSTEM
IV.Promote social standards – drugs, drinking under 21, prostitution all illegal
V.Assists with economy – manufactures money, collects taxes, spends tax money
The absence of government: Anarchy
I.NO law enforcement
II.NO public transportation
III.NO military force
IV.NO school

7. Where are most Governments?
STATES (Nations) we call them countries, nation-states or nations –
usually share 4 basic characteristics
 1. Government
– The people and the institutions with authority to establish and
enforce public policies
– Leaders could be dictator, king, president, prime minister, etc.
– USA has a REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY
 2. Land/Boundaries/Territory
-- The area within a boundary that separates one nation from
another
 3. People/Citizens/Population
– USA has over 300,000,000 people
– India and China have over 1,000,000,000
 4. Sovereignty - the state has absolute authority within its boundaries;
decides its own foreign and domestic policies; not responsible to any
other authority.

8. Why should you study government and what is
government?
Government: an institution through which a society makes and enforces its public
policies, it is made up of those people who exercise powers, authority, and
control over the people—{branches of government, police, judges}
•Why study government?
I.Understanding your citizenship and knowing how your government
works
II.To know what rights you have
III.To know how you can legally change our government
a.The Terminator cannot be President, why?
IV.Government affects you in numerous ways
a.Taxes, laws, etc.
V.So you are not ignorant

9. POWER OF GOVERNMENT
Government must have some semblance
of power in order to be successful. Most
have three kinds of power:
Legislative power: to make laws and
public policy
Executive power: Execute, enforce and
administer laws
Judicial power: settle disputes and
interpret laws

10. Where do you find these powers of a government?
Origins of the State/Government Power
1. Force Theory-person or group forces control over an
area of people.
2. Evolutionary Theory-state originated in the family.
3. Divine Right Theory-God gave individuals or groups
the right to rule.
4. Social Contract Theory-people agree to give up power
in return for service and protection. (JOHN LOCKE)
(People responsible: Locke, Hobbes, Harrington, Rousseau.)

11. State/Government Power
No two governments are exactly alike, so over time political scientists have developed
many classifications on which to base them.
Three of these classifications are as follows:
1. Who can participate in the governing process?
2. Where the power is located?
3. The relationship between the legislative and the executive branches of the
government.
The most meaningful of these classifications is the one that depends on the number of
persons who can take part in the governing process. There are two we will discuss
Dictatorship and Democracy.

12. Types of governmental powers:
1. Dictatorship-power is limited to an individual (autocracy); or small group
(oligarchy).
a. Typical way to gain power-by force.
b. Authoritarianism-gov’t holds absolute and unchallenged authority over
the people.
c. Totalitarianism-exercise complete control over every aspect of people’s
lives.
2. Democracy-people hold the power and give consent to the gov’t to rule.
a. Direct (pure)-people make all decisions.
b. Representative (republic)-small group is chosen by the people to rule.
Where do WE find the powers of government for the USA?
Constitution—body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures,
and processes of a government.
What is the US governments fundamental purposes???

13. What are the six purposes of the American system of
government as stated in the Preamble of 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
defense, 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.
1. Form a more perfect union
--to unify, strengthen
2. Establish justice
--make fair, reasonable, and impartial laws.
3. Ensure Domestic tranquility
--without order there is anarchy (disorder-confusion)
4. Provide for the Common Defense
--nation’s security rests on wise defense
5. Promote the General Welfare
--provide services for citizens
6. Secure Blessings of Liberty
--give up some free will to obtain safety.

14. Government Classification
• Three Ways:
– 1. Who Can Participate
– 2. Geographic Distribution of Power
– 3. Relationship Between the Legislative and
Executive Branches

15. Who Can Participate
• Democracy vs. Dictatorship

16. 5 Basic Concepts of Democracy
A. Foundation
1. The fate of American Democracy rests on people’s acceptance of certain ideas.
These ideas present America with problems and challenges.
B. Five concepts
1. Fundamental worth of the individual.
a. Democracy insists on the worth and dignity of all.
b. Sometimes the welfare of one must be subordinated to the
interest of many.
2. Equality of all persons.
a. Democracy insists on equality before the
law/opportunity.

17. 3. Majority rule/Minority rights
 a. Majority will be right more often than wrong.
 b. Democracy searches for satisfactory solutions to public problems.
 c. Majority must recognize the rights of the Minority to become the Majority.
4. Necessity of compromise
a. Compromise - blending, adjusting, and reconciling
competing views of interest in order to find a position most
acceptable to the largest number.
b. Allows citizens to make decisions.
c. Compromise is not an end, but a means to achieve a public
goal.
5. Individual Freedom
a. Freedom can’t be absolute or Anarchy will result.
b. Democracy strives to find a balance between liberty and
authority.
c. Quote by G. Washington “The right to swing my fist ends
where the other person’s nose begins.”

18. A democracy can be either direct or indirect.
1. Direct-also called a pure democracy, exists where the will of the people
is translated into public policy (law) directly by the people themselves, in
mass meetings. (This can work only in very small communities, where it is
possible for the citizenry to meet in a central place, and where the problems
of government are few and relatively simple.)
2. Indirect- a representative democracy, a small group of persons, chosen
by the people to act as their representatives, expresses the popular will.
These representatives carry out the every day conduct of government. (the
representatives are held accountable to their decisions by periodic
elections)

19. DICTATORSHIP a. Typical way to gain power-by force.
b. Authoritarianism-gov’t holds absolute and unchallenged authority over the
people.
c. Totalitarianism-exercise complete control over every aspect of people’s lives.
d. Government in which those who rule are not responsible to the will of the
people.
E. The government is not accountable for its policies, nor for how they are
carried out.
F. The oldest and most common, form of government known to history.
There are two forms of a Dictatorship.
Government in which a single person holds unlimited political power.
2. Oligarchy
Government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed
elite group.
1. Autocracy

20. World’s worst dictators today
• Dictatorship’s do occur today, but are not common.
• Most present-day dictatorships are not nearly absolutely
controlled by a single person. The outward appearance may
hide the fact that several groups—the army, religious leaders,
industrialists, and others—compete for power. The people
often get to vote, but it is closely controlled and ballots usually
contain the candidates of only one political party.
• Most dictatorships are militaristic—they gain power by force,
they hold power in the major posts of the government.

21. Well Known Dictators
Mussolini-Italy
Hitler-Nazi Germany Stalin-Soviet
Union
Modern Dictators
Syria
Bashar al Assad
Hugo Chavez –
Venezuela Omar al Bashir
- Sudan
Kim Jong Il
Kim
Jong
Un

22. Geographic Distribution of Power
• Unitary
• Federal
• Confederate

23. Three important types of government.
1. Unitary Government
a. Centralized government
b. All powers held by government belong to a single, central agency, usually
dictatorships.
c. Government creates local units for its convenience
d. The local governments have only those powers that the central
government gives them.
Example – China, Iran
2. Federal Government
a. Powers are divided between a central and local governments.
b. An authority (the Constitution) superior to the central and local
governments set up the division of powers.
c. Both levels of government act through the people and their sets of laws,
officials, and agencies.
Examples: USA, Australia, Canada
3. Confederate Government
a. Alliance of independent states.
b. A central organization, the government,
only handles matters that member states
assign to it.
c. Holds limited power in defense and
foreign commerce.
Example: Confederacy during Civil
War and European Union today

24. Two forms of government based on relationship between their
legislative and executive agencies.
1. Presidential
a. The executive and legislative branches are separate and independent of one
another, coequal
b. The chief executive (president) is chosen independently of the legislatures.
• 1. holds office for a fixed term.
• 2. has broad powers not subject to direct control of the
legislative branch.
c. Branches have several powers with which each can block (check) actions by the
other branches.
d. Usually a written constitution provides for the separation of powers. Example:
USA invented idea
2. Parliamentary - example Britain, Canada, and Japan
a. The executive is made up of the prime minister and the official’s cabinet.
b. Both of these are members of the legislative branch, parliament.

25. c. Prime minister is leader of the majority party and was chosen by that body.
1. Selects the members of the cabinet from among the members of parliament.
d. The executive, parliament, is chosen by the legislature, is a part
of it, and is subject to its direct control.
e. Prime minister and cabinet remain in office only as long as their
policies and administration have the confidence of a
majority, if not then they could receive a vote of “no
confidence” and must resign.
f. New government is formed, parliament chooses a new prime
minister of all the seats go before the voters in a general
election.
g. A majority of all the government’s in the world.

26. Democracy and the Free Enterprise/Market
System
The American economic system is often called the Free Enterprise System:
an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of
capital goods, investments that are determined by private decision rather
than by state control, and determined in a free market.
What are the four factors underlying the free enterprise system?
1. Private ownership
2. Individual initiative
3. Profit
4. Competition
It does not rely on governments decision, but on the decisions by the
market through the Law of Supply of Demand. What is this? (when
supplies of goods and services become plentiful, prices tend to drop.
When supplies become scarce r, prices tend to rise.)
– Democracy and the Free Enterprise System are not the same, but
they both are based upon individual freedom.

27. What is a mixed economy?
A mixed economy is an economy in which private enterprise exists in combination
with a considerable amount of government regulation and promotion.
Why does the government stick its nose in this?
1. To protect the public
2. To preserve private enterprise
Government participation is seen at every level: national, state, and local.
Which of the following is NOT a way that the government promotes the
economy?
a. Building roads
b. Grants for scientific research
c. Buying and controlling major industries
d. Provide a postal system

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