ChapChapter 1 – AP US Government

 

What is the purpose of government?

 

 

1) to   T  To bring order to chaos

2) to l T  To lead people

3) to        To protect rights

4) to i      To interpret laws

 

State - the individual states of U.S.

 

state-     state         A body of people in a defined territory organized politically and having the power to make and enforce the law without the consent of higher authority.

 

C               Characteristics necessary:

a) population

b) territory

c) sovereignty

d) government

 

 

Origins (most widely accepted theories)

 

1) The Force Theory- a state was born of force. eg. Primal man decided to force his will and rule upon others.  

2) Evolutionary Theory- a state gradually developed from primal families - Clans

 

3) Divine Right Theory- the belief that the rule of the king was God-Given and naturally perpetuated by the nobility.

 

4) Social Contract Theory- An agreement among individuals to unite and form a society in which members are governed by a set of rules.

 

 

Democracy

                              Greek - Demos(people)

                                                       Kratia(rule or authority)

 

                                                Democracy - rule by the people.

 

 

1. Supreme political authority rests with the people.

 

2. People have sovereign power

 

                3. Government is only conducted with the people’s consent

 

 

Natural Law –

Aristotle….human affairs should be governed by certain ethical principles which are both natural and reasonable.

 

Direct Democracy / Indirect Democracy

                                                                              --Republic--

 

Where is the power?

 

Types of Governments

 

a) unitary- all power in a central authority. eg Parliament

 

b) Federal- a division of power  between a central and several local govts. eg. U.S.

 

c) confederate - loose alliance that gives power

                             to a central  authority.

eg. the Confederate States of America

 

 

 

Oligarchy – rule of a few…determined by social status, wealth, military or achievement

 

 

Our English Heritage-

 

 

Magna Charta (1215) - establishes that the power of the King is not absolute.

 

Petition of Rights (1628) - Further limited the power of the King over political prisoners(dissenters) without the right to trial.

 

 

English Bill of Rights (1689) - Gave the British Parliament more power than the Monarchy.   The monarchy could not make or suspend laws without the approval of Parliament and could not interfere with Parliamentary elections.

 

 

Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan

          Argued that government was necessary to keep order and to avoid chaos.

 

John Locke -  In 1690, published "First and Second Treatises on Government"  - Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and property.

People create government and empower a ruler who retains power as long as he has the consent of the governed. 

 

 

Jean Rousseau - 1762 The Social Contract  People would give up some freedom in favor of the needs of the majority.  A contract  between each other to vote on all community decisions.

 

 

Baron de Montesquieu - ensure the rights of all by limiting the power of the government.  Divide the power of the government and create a system of checks and balances to keep any one branch from gaining too much power.  The rights of the people will be protected.

 

 

 

 

The Iroquois Confederation

The Representative Governments in Colonial America

 

Albany Plan 1754- Ben Franklin's Plan 

For the 13 Colonies

a) body would have to raise an army

b) " " would control Indian affairs

c) " " would regulate trade,

d)"  "  collect taxes.

 

Popular consent – the idea that government must draw power from the consent of the governed.

 

Popular Sovereignty – The right of the majority to govern themselves

 

Majority Rule – originally the central premise of direct democracy

Where the will of voters will be made into law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic Concepts of American Democracy

 

What is necessary?

 

1) A recognition of the fundamental  worth and dignity of each person.

          Personal liberty

2) A respect for the equality of all persons.… life and liberty

 

3) Majority rule and Minority rights.

 

4) Necessity of compromise.

A Civil Society that can openly engage in a debate about public policy

 

5) Individual Freedoms.

          freedom from;   freedom to;

 

 

 

 

**

 

Political Culture

 

Attitudes toward the political system and its various parts, and attitudes toward the role of the self in the system.

 

 

The Face of America has changed..

From the 18^th Century

          Americans were united by one language and a yearning for personal freedoms

 

Into the 19^th Century

 

The mass immigration periods

 

Into the 20^th Century

 

The growing pains of a heterogeneously mixed society

 

Now the 21^st Century

 

A graying America…we are living longer Women 80, Men 74 years

 

The Baby Boomers  Post WWII Americans

76.8million people

 

Generation X’ers 

mid-sixties to mid seventies

50 million people

 

Generation Y

Late seventies to mid nineties

Fastest growing group at 26% of pop.

 

 

How Does America’s Pluralism affect our core values?

 

 

 

Political Ideology

An individual’s coherent set of values and beliefs about the purpose and scope of government.

 

William Safire’s

New Political Dictionary

 

Conservatism

The belief that government is best when it governs the least.

 

Liberalism

The belief that government involvement in daily life is necessary in protecting individual freedoms

 

Libertarianism

 

One who favors a free market economy with no government interference in personal liberties

 

 

The Conflict

Interpreting the Constitution threw the ideology of a political philosophy…i.e, voting for a political agenda in an election

 

 

Key Points of any Election

 

*        Abortion Rights

*        Environmental Regulation

*        Gun Control

*        Government and the Poor

*        School Vouchers

 

 

Politics – the process by which

Policy decisions are made.

 

 

 

Voter Apathy

 

When the voter has no confidence in government and does not participate in an election

 

What could cause this?

 

 

Chapter 2

 

 

Events leading to Independence

 

Stamp Act Congress(1765)- in response to the tax on documents and paper goods.  Organized protest, boycott

 

Boston Massacre (1770) - Sam Adams - Committees of Correspondence   

 

Boston Tea Party (1773) - Organized protest of British Tea Company.

British respond with Coercive Acts

 

First Continental Congress (1774)

a) declaration of rights

b) all taxes be repealed

c) full scale boycotts

 

Second Continental Congress (1775)

a) unicameral representative body that had no written law or basis

1) raised an army and navy

2) created money system bought supplies

3) power to make treaties

 

b) was condemned by Parliament as an unlawful assembly.

 

c) served as our first government for 5 years.

 

 

 

Thomas Jefferson

- The Declaration of Independence.

 

 

The American Revolution forced the creation

of the first State Constitutions to replace their Royal Charters

 

 

Articles of Confederation 1781

 

Strong State Governments prohibited the weak central govt. from:

1) regulating foreign and interstate commerce

2) enforcing acts of the Congress

3) having a national court system

4) the central govt from passing necessary laws

5) unanimity was needed to amend the articles

 

 

"A little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as natural in the political world as storms in the Physical".

 

 

--- Thomas Jefferson

 

 

The Constitutional Convention

55 of the most remarkable men ever assembled.  Each represented their State and their own special interest group.  Their common purpose was to:

 

Create a government that could

1) regulate trade

2) coin money

3) enforce acts

 

 

Everyone gave up a little and no one received everything.

 

 

3 Major Compromises of the Convention

The Great Compromise(Connecticut)

The 3/5ths Compromise

The Slave Trade Compromise

* * *

 

Federalists - Hamilton, Madison, Jay

* stressed and exposed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.  The new government needed:

1) power to control interstate commerce

2) the power to tax

3) a Federal Court system

4) easier amending process

 

* Federalists rationalized that the new Republic would only work if all the States would ratify the new Constitution.

 

Anti-Federalists - Patrick Henry, Monroe, Richard Henry Lee

Objected to:

1) a strong Executive

2) Federal Taxing

3) diminished state Power

4) the absence of a Bill of Rights in the document

 

 

Also they protested

The absence of any mention of God. 

 

The denial of printing money to the States. 

 

Increased power of central govt   

 

The 9/13 Ratification process

 

 

James Madison would author The Bill of Rights in order to insure that the new Federal Govt would protect the Individual Rights of American Citizens, formerly the responsibility of the States.

 

 

By June 21, 1788, 9 States had Ratified the new Constitution.  A majority, but not New York and Virginia.

 

George Washington and James Madison urged a reluctant Thomas Jefferson into supporting the new document.  He agreed and Virginia ratified the Constitution June 25, 1788.