Transcript Foundations of Government

Foundations of
Government
Types of Government
 Monarchy
 Oligarchy
 Dictatorship
 Totalitarian
 Democracy
 Anarchy
Monarchies
A
government with
a hereditary ruler

A king or
queen that
inherits the
position from
their parents
Monarchies
 Absolute
Monarchy

Until about the
1600s, monarchs
had unlimited
authority to rule.
This is an absolute
monarchy
 Constitutional

Monarchy
In most countries with
monarchs, the power of
the hereditary ruler is
limited by the country’s
constitution and laws
Oligarchy
 Power
is given to a
small group
 Ordinary citizens
have little say in
what goes on with
the government
Dictatorship



Dictators exercise
complete control
over the state
The usually take
power by force
To stay in power,
most dictators rely on
intimidation and
persecution via the
police and military
Totalitarianism


Many dictators impose totalitarian rule over
their people
In a totalitarian state government control
extends to almost all aspects of people’s lives
They ban political opposition
 Regulate what industries and farmers produce
 They suppress individual freedom, dictating
what people should believe
They do this through media propaganda, scare
tactics and violence

•
Democracy
 Government
in which the people rule
 Democracy began in Athens


EVERY citizen of Athens was expected to
participate in the cities government
This was a direct democracy
Democracy
 Direct


Democracy
All citizens have an
equal voice
Meaning every
single citizen
participated in the
debate and voted
first hand
 Representative
Democracy


The citizens choose a
smaller group to
represent them, make
laws, and govern on their
behalf
However, the people
remain the source of the
government’s authority
Anarchy
 No
government
at all
 People are
allowed to do
whatever they
want
Political
Theorists
The Social Contract

Government is only legitimate if the people
agree to be governed



“Contract” between the government and the
people
Locke’s idea of The Social Contract was the
inspiration for Thomas Jefferson’s words in the
Declaration of Independence
By entering the social contract, you agree to
give up unlimited freedom to ensure certain
unalienable rights are guaranteed.
John Locke



First wrote against the
divine right of kings
Which argued that
kings were given their
power by God
Second Treatise of
Government (1689)

Had several thoughts
on equality, human
nature, and the role
of the government
John Locke
 Said
that differences exist in people and
these differences matter

Especially when it comes to who rules the
country
 Not

everyone is equal
If all adults were equal, then all of them
would be eligible to become president,
regardless of their qualifications
Who is more qualified to rule?
John Locke

Tabula Rasa


People are inherently good.



People are born with a blank slate
They won’t always go out and try to conquer
everything
People are only concerned with what we can
actually protect and matters to use
Knowledge and morals comes from
experience

Nature vs nurture?
Thomas Hobbes
 Leviathan
(1659)
 Complete opposite of Locke
 Locke believed that freedoms are
protected by the law

While Hobbes believes that freedom is the
absence of law
 Does
this mean Hobbes believes in
anarchy?
Thomas Hobbes
 He
thought human nature was evil
 He believed in total control, because
without control, life would be “solitary,
poor, nasty, brutish, and short”
 So what kind of government was Hobbes
advocating?
Jean-Jacque Rousseau

“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”

“The Sovereign, having no force other than the
legislative power, acts only by means of the laws;
and the laws being solely the authentic acts of the
general will, the Sovereign cannot act save when the
people is assembled.”

“Every law the people have not ratified in person is
null and void — is, in fact, not a law.”

“The legislative power belongs to the people, and
can belong to it alone”
Jean-Jacque Rousseau
 Believed
that any government in which
you have to give up certain rights is not
freedom at all, it is slavery.
 Agreed with Locke that legitimate
political power comes from the consent of
the governed