Lesson 1 Flashcards
Constitutional government
Government limited by the provisions of the constitution
Democracy
Considered to be the corrupt form of polity
Modern definition: a government in which power rests with the people
Forms of government
Rule of one, few, or many consisting of a “right form” and a “corrupt form”
Limited government
Government in which authority of officials is restricted by law
Parliament
Highest legislature consisting of the house of the lords and re House of Commons
Republic
Representative government ruled by law
“Thing of the people”
Unwritten constitution
Constitutions that are not single written documents
Written constitution.
Constitution. That is written in a single formal document
U.S. Was officially recognized as an independent nation in the
Treaty of Paris of 1783
The colonists had not been the
First people on the American continent
By the end of the revolutionary war there were
Relatively few native Americans
The indigenous population decreased due to
Encroachment of colonial settlements
Disease
Warfare
Backgrounds of colonists were
Diverse
Most colonies had
Established/ official government religions
—- was practiced in all colonies
Slavery
Majority of colonial americans
Lived and worked on farms or in rural communities
Those who did not work on farms worked as
Sailors
Shoemakers
Silversmiths
Etc
Colonial America
Society of traditions where people played social roles and exercised authority in long established ways
Languages of colonists
Dutch Spanish Swedish Finish Irish Etc
Native Americans (amount)
10-90 million
100s of tribes
Indentured servants
1/2 to 2/3 of immigrants were indentured servants
59 acres per new servant given to owners
Constitution
Fundamental higher law
Founders learned about government through
Reading history and philosophy
Their own experiences of self-government As colonists with British empire
Many of the founders read texts about
Government and politics by Aristotle, Marcus tulips Cicero, etc
Founders read about
Newer theories of government by people like Hobbes Locke Montesquieu William black stone
Government influences also came from
Protestant theology (think Protestant reformation)
Examples of
Good and bad government used for guidance
Classical political philosophers taught that humans are
Naturally social creatures with obligations to each other and their community, without which they could neither survive nor achieve excellence
Classical philosophers agreed that one purpose of government is to
Aid people in learning about and performing their duties
Greek and roman history taught that democracies would
End in tyranny when the poor attack the rich
Natural rights theorists taught that people have
Natural rights that others must respect. (Life, liberty, and estate)
British history showed that monarchies might evolve into
Free government and that if the citizens are determined they can ensure that monarchs will respect their rights
America. Colonial history showed that
Self government could coexist with a distant central authority
Founders had learned at least two important lessons about government:
Government should serve the people
Fundamental higher law (constitution) should limit government
According to Aristotle every national entity must
Perform three functions
Must deliberate about what is to be
Done and decide what public policy should be (legislative function- deliberating on and enacting law)
Must perform an executive function in which
Public officials carry out the public policy
Must carry out a judicial function in which
Disputes regarding interpretation of the law are managed and applied in everyday life
Countries may be governed by
One person
Few people
Many people
Right form of government by a single person
Monarchy
Right form of government by a few people
Aristocracy (rule of the best)
Right form of government by many
Polity
Polity incorporates elements of both
Democracy and oligarchy
Most like democracy
Corrupt forms of government
Tyranny (one)
Oligarchy (few, usually rich)
Democracy (many, usually poor)
Aristotles meaning of democracy was a government in which people themselves
Make decisions, rather than the type of democracy we currently have
Corrupt democracy referred to what
Ancient Greece experienced when poor took power
Aristotle concluded that the dominant group of most stable nations consists of
Middle class citizens
Rule by middle class yields
Most stable form of government
If a constitution can combine the lesser number of wealthy persons with the many poor,
It wi achieve stability
Poly boys popularized the idea that a mixed constitution consisted of
Monarchical, aristocratic, and democratic elements
Idea of mixed constitution was passed on to the
Enlightenment of the eighteenth century
Enlightenment French political think Charles Louis de second and cited England as a
Mixed constitution
British government had a
Limited monarch
Aristocrat in one House of Parliament (lords)
House of Commons for common people
British parliament and legislatures of colonies were examples of
Representative government or republican government
Founders preferred a
Representative form of government where many interests could be represented in legislafure and government officials would be required to obey the law
Constitution is a plan that sets forth the
Structure and powers of government
Constitutions specify the
Main institutions of government and state the powers of those institutions and the procedures they must use to make, enforce, and interpret law
Constitutions typically specify how they can be
Changed or amended
In American conception of constitutional government a constitution is a
Form of higher law that everyone must obey
Controversies surrounding written constitutions
Meaning o words
If understanding of document should change
Who should have final say in its interpretation
Only 3 of the worlds major democracies have
Unwritten constitutions (Britain, Israel, New Zealand)
Constitutional government means
Limited government
Limited government is characterized by
Restrains on power as specified by the constitution
Unlimited government
Officials are unrestrained by law or elections (autocracy, dictatorship, totalitarianism)
A higher law is different from a
Stature enacted by a legislature
Higher law different from statute because
Sets forth basic rights of citizens
Established responsibility of government to protect those rights
Limitations on exercising power
Can be changed only with consent of people
It is possible to have a constitutional government t with
One ruler
A group of rulers
Or rule by the people
Constitutional governments include
Monarchies
Republics
Democracies
Mixed combinations of these governments
Direct democracy believed to be more likely to
Ignore constitutional limits
