Government and the State Chapter 1, Section 1. What is Government? Government – the institution...
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Transcript of Government and the State Chapter 1, Section 1. What is Government? Government – the institution...
Government and the State
Chapter 1, Section 1
What is Government?• Government – the institution through which a
society makes and enforces its public policies.– Public policy – all of the things a government decides to
do.• Every government has and exercises 3 types of
power.– Legislative power– Executive power– Judicial Power
The State• State – body of people, living in a defined territory,
organized politically, and with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority.– Four characteristics of a state:• Population• Territory• Sovereignty
– Each state has supreme and absolute power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign or domestic policies.
• Government
Origins of the State• What factors brought the state into being?– Four theories emerged as accepted explanations for the
origin of the state.• Force Theory – belief that the state was born by force.• Evolutionary Theory – some claim that the state was born out
of primitive families.– Family clan tribe state (birth of farming/end of nomads)
• Divine Right Theory – Belief that God created the state and gave those of royal birth a “right to rule.”• Social Contract Theory – state arose out of a voluntary act of
free people and serves the will of the people.– John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The Purpose of Government
The Purpose of Government• Under the U.S. Constitution, American government
was created to serve several purposes.– Form a more perfect union.– Establish justice.– Insure domestic tranquility.– Provide for the common defense.– Promote the general welfare.– Secure the blessings of liberty.