Chapter 1

Am. Govt. Home Page

Chapter 1
Principles of Government
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1 - Government and the State
1-1 Guided Reading
1-1 Quiz
1-1 Summary

2 - Forms of Government
1-2 Guided Reading
1-2 Quiz
1-2 Summary

3 - The Constitution
1-3 Guided Reading
1-3 Quiz
1-3 Summary

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Ben's Guide to Govt. Constitution

Chapter 1 - Principles of Government - Notes

- Scroll down for notes on each section

History of the U.S. Flag

Section 1 - Government and the State
Government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies.

Public policies - all those things a government decides to do.

Every government has three kinds of power:

Legislative power, or the power to establish or make laws;
Executive power, or the power to carry out the laws; and
Judicial power, or the power to interpret laws and settle disputes.

These powers are often outlined in a Constitution:

the body of laws that sets out a government’s structure, principles, and processes.

In a dictatorship, one person or a small group may exercise all the powers of government.
In a democracy, supreme authority over government rests with the people.

In a representative democracy, the people's interests are carried out by elected officials.

In a direct democracy, public will is translated into law by the people themselves, in mass public meetings.

Direct democracy doesn't exist at the national level, only in small communities.

The world’s dominant political unit is the state - every state must have:

a body of people,
defined territory, often called a nation or country,
sovereign government.

Sovereign government, or one with absolute power (no higher authority).

A state is often incorrectly called a nation, a nation is a homogenous group of people
Can there be a nation without a state?
Nation-State is a State with a homogenous group of people

Origins of State

The force theory – A strong individual or group forced all within to submit to rule.
The evolutionary theory – developed naturally out of the early family
The divine right theory – God gave those of royal birth the “divine right” to rule
The social contract theory – The state exists to serve the will of the people, and the sole source of power to govern comes from the people.

The social contract theory was developed from writings of the 1600’s & 1700’s,

Thomas Hobbes, James Harrington, John Locke and Jacques Rousseau

John Locke 1632 - 1704, Second Treatise on Government, See pg. 11 in textbook.

The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution states (6) purposes and goals of the U.S. Government.

It says that government should:
1. Form a more perfect union, or keep the States working together;
2. Establish justice; make laws that are fair and impartial
3. Ensure domestic tranquility, or keep order and peace within our country
4. Provide for the common defense; defend our borders from invasion
5. Promote the general welfare; provide education and road systems
6. Secure the blessings of liberty; ensure individual rights and freedoms

Structure of Government

ec. 2 Notes – Forms of Government
Governments may be classified in three ways.

1st - Who may participate in the government

In a democracy, supreme political authority rests with the people.
All dictatorships are authoritarian, meaning that the ruler holds absolute authority over the people.
A dictatorship may be totalitarian, meaning that the rulers control nearly every aspect of human affairs.

Autocracy—one person holds unlimited political power
Oligarchy—a small elite holds the power to rule.


States can change from one form of government to another. Germany emerged from Adolf Hitler's Nazi dictaorship ( 1933- 1945) to become the democratic Federal Republic of Germany, (1949 - today), after defeat in World War II.

2nd - Where government power is held

Unitary government, a single, central agency holds all governmental powers.

Federal government, a central government and several local governments share governmental powers in a division of powers.

Because the Constitution divides power between the National Government and the States, the United States is a federal government.

A confederation is an alliance of independent states.

3rd - Relationship between the legislative and the executive branches of government

A presidential government divides power between the branches
A parliamentary government focuses power on the legislative branch.
The executive branch is chosen by and subject to the legislative branch.

Classifications of Government

Sec. 3 Notes – Basic Concepts of Government
The American concept of democracy rests on five basic notions.

First, each individual has worth.
Second, all individuals are equal.
Third, the majority of the people rules, but the majority must respect the rights of any minority.
Fourth, compromise

the blending and adjusting of competing interests, is necessary.

Fifth, each individual must have the widest possible degree of freedom.

America’s economic system is often called the free enterprise system

It is based on private ownership, individual initiative, profit, and competition.
Also known as capitalism, Individuals, not the government, make economic decisions through the law of supply and demand.

The law of supply and demand says that when supplies of goods and services become plentiful, prices tend to drop; when supplies become scarcer, prices tend to rise.

The American economic system is most accurately called a mixed economy

In a mixed economy, government plays a role in the economy by regulating and promoting it.