Chapter 1 Section 1 at a Glance

The Purposes of Government

• Government is the formal structures and institutions through

which decisions are made for a body of people.

• Most governments today exercise power within the context of

a state.

• Governments function to ensure national security, maintain

order, resolve conflict, provide services, and provide for the

public good.

• Many theories have been put forth to explain why

governments exist and the source of government’s authority.

Chapter 1 Content Statement

Content Statement 5

As the supreme law of the land, the U.S. Constitution

incorporates basic principles that help define the

government of the United States as a federal

republic including its structure, powers and

relationship with the governed.

Content Elaborations:

Basic principles which help define the government of the

United States include but are not limited to popular

sovereignty, limited government, federalism, separation

of powers, and checks and balances.

Chapter 1-1 vocab p. 6

• Government

• Power

• Policy

• State

• Sovereignty

• Politics

• Legitimacy

• Divine right of kings

• Social contract theory

Chapter 1-1 vocab p. 6

• Government: the formal structures and institutions through which a territory

and its people are ruled.

• Power: refers to the government’s authority and ability to get things done.

• Policy: any decision made by government in pursuit of a particular goal.

• State: a political unit made up by a group of people that lives within a clearly

defined territory.

• Sovereignty: ultimate, supreme power in a state; in the United states,

sovereignty rests with the people. Supreme power to act within its territory

and to control its external affairs.

• Politics: the process by which the government makes and carries out

decisions.

• Legitimacy: right and proper by important segments of national population.

• Divine right of kings: the theory that a monarch rules by the sanction, or

approval, of God.

• Social contract theory: a theory of society in which government is a

contract between a government and the governed to provide protection and

support for the people; under this theory, a government is legitimate only so

long as the people voluntarily agree to hand over their power to the state.

Reading Focus

• What is government?

• Which major characteristics do all states share?

• What are the major functions of government?

• What theories of rule have been put forth to explain

government?

Main Idea

Understanding major political ideas and classic forms of

government will help you understand the purposes of

government.

The Purposes of Government

Life without Government

Government is made up of the formal institutions and

processes through which decisions are made for a group

of people. How much government is too much?

1. What Is Government?

Three main components:

• People—Elected officials with authority and control over others;

public servants who carry out day-to-day governmental business

• Power: governments authority and ability to get things done.

3 types.—Legislative to make laws; executive to carry out, enforce,

and administer laws; judicial to interpret laws and to settle disputes

• Policy—Decision made by government in pursuit of a goal; can be

a law, a government program, or a set of government actions

State:

political unit with the power to make and enforce laws over a group of

people living within a clearly defined territory.

Country or nation-state, not just states like in U.S.

2. Characteristics of a State

Characteristics:

• Population—Must have people; number does not matter.

• Tuvalu: 12,000 people. 1 billion in Henan Province in China.

• Territory—Must have clearly defined and recognized borders. UN helps

with disputes.

• Government—Must have a government that issues and enforces rules for

the people living within its territory; government must be recognized from

within and by other nation states in the international community. Nearly

200 recognized states in world today.

• Sovereignty—Must have supreme power to act within its territory and to

control its external affairs

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3.Ensure National Security

• Guard its territory and its people against external threats

• Create and maintain national defense forces including military

personnel, weaponry, and operations, as well as peacekeeping

missions

• U.S. spent $600 billion on defense in 2007. Paid for more than

2.5 million military personnel and their weaponry, active military

operations, and numerous peacekeeping missions as well as

the nation’s intelligence-gathering activities.

• Maintain good relations with other nations (diplomacy). U.S.

Spent $35 billion on diplomacy.

• U.S. spent one-fifth of our nation’s 2007 federal budget on

national defense measures and international relations.

Functions of Government

4. Maintain Order

• Laws help maintain order and protect rights, property, and lives

• Must have clear rules for unacceptable behavior and

consequences

• Different societies have different ideas about lawful behavior

and appropriate punishment

• For example, in 36 states in U.S.A. death penalty is legal.

However, most European and Latin American countries no

longer practice capital punishment.

• Must have means to identify and punish wrongdoers

Functions of Government

5. Resolve Conflict

• Ability of government to maintain order is closely tied to its ability to resolve

conflict.

• Some use intimidation and force; most use politics and justice system

• Groups try to influence government decisions through politics

6. Provide Services

• Today residents in most developed nations expect government to provide an

array of services.

• People pay taxes to fund services such as parks, mail, and education

• Public goods include clean water, parks, and roads; restricted services may

include medical care, high schools, and public housing

7. Provide for the Public Good

• Definitions of “public” and “public good” change over time

• For example, prior to 1900 there were few national laws to ensure a safe

supply of food to the U.S. population.

• These questions are addressed through the political process

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9. Divine Right

• Ruler is believed to be chosen by God or the gods. Powerful source of

legitimacy.

• Believed in ancient China, ancient Egypt, the Inca Empire, the Roman

Empire, Japan until the mid-twentieth century, and seventeenth-century

Europe

• European political and religious theory by Bossuet argued for the divine

right of kings.

• About 100 years later, French King Louis XVI was beheaded during the

French Revolution.

• This line of thought begins to waiver in favor of democracy due to

Enlightenment.

8. Theories of Rule/Legitimacy of Rulers

• What makes some forms of rule more acceptable than others?

• Rulers often have legitimacy. They are seen as right and proper by

important segments of a nation’s population, so their governance is

voluntarily accepted by the people.

Theories of Rule

11. The Social Contract

• Social contract theory: governments formed when people agreed to

submit to state authority in return for protection and support

• Government is legitimate only so long as the power is given to the state.

• Contributed to by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau

• “In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is

uncertain….no arts, no letters, no society, and, which is worst of all,

continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man solitary, poor,

nasty, brutish, and short.” –Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, 1651

10.Natural Law and Natural Rights

• Natural law is a system of rules derived from the natural world. Follows

logic.

• Natural law binds citizens and rulers alike.

• All people possess natural, or human, rights.

• Supported by Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas

• Locke: Life, Liberty, Property

• Jefferson: Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness

Debating the Issue: Eminent Domain

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees “life,

liberty, and property,” and states that no person’s property can

be taken by the government for public use without just

compensation. Still the national and state governments can

exercise eminent domain, or the power to take private property

for public use, presumably to serve the public good.

In exchange, eminent domain compels the government to pay

property owners a fair price for their land. In cases where the

rights of property owners and the power of government are at

odds, conflicts arise. Who decides what amounts to “the greater

public good”? Whose rights are more important? Who

determines a fair price?

Read p. 13 and answer the following questions.

• Should government exercise the power of eminent domain to boost a city’s or a state’s economy? What constitutes abuse of eminent domain?

• Is the public good always best served through eminent domain? Under what circumstances, if any, might your opinion change?