Civics – Unit 1

The Beginnings of Democratic Decision Making

Chapter ExpectationsYou will learn:

How societies throughout history have made decisions

How – and where – the idea of democratic decisions making started

How – and where – modern ideas about democratic decision making began to evolve

How people won the right to participate in the decision-making process

Key Terms

Authoritarianism

Citizen

Civic conflict

Constitution

Democracy

monarchy

Oligarchy

Republic

totalitarianism

Ways of making decisions

Authoritarian Way Total obedience to

the authority of a single person or small group

Individual freedom does not exist

Democratic Way The people control

the process of making the rules about how they are governed

Greek demos = people,

kratia = rule

Ways of making decisions cont.Authoritarian Governments

Democratic Governments

Leaders are usually self-appointed

Leaders cannot usually be replaced

Citizens cannot question or speak out against leaders’ actions

Leaders are elected by citizens

Leaders’ term in office is limited. Elections are held at regular intervals

Citizens can question and speak out against leaders’ actions

Roots of Democratic Citizenship We were originally

nomadic tribes that collected into farms, villages, towns, cities and then civilizations

We did not need written rules since society was small, and individual customs were similar

Everyone understood the unwritten rules they lived by

Roots of Democratic Citizenship When we collected in cities

and then civilizations we shared our space with many others we did not know, with different customs

Merging differing customs led to civic conflict – disagreements among people who live in the same community

Conflict arose over land and property, purchase and sale or goods and things that would disturb public peace

We created formal ways of preventing and resolving these conflicts. These rules became laws

Roots of Democratic Citizenship Successful warring cities became vast empires

Rulers dominated the lives of thousands / millions of people

Monarchy When the ruler was selected through hereditary. When a ruler died their eldest (usually son) child inherited the throne

Monarchs stayed in power by persuading the people that their right to rule had been granted by their god(s)

Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Mesoamerica……

Ancient Governments – Monarchy and Divine Right China – emperors right to rule

was the “mandate of Heaven”. Heaven (Chief god) was the husband of Earth. Emperors were their sons

It was the emperor’s duty to carry out the will of Heaven, not the will of the people

This idea of government lasted thousands of years

T ’ai Tsung 626-649 CE

The Evolution of DemocracyAncient Athens (Greece) Originally governed by a single

ruler

Between 700 and 350 BCE some Greeks gradually won the right to share in decision making

Polis = public affairs of the city

Greek polis of Athens – cradle of democracy. Where the idea of democracy took root

Citizens were expected to participate actively in the city’s affairs

Statement of classic democratic valuseAncient Athens cont. “Funeral Oration”

Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people. When it is a question of settling private disputes, everyone is equal before the law; when it is a question of putting one person before another in positions of public responsibility; what counts is not membership of a particular class, but the actual ability which the man possesses. No one, so long as he has it in him to be of service to the state, is kept in political obscurity because of poverty…..

…(In Athens) each individual is interest not only in his own affairs but in the affairs as the state as well…

Pericles - Athenian, lived about 495-429 BCE

Athenian Democracy Direct democracy – Every citizen had the right to vote

on decisions affecting the way the city was governed

Only citizens could participate in the city’s public affairs – Free adult men born in Athens

Slaves, women, children and those born outside Athens's city were protected by Athenian laws yet had no political rights

Therefore – most people who lived in Athens had no political rights – Athenian democracy, a nice ideal!

Ancient Rome Originally ruled by kings

509 BC, the king was driven out and Rome became a republic. Rather than being ruled by a hereditary monarchy, people from rich families took over governing. They were called patricians

Plebs (plebeian) made up everybody else. Although making up a majority, they had no say in government

Ancient Rome 494 BCE, demanding a

right to participate in law making, the Plebs staged a general strike, vowing to form a new city

Plebs’ strategy worked. They won the right to form an assembly that would have some say in law making

However the real power belonged to a separate assembly – the Senate

Collapse of Rome – Descent into the Dark Ages

Roman citizenship still limited to only men living in Rome – all slaves, women, country folk are not citizens

Roman democracy would go full circle

Roman Empire collapse by 410 CE

Western Europe descends into the Dark Ages

Idea of democracy virtually snuffed out

Authoritarianism (dictator)

Democracy of sorts

Dark and Middle Ages 500-1215 CE

Europe developed into small medieval city states – usually had Oligarchy rule

Eventually city states were absorbed into larger nations ruled by monarchies (England, Scotland, France, Spain…)

Ideas of democracy never truly died. There were always ideas, talk of democracy and actions taken to try to win citizen rights

Magna Carta 1215 CE Britain – absolute Monarchy

“divine right”

1215 – group of nobles forced King John (tyrannical reigning monarch) to sign a document that put limits on his power

Document – Magna Carta or Great Charter

Put the law of the land above anything else

Magna Carta 1215 CEExamples: no free man could be imprisoned

“except by the lawful judgment of his peers and by the law of the land”

No Forcing widows to remarry

No forcing villagers to build bridges over rivers

No forcing knights to pay money to excuse themselves from guarding castles

No confiscating the horses or carts of freemen

No helping themselves to firewood that did not belong to them

Early Parliaments Established shortly after the signing

of the Magna Carta

Gatherings of representatives of the people that discussed matters including law making and taxes

British parliament split in two

1. House of Lords (those with inherited titles – lord, duke, earl)

2. House of Commons (commoners with no titles)

Note: members of the H of C were not elected like today, but chosen by a small wealth elite

Thomas Hobbs 1588-1679

Hobbs believed that ….life without government was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” because human beings were egotistical and selfish.

In order to avoid anarchy , the people had to surrender freedom for order

People gave up doing whatever they wanted to a ruler in return for order and stability

John Locke 1632-1704 Rejected Hobbes dark vision of

human nature

Father of Liberalism

liberalism puts the individual ahead of government.

Humans were rational, not aggressive and shared natural rights1. life2. liberty3. protection of property

John Locke continued Believed that a contract existed between citizens and

their rulers

The people agreed to support and assist the government and , in turn, the government agreed to protect and defend their natural rights

Should a government fail to do this, the citizens had the right (duty) to overthrow that government

Locke’s ideas gave way to the age of revolutions

American Revolution 1776United States declaration of independence

(from Britain) is based in Locke’s ideas

Thomas Jefferson believed that government was the instrument of the people and created a government to ensure the American people their right to life, liberty and, in stead of protection of property – pursuit of happiness

Job of government is to protect and defend its citizens rights

French Revolution 1789-1799 Slogan “Liberty, Fraternity,

Equality”

Upset about an unfair taxation system

French monarchs Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette were executed – all nobility fled into exile

Established new republic based on Locke’s ideas

Industrial Revolution 1850 Mass movement of people from the

country to the cities to work in factories

Gave way to an entirely new class system. Instead of nobility and commoners we now have a new class system

nobilityrich (factory

owners),.Poor (workers)

This new rich class (factory workers) want access to power in decision making – government

Also gave way to Marxism

Communist (Russian) Revolution 1917 Russia – monarchy under

Czar Nicholas

World War 1

Vladimir Lenin and his communist party overthrow the monarchy. Monarchy executed by firing squad

Attempt to create a utopian society by implementing the ideas of Karl Marx.

No private ownership

Everyone was supposed to be equal

Slogan “From each according to his abilities; to each according to his needs.”

The Great Depression 1930s Prior to depression

governments had a limited involvement in economics – laissez faire

Depression led to the social welfare state – now governments have an obligation to provide for all citizens

Unemployment insurance…

Civil Rights movement 1960 Rights that were

granted to only white citizens would be fought for and earned by African Americans

Sit-ins and demonstrations

Martin Luther King Nelson Mandela Desmond Tutu