ORIGINS OF GOVERNMENT

September 15, 2015

• Objectives: To develop an understanding HOW governments began

What is Government?• Government is among the

oldest of all human inventions.

• Its origins are lost in mists of time.

• The earliest known governments date from around 3000 B.C. in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.

• The Greek philosopher Aristotle observed more than 2,300 years ago that “man is by nature a political animal.”

Government

• Government is an institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies.

• The list of public policy issues is nearly endless.

Government Powers• Governments must have power in order to make

and carry out public policies.• Every government has three basic kinds of

power:• 1. Legislative Power – The power to make law• 2. Executive Power – The power to execute,

enforce, and administer law• 3. Judicial Power – The power to interpret laws,

to determine their meaning, and to settle disputes that arise within society.

Government• These powers of

government are often outlined in a country’s constitution.

• A constitution is the body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and process of a government.

The StateOver the course of human history, the state has

emerged as the dominant political unit.

•A State is a political community that has these four characteristics:

– 1) clearly defined boundaries- the exact location has often lead to war

– 2) population; people– 3) government; plan/rules (THE CONSTITUTION)

– 4) sovereignty- independent, has supreme authority within its boundaries

The State• Today there are more than 190 states in the world.

This has more than doubled from 50 years ago.• People often call a state a “nation” or a “country.”• However, the word nation is an ethnic term,

referring to races or other large groups of people.• The word country is a geographic term, referring to

a particular place, region, or area of land.• The most popular political type of states in the

world today are called nation-states.

The largest State based on population

is:

The People’s Republic of

ChinaPopulation: 1,403,627,000

(+1 every 4-5 seconds)

The largest State based on territory is:

Russian Federation

Area :

6,592,800 square miles

The smallest state based on population

and territory is:

Vatican City

Population: 800 Area [sq.mi]:

0.17

How did the state or government come to be?

Tuesday September15, 2015

No one knows why people created the earliest governments. Scholars have constructed some theories.

Theories of the Origin of the State

1) Evolutionary Theory - Belief that the state evolved gradually from the family (father> tribe> clan> state)

- Ex. Sioux Indians, Israel

Theories of the Origin of the State

2) Force Theory-Belief that a powerful

individual or a group took over an area by force & established government.

-ex. Greek, Roman Empires

Theories of the Origin of the State

3) Divine Right Theory-Belief that God intended a particular

person and his family to rule over a state.

-Egyptians, Chinese, Japanese, Aztecs and most European states felt their rulers were either descendants or chosen by God to rule.

-Gov’t and Religion (church and state) connected. Opposition = treason AND sin

Theories of the Origin of the State

4) Social Contract-conceived by John Locke, a British

political theorist, in 1690.

-Belief that people were naturally endowed with the right to life, liberty, and property.

-To preserve these rights they freely gave power to a governing authority.

“AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT”

The Social Contract Theory States:

1) The state exists only to serve the will of the people.

2) The people are the source of its power.

3) The people can give and take away power to the gov’t.

Nearly a century later 1776 the American colonies revolted against England using John Locke’s social contract:

Thomas Jefferson:

Declaration of Independence

The Purpose of Government

Today governments serve several major purposes:

Wednesday, September 16, 2015The Purpose of Government

1)To maintain social order- people can't live without conflict. Gov't provides ways to resolve conflict by placing limits on what people can do.

The Purpose of Government

2) To provide public services - Gov't provides essential services that make community life possible and promotes the general welfare. Ex. sewer systems and inspection of meat.

The Purpose of Government

3) To provide national security- protect people against the threat of attack or terrorism.

The Purpose of Government

4) To make economic decisions-Gov't passes laws that determine and control the economic environment of the state. From providing a national currency to controlling every individual's economic decisions.

Have Popular attitudes toward government changed since Lincoln’s time?

“The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do for themselves in their separate and individual capacities. But in all that people can individually do for themselves, government ought not to interfere.” -Abraham Lincoln, 1854