FOUNDATIONS OF GOVT

UNIT 1

HOW DID THE WORLD BECOME

ORGANIZED INTO STATES?
NAME

CHAPTER

Divine Right Theory: This theory

held that God created the state and gave
those of royal birth the right to rule it.
The people of the kingdom were
supposed to obey the royal families as if
they were God.

CLASS

DATE

Section 1

Government and the State

This theory was contested by

American Colonists and led to the
Revolutionary War.

The New Yorker Collection 1999 Gahan Wilson from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved

For much of history, and in many parts of the world, leadership was passed from one person t
another on the basis of a divine right to rule. That is, people believed God gave certain individu
als the right to rule. Study the cartoon and answer the questions that follow.

What form of government is

supported by the divine right theory?Interpreting Political Cartoons
1. Those with the divine right were generally of royal birth. These individuals would then be
succeeded by their children. Which part of the cartoon demonstrates this concept?
2. Those under royal rule believed that they must obey the king as they would obey God.
How does the position of the king in this cartoon give him a God-like presence?

HOW DID THE WORLD BECOME

ORGANIZED INTO STATES?
The Social Contract Theory: People voluntarily gave up
powers to the government in order to be protectedboth
defensively and to have their rights protected.
People are the sole source of power in the state and have
sovereignty to give and take power away from the state.
Popular Sovereignty, Individual Rights, and
Limited Government.
MOST important theory for U.S. Government, e.g.
Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu, & Hobbes.

RECAP OF THE PHILOSOPHERS

HobbesSocial Contract consists of people giving up rights for
protection by monarch who has absolute, unchallengeable power.
LockeSocial Contract consists of agreement between people and
government (which is ran by the people) to make laws for protection of
natural rights, e.g. life, liberty, and property. Consent of the governed
Dec of Indp.
MontesquieuGovt with checks & balances would restrain the
government from taking peoples natural rights, e.g. Constitution.
RousseauBest govt was a direct democracy where people directly hold
all political power. Ideas expressed in We the people

THREE CLASSIFICATIONS
OF GOVERNMENT
Governments can be
divided into three different
classifications.
Who can participate.
Geographic distribution
of power.
Relationship between
legislative & executive
branches.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE

Democracy: supreme political
authority rests with the people.
Direct Democracyexists where
the will of the people is translated
into law directly by the people
themselves.
Indirect DemocracySmall group
of persons, chosen by the people to
act as their representatives, expresses
the popular will. Also called
Republican form of government or
Representative Democracy.

Popular Sovereignty:
The people hold the political
power through electing who runs
their government for them.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE

Authoritarianism: Rulers are not held
accountable to the will of the people & have
absolute, unchallengeable political power.
Autocracy/Dictatorship: A single
person holds all political power in a
government.
Oligarchy: A small, elite group of
people hold all the political power in
government.
Monarchy: A king or queen rules
according to divine right and subjects
must follow their command.

Dictatorships are the oldest & most common

forms of government.

Totalitarianism: govt uses

absolute, unchallengeable
power to run all affairs of a
country.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE

Theocracygovernment
where the state is ran by a
religion.
Religious law is state law.
Iran is an example.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF POWER

FEDERAL

Example: United States

Powers are enumerated (clearly listed)
to the federal government and the
10th Amendment declares the
remaining powers belong to the states
and/or people.

Federal government is
one in which the powers of
the government are
divided between the
national (federal/central)
government and states.
The Constitution creates
this division of power
(shared powers between
states and natl govts).

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF POWER

UNITARY

Unitary governmentsall
governmental powers held at
the national level.
Example: United Kingdom.
The national government
decides what powers state and
local governments have.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF POWER

CONFEDERATE

An alliance of independent states who

give power to a central government.
Articles of Confederation in early U.S.
history and Confederate States of
America during Civil War.
Confederate governments only
have powers assigned to them
by member states.
Modern Confederation is the
European Union, organized for
economic purposes, e.g. free trade.

Relationship between legislative & executive branches

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
LEGISLATIVE & EXECUTIVE BRANCHES
Most countries are parliamentary. This system avoids the
conflict between legislative & executive; however, it doesnt
have the checks & balances like the presidential
government has.
Parliamentary system has less gridlock because of lack of
checks & balances.
Presidential system has more gridlock because of checks
& balances.

ECONOMIC SYSTEMS THAT

HAVE A ROLE IN WHO CAN
PARTICIPATE

WRAP UP ON THE ECONOMY

Laissez-faire (let it go)
Hallmark of Capitalism, e.g. government nonintervention
Actually a mixed, Capitalist economyUSA.
USPS, Colleges, grants for technology, etc. Still very
laid back.