Basic Theories of Government Chapter 1. Purposes of Governments? Ancient times: Wage war and...

Basic Theories of Government

Chapter 1

Purposes of Governments?

Ancient times: Wage war and protect empire Protect privileged classes Protect stability

Types of governments

Autocracies Dictatorship Monarchy

Advantages to Autocracy

It’s orderly It’s unquestioned

Disadvantages to autocracy

Gives no thought to ordinary folk Invites challenges from would-be

replacement autocrats Relies on force/war/violence to remain

in place

Challenges to Autocracy

Rise of a middle class, Europe in late 1300s

New source of tax revenues for ruler New source of importance for

merchant class New source of trouble for ruler: what

if merchants withhold taxes?


Mayflower Compact, 1620 Signed by adult men on Mayflower By mutual agreement, they would: 1. follow English law to settle

arguments 2. decide any argument NOT covered

by English law, by majority rule


“compact” in those days meant “contract”

Mayflower Compact was NOT a government; England was their government

BUT – their agreement to occasional majority rule was a start toward a new government for the colony

Basic Theories of Government EARLIEST GOVERNMENTS IN HISTORY Tribes: grew out of the extended

family Ruler was the oldest or most powerful

man (sometimes a woman): the chief Chiefs ruled along with the elders of

the tribe

Basic Theories of Government By around 6000 BCE, towns began to

develop along major rivers Tribes made war on each other Governments were developed in

these towns, to protect against invaders

Major landowners (“nobles”) helped the ruler of the town, often called “king”


Kings, along with nobles, would raise armies to protect the town

Townspeople paid taxes or tithes to pay the army’s expense

Townspeople had no authority Kings expected absolute loyalty,

absolute obedience


By about 5000 BCE in Egypt, and in the Tigris/Euphrates valley (today’s Iraq and Iran) cities began to join together; the first countries formed

Cities gave up their individuality The most powerful city-state ruler

became king of the entire country

Basic Theories of Government This form of government, where one

ruler with complete control is in charge of the country, is called autocracy

Derived from two Greek words: Autos = self Kratos = government or rule In other words, an autocrat rules by

himself, alone


In Egypt, the autocrat was the pharaoh

In Babylonia and Assyria the autocrat was called king

Kings wrote laws, with no consultation from their nobles or their citizens

Basic Theories of Government One of the first codified (written

down) collections of laws was by the Babylonian king Hammurabi

A well-known feature of Hammurabi’s code was restitution – paying a victim back for property that was stolen or damaged, or paying with life when a life was taken

This Hammurabi code was the basis for much early law in the MidEast

Basic Theories of Government Around the year 500 BCE, Greeks

experimented with another form of government

Greek cities were also separate states (the “city-state.”)

Each was ruled by an autocrat called a tyrant

Gradually, Greeks moved to a more liberal form of rule


Greeks valued education for all males Naturally, educated males sought

more of a voice in government Tyrants were gradually phased out,

and a new style of government began: democracy

From 2 Greek words: demos = people, kratos = rule or government


In Greek-style democracy, EVERY educated male got a vote

All decisions were made by vote This is now called “pure democracy” It is not practiced anywhere in today’s

world. Why?

Basic Theories of Government The Romans, in about the 3rd century

BCE, adopted Greek democracy but adapted it to their ideas of empire.

Their chosen form was the republic In a republic, voters choose those

who will make decisions on their behalf

These elected rulers actually run the country

Basic Theories of Government The United States, and most countries

in today’s world, are republics. Roman law first allowed an autocrat

(whom they called a “dictator”) only in times of emergency

By the time of Christ, dishonest Roman rulers declared permanent emergencies, and became autocrats known as emperors


These emperors centralized rule That is, all major acts and decisions

were made in one central place Local officials were responsible for

enforcing the emperor’s rules Local officials were not free to make

or vote on laws that would affect their area


Romans did insist, however, that the law was always codified; why?

After the Roman empire collapsed in the early 5th century CE, it divided itself into separate nations

A nation is a state or country in which all people are from the same ethnic group

Basic Theories of Government Countries were again run by autocrats

known as kings; kingship was passed down from father to son

Kings were assisted in ruling by local landowners known as lords

Kings gave land grants (“fiefs”) to their lords, and the lords in return guaranteed a certain number of trained soldiers (knights) for the King’s army

Basic Theories of Government This system was called feudalism.

That word comes from the Latin word “fides” meaning “faith.” (In English at that time, the word was spelled “foedes”)

The people who farmed the land (“serfs”) never thought much about who the king was; their loyalty was to their local lord. They might never see the king.

Basic Theories of Government The feudal system began to die out in

the late Middle Ages (1200s-1300s) During the Renaissance, cities again

became prominent; they were ruled by princes

By the late 1500s, strong princes combined several strong cities to make nations

Can you see how government styles run in cycles?

Basic Theories of Government It was during the late Middle Ages

that the great nation-states (England, France, Spain, etc.) began to form

Although we use the words “nation” and “state” as synonyms, they are not

Nation refers to the ethnicity of the people

State refers to the government system


These are the characteristics of a nation that is also a state (we call such a nation a “country”)

* it has definite boundaries * its people are ethnically similar,

usually * it “owns” and rules itself in some

way – it has a government


The development of the nation-states in the 1500s and 1600s marked the start of modern governments

The government of each country is somewhat different from others, but there are a few common things:


* A law-making body, called a legislature.

* An executive branch, the branch that enforces laws. Countries vary in the amount of power the executive is given

* A court system, called the judicial branch.


There are several legal ways to limit the amount of power an executive can have

The most common way is by a constitution – the set of rules that determine how the government will be run

Basic Theories of Government Until 1215, kings were always exempt

from any rules, even the rules they wrote themselves

In 1215, the noblemen of England forced King John to sign a document called Magna Carta (“The Great Charter”)

John agreed that he himself and all future kings would follow the same laws the noblemen had to follow


Gradually over the next 700 years, English people place more and more restrictions on their kings

In the process, they guaranteed their own freedoms and rights

US government is patterned in many ways after English government; why?


You know the three branches of any government (legislative, executive, and judicial)

There are also three basic types of government:

They are unitary government, federal government, and confederation

Basic Theories of Government In a unitary government, one central ruler

or group of rulers controls all power. Monarchy is one example of a unitary

government. So is dictatorship. Unitary governments may not be bad; in

some countries (modern France is a good example) all power is in the hands of officials in Paris.

Frenchmen, however, have a high degree of freedom granted by this government

Basic Theories of Government In a federal government, power is

shared between one central unit and many separate states

Each state takes care of some government functions: building roads and schools, regulating marriages, local taxes, etc.

But a central government unifies the states and takes care of the big functions: defense, foreign relations, conducting war, etc.

Basic Theories of Government The United States today is an example of a

federal government. Sometimes Americans will speak of “the

federal government in Washington” or “the state government in Nashville.” This is not quite correct.

The existence of the central government in Washington cooperating with a state government = a federal government

Basic Theories of Government In a confederation, a country is also

divided into several states, but there is no central government that connects them

The states individually are more like allies or friends; they may come to each other’s aid, but don’t have to

In a confederation, each state is sovereign: it rules itself, totally

Basic Theories of Government From the time of the American

Revolution (1776-1781) until 1789, the new United States was a confederation.

This form of government proved to be too weak to hold the new country together.

A new constitution, written in 1789, made the USA a federal government.


Countries have many different ways of making decisions.

Some allow much input from citizens, others offer no chance for citizens to speak their views

In describing a government, the decision-making process is described as either totalitarian or democratic.

Basic Theories of Government TOTALITARIAN SYSTEMS allow no individual

citizen opinion * they usually come to power by a military

overthrow * they use force, even violence, to control

the people *they take charge of the military, media,

schools, churches – the total country * the rulers don’t have to obey the laws

they write: they are elite, or privileged


There are three main kinds of totalitarian systems

* monarchies (rule by one king or queen)

* oligarchies (rule by a handful of elites)

* dictatorships (rule by one harsh ruler, enforced by his army)


DEMOCRACY, on the other hand, places rule in the hands of the people

Just like with totalitarian states, there are several valid ways a country can practice democracy:


In a direct democracy, every voter has a say in every issue. This is also known as pure democracy.

In an indirect democracy, voters elect those people who when then decide the issues on behalf of the voters. This is also known as republican democracy.

Basic Theories of Government Modern countries usually practice

indirect democracy, but they practice it in different ways:

Some use presidential leadership, in which the executive have strong authority and direct the legislature

Others use parliamentary leadership, in which the legislature directs the executive


A country’s government type is very closely connected to the kind of economic system it chooses.

Governments must be concerned about how a country makes its money, because the profits from businesses help pay the taxes that will fund the government.


The most common economic system in the modern world is capitalism.

Under capitalism: * people choose how they will make a

living, and keep most of their profits. This is called free enterprise.


Under capitalism: *the government does not own

factories or anything else involved in buying and selling products. Individual citizens or groups of citizens do.

This is known as private enterprise.


Under capitalism: * people are willing to work because

they get a large share in the profits gained by the company they work for, whether by salary or by owning shares of stock in the company. This is called the profit motive.


Under capitalism: * Many companies may make the

same product, hoping the quality of their product or its low price will lure customers to buy from them. They all try to attract the same customers;

This is known as competition


In a few countries of the world (Cuba, notably) there is no free enterprise.

The government controls all factories; workers are paid by the government, according to what the household needs of the worker are.

This system is called command economy

Basic Theories of Government There are two main types of

command economy: Socialism, in which the government

owns all factories, utilities, transportation companies, etc., but still allows some level of democracy

Communism, in which government owns all factories and allows no democracy at all, but relies on dictatorship.


Governments that rely on command economy believe that economic struggles between the rich and the poor always work out badly for the poor.

They feel the government must enforce economic equality, to ensure justice

Basic Theories of Government Another form of command economy

that uses force, but allows private enterprise, is fascism

Fascism is a dictatorship run to help the owner class, rather than the worker class.

It does not allow democracy, but is well-accepted by the wealthy. A fascist state has no concern for the poor or worker classes.

Basic Theories of Government Chapter 1. Purposes of Governments? Ancient times: Wage war and...

Documents

Transcript of Basic Theories of Government Chapter 1. Purposes of Governments? Ancient times: Wage war and...