AP GOV Foundational Docs

The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson

3 Sections:

1. Preamble (Enlightenment Ideals)

2. List of Grievances against King George III

3. Resolution for Independance

NATURAL RIGHTS

• Gifted by God, cannot be taken away by Monarch since they do not originate from government

• Government gives power to the people

• “To secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed (THE PEOPLE)”

• “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain undeniable rights (NATURAL RIGHTS), among them LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

POPULAR SOVERNEIGHTY

• Power to govern is in the people’s hands

SOCIAL CONTRACT

• People willingly surrender some of that power to a government in order to protect natural rights and common good

• When a government becomes tyrannical and undermines people’s powers, it is the right of the people to overthrow that government and rebuild a new one which protects the people’s natural rights

Federalist 51 by James Madison

• Prevention of TYRANNY through Seperation of Powers

• Madison believes if people were angels, we would not need a government at all, but since they are not, a strong government is important to protect liberty of people

QUESTION: How to create a government that is powerful but not too powerful?

ANSWER: Through Seperation of Powers/Checks and Balances through interior structures of government

• Each branch needs power independent of the other so they can’t interfere other branch’s power, but power needs to be equal between the 3 branches

*However, in Constitution, Legislative Branch receives more power than the others (which is how it should be since Congress is the voice of the people)

SOLUTION: To keep legislature from having too much power, it was divided into a bicameral legislature (House of Reps and Senates which each hold a portion of legislature’s power)

*In addition to power being divided between branches, it is also divided between federal and state power (FEDERALISM)

CHECKS AND BALANCES:

• Executive branch checks legislative by vetoing laws

• Legislative checks executive by impeachment (removal from office)

• Judicial can check other two branches by ruling on Constitutionality of law through Supreme Court’s trials

Brutus no.1

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