American Gov Unit 1: Types, Principles and Basics of Government

government

institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies

public policies

what the government decides to do

three branches of government

1. legislative: makes laws (congress)

2. executive: enforces laws (president)

3. judicial: interprets laws (courts)

purposes of government

A. found in the Constitution

B. The purposes of the government

1. Form a more perfect union

2. establish justice

3. ensure domestic tranquility

4. provide for the common defense

5. promote the general welfare

6. secure the blessings of the liberty

parliamentary government

- executive is part of legislative

- executive is prime minister and is chosen by parliament

presidential government

- separate executive and legislative branch

- executive is chosen separately from legislative (each is independent and equal)

democracy

- rule by the people with the will of the people

- ex: US

direct vs representative democracy

Direct: you get a say in everything

- votes on each policy, referendums, etc

Representative: You only get a say in who gets a say

- elect someone to decide policy for you

economic system in democracy: capitalism/free market

- private ownership of the means of production (gov stays out to a certain extent)

- market driven: consumers & producers freely determine price and allocate resources

- most economies are mixed (free/command combined)

concepts of democracy

- recognition of worth in every person

- respect for equality

- faith in majority rule with belief in minority rights

- seeing the necessity of compromise

- insistence of individual freedom

dictatorship

rule by one person through force and/or total control

2 types of dictatorships

authoritarian

- control government/economy

- allow some freedoms

totalitarian

- total control of a person's life

- total control of the nation

Dictatorship: command economy

- government controls the economy

- determines: what to produce, who will produce it, how will it be produced, for whom it will be produced

monarchy

- rule by one person (king or queen)

oligarchy

ruled by (or power to) a few select individuals

- russia more or less

theocracy

- rule by primarily religious leaders

anarchy

- ruled by no one

- absence of law and order

basics of the constitution

1. brief: 7000 words

2. "supreme law of the land"

3. built in flexibility has allowed it to grow and change with time

6 key constitutional principles

1. popular sovereignty

2. limited government

3. separation of powers

4. checks and balances

5. judicial review

6. federalism

popular sovereignty

a. power rests with the people

b. people create government

c. government of the people, by the people, and for the people

d. documents popular in the sovereignty can be found in

- declaration of independence

- preamble of the constitution (people created the government through the constitution)

limited government/constitution

a. government is not all political

b. government only has the powers that the people give it

c. constitution

- the highest law of the land

- The constitution prohibits many things

d. rule of law: government and its officials are not subject to the law, not above it

separation of powers

a. 3 branches of government

i. legislative: article 1

- makes laws

ii. executive: article 2

- enforces laws

iii. judicial: article 3

- interprets laws

b. our founders created this so no one person or branch could become too power

checks and balances

a. each branch is subject to checks on its powers from the other two

b. system is mostly preventive

- few head on clashes throughout history

- ex: congress knows president will veto, not likely to pass a bill then

c. examples

- president veto

- courts rule law unconstitutional

- congress impeaches/removes president or judge

- congress overrides president veto

judicial review

a. power of the courts to determine constitutionality

b. is government acting in accordance with the constitution through:

- laws and acts of congress

- executive actions

- state laws and actions

judicial review cont.

c. introduced by chief justice john marshall

i. marbury v. madison (midnight judges)

ii. declared something unconstitutional for the first time

- judiciary act of 1789

- marbury won but never got what he wanted

federalism

a. sharing of power between the states and the federal government

b. federal government is supreme

c. framers had to build a new, stronger central government while still pleasing existing state governments

state power

i. states get to regulate marriage, education, alcohol, gambling, election laws, covid protocols, etc

ii. states are forbidden from certain powers (coining money, treaties)

supreme law of the land

i. the constitution wins in any debate (and how the supreme court interprets the constitution)

amendments

a. the constitution is a living document

- it was created to be flexible and adaptable

- it hasn't changed much

b. amendment: a change to the constitution

c. 2 types of amendments

- formal amendments

- informal amendments

why do we need a formal amendment process

a. the framers knew that at some point the constitution would need to be changed/updated

b. the framers provided 4 paths that an amendment could take

in order to change the constitution...

a. 2/3 of congress needs to say change it

b. 3/4 of states need to say change it

the first formal amendments

a. 10 amendments added in 1791

- part of the ratification process led to these

- anti federalists insisted on it

b. they are known as the bill of rights

- lay out the rights of individuals

- reserve rights to the states

other key amendments

a. civil war/reconstruction amendments

- 1875-1870 3 were passed

- 13th: ends slavery

- 14th: defines citizenship, due process and equal protection of the law

- 15th: forbids restrictions on voting

b. 19th amendment: womenś suffrage (right to vote), 1920

informal amendment

a. a change made in the function of the government not by actual written words (changes how government and politics operates without actually changing the constitution)

b. it is often procedural changes

why they are necessary

a. most sections of the constitution are brief

b. there are a lot of government procedures that are not clearly laid out in the constitution

c. it keeps the constitution a "living document"

d. constitution is really difficult to formally amend