Political Systems and the Constitution
Types of Political Systems
Political systems are categorized based on the distribution of power and the role of the individual:
Authoritarian Governments: These systems concentrate power in the hands of a single leader or a small elite. Individuals are considered subjects, meaning they possess obligations to the state but few, if any, guaranteed rights. Examples include:
Totalitarianism: The state exercises total control over every aspect of life (social, economic, and political).
Oligarchy: Rule by a small group of powerful people.
Theocracy: Governance by religious leaders claiming divine guidance.
Non-authoritarian Governments (Democracies): Systems where power is vested in the people. Individuals are citizens, possessing both rights that the government must protect and responsibilities they must fulfill.
Anarchy: A theoretical state of total individual liberty without a governing body. While discussed in political theory, it has not functioned as a stable, long-term governance model.
Characteristics and Models of Democracy
Democracies function on the principle of Popular Sovereignty, where the people are the ultimate source of political authority.
Political scientists identify 3 primary models of democracy to explain who actually wields power:
Participatory Democracy: Direct participation by most or all citizens in both government and non-governmental community life.
Pluralist Democracy: Citizen membership in groups (like unions or interest groups) is the key to political power, as these groups compete to influence policy.
Elite Democracy: A theory that limits the citizen’s role to choosing among competing leaders; it suggests a small, wealthy, and educated group actually makes the decisions.
Origins of U.S. Democracy and Enlightenment Thought
Athens, Greece: The birthplace of direct democracy, where citizens (restricted to free adult males) met to vote on all laws and policies.
Medieval Context: Transitioned from feudalism to monarchies that utilized the Divine Right of Kings (authority granted by God). This was challenged by the Magna Carta in 1215, which began to limit the power of the monarch.
The Enlightenment (1600s-1700s): The "Age of Reason" encouraged the application of scientific logic to human behavior and governance.
Social Contract Theory: Hobbes vs. Locke
Thomas Hobbes: In his work Leviathan (1651), he argued that life in a State of Nature would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
To escape this "war of all against all," people enter a Social Contract, surrendering freedoms to an absolute sovereign in exchange for the protection of their lives.
John Locke: In Two Treatises of Government (1689), he offered a more optimistic view. He argued that humans possess Natural Rights: life, liberty, and property.
For Locke, the social contract is conditional. If a government fails to protect these rights, the people have a right to revolt and establish a new government. This idea heavily influenced Thomas Jefferson's drafting of the Declaration of Independence.
Baron de Montesquieu: Contributed the idea of Separation of Powers in The Spirit of the Laws (1748), arguing that power should be divided among legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent tyranny.
The Articles of Confederation (1781-1789)
This was the first governing document of the U.S., designed to be a weak "firm league of friendship" to avoid the tyranny experienced under the British Crown.
Governmental Structure:
A Unicameral (one-house) legislature where each state had exactly 1 vote.
No executive branch (no President) and no national judiciary (no Supreme Court).
Passing laws required 9 out of 13 states to agree; amendments required total unanimity (13/13).
Major Weaknesses:
The national government could not levy taxes, resulting in massive unpaid war debts.
No power to regulate interstate commerce, leading to trade wars and conflicting currencies between states.
Shays' Rebellion (1787): An uprising of debt-ridden farmers in Massachusetts that the national government was powerless to stop, proving the Articles were dysfunctional.
The Constitutional Convention (1787)
Delegates met in Philadelphia with the secret intent to create a new government rather than fix the Articles.
The Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise): Resolved the debate between the Virginia Plan (representation by population) and the New Jersey Plan (equal representation):
Created a Bicameral (two-house) legislature.
House of Representatives: Based on population (favoring large states).
Senate: 2 representatives per state (favoring small states).
The Three-Fifths Compromise: Addressed how enslaved people would be counted for representation and taxation, counting each enslaved individual as \frac{3}{5} of a person.
Federalism: Divided power between the national (federal) government and the state governments.
Ratification Debate: Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
Federalists: Favored a strong central government and the new Constitution. They wrote The Federalist Papers (Hamilton, Madison, Jay) to persuade states like New York to ratify.
Anti-Federalists: Feared a strong central government would infringe on individual liberties and state sovereignty. They demanded a Bill of Rights be added to protect citizens from government overreach.