Government & Enlightenment Review (Lecture Notes)

Core Concepts of Government

• $4$ basic areas for how a government rules: $Power$, $Authority$, $Legitimacy$, $Sovereignty$.
• Power: ability to get citizens and non-citizens to behave.
• Authority: right to rule.
• Legitimacy: belief that the government has the right to rule.
• Sovereignty: supreme authority within a territory.

Forms of Government

• Authoritarian: the few hold power; citizens have no say.
• Monarchy: king or queen; power passed by birthright.
  • Absolute monarchy: all power; Divine right = power granted by God.
  • Tyrant: uses fear to maintain power.
• Constitutional Monarchy: laws limit the royal family’s power; more power to citizens.
• Dictatorship: complete control; power by force; propaganda to maintain power.
• Totalitarianism: government control extends to all aspects of life; master plan for economy and society.
• Theocracy: government based on religion.
• Oligarchy: power with a select caste; often wealthy; input from elites.
• Aristocracy/Caste: elite determined by meeting certain requirements; limited movement.
• Democracy: people‑centered; voters choose leaders to govern.
• Republic: state governed by elected representatives.
• Direct democracy: people vote on policy directly.
• Indirect (representative) democracy: people elect representatives to govern.

Democracy and Representation

• Democratic Government: people centered; option to vote for leaders believed to have best impact.
• Republic: government by elected representatives.
• Direct democracy: policy votes by citizens without representatives.
• Indirect democracy: citizens run for political office; representation through offices.

Enlightenment Foundations

• The Enlightenment promoted the power of reason to effect change; Paris as center; salons discussed ideas.
• Thomas Hobbes: State of nature is nasty, brutish, and short; Absolute Monarchy is best; Leviathan; social contract between people and ruler.
• John Locke: People are naturally good; rights to life, liberty, and property; government must protect these rights; if not, the people may overthrow.
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Social contract = agreement between people and government to give up some freedom for protection; government can be corrupted by society; people are inherently good in state of nature.
• Montesquieu: Government should be separated into branches to prevent concentration of power (separation of powers).

The Articles of Confederation

• First form of government after the American Revolution; deliberately weak.
• Key weaknesses:
  • $1$ legislative body; no executive (no president).
  • Each state had one vote.
  • To amend the Articles, unanimous consent was required.
  • No power to tax; no national military; no power to regulate commerce.
  • No national judiciary to settle disputes; national government could not enforce laws or raise revenue.
  • States could raise armies and pay their own debts; no national authority to unify effort.
• Influences cited: Magna Carta, Baron de Montesquieu, John Locke.

Shays’ Rebellion and the Call for a New Framework

• Shays’ Rebellion: led by Daniel Shays; veterans protested foreclosures and heavy taxes; courthouses were attacked.
• Demonstrated the weaknesses of the Articles and the need for a stronger national government.
• Constitutional Convention called (Philadelphia, 1787) to revise the Articles; debated the balance of power between states and national government.
• Emerged a structural split between Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
  • Federalists: Hamilton, Adams, Washington; supported a stronger national government; favored ratification; wrote the Federalist Papers.
  • Anti-Federalists: Jefferson, Madison; favored states’ rights and a Bill of Rights; opposed ratification without protections; Anti-Federalist Papers published in opposition.

Plans, Compromises, and Ratification

• Virginia Plan: favored by large states; representation based on population; greater power to larger states.
• New Jersey Plan: favored by small states; equal representation for each state.
• Connecticut Plan (Great Compromise): created a bicameral legislature to balance both plans.
  • House of Representatives: representation by population (435 total).
  • Senate: equal representation for each state.
• Three-Fifths Compromise: slaves counted as 3/5 of a person for representation purposes.
• Ratification and Bill of Rights:
  • Federalists supported adopting the new Constitution.
  • Anti-Federalists demanded a Bill of Rights to protect individual liberties.
  • The Constitution was ratified and became the supreme law of the land; Bill of Rights later added to address Anti-Federalist concerns.