Notes on Principles of Government and Politics – Introducing American Democracy

Origins of American Democracy

• Ancient Greece
  • Some people were granted citizenship.
  • All citizens had to participate.
• The Middle Ages
  • Divine right of kings was established.
  • Privileged groups (for example, nobles) were given rights.

Continuing toward American Democracy

• Protestant Reformation
  • Supporters challenged authority of Roman Catholic Church.
  • Reformers introduced new ideas of power beyond religion.
• The Enlightenment
  • Thinkers said reason alone manages the world, controls nature.

John Locke and the Social Contract Theory

• John Locke: A philosopher who supported a contract between people and government, not democracy
• Social contract: The idea that people freely exchange some rights for governmental protection
• Contract breaks = Government fails to protect people’s rights
• People’s consent = Legitimate government authority

John Locke’s Ideas Influence Founding Fathers

• Locke wrote while the Constitutional Convention met.
• “When any one, or more, shall take upon them to make laws without authority, which the people are not therefore bound to obey; by which means they come again to be out of subjection, and may institute to themselves a new legislature.” (Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government)

Characteristics of American Democracy (I)

• Popular sovereignty: Is based on the idea that people are a source of power to government
• Republican democracy: Uses representation
  • Madison: Wanted representative government to cool public passions
  • Founders: Wanted representatives to be older, wiser than average citizen
• Limited government: Limits governmental actions
• Rule of law: Says all people must obey law of the land

Characteristics of American Democracy (II)

• Common good: The protection of individual rights and liberties while at the same time helping society
• Equality as an inalienable right for all
• Majority rule balanced by protection of minority rights
• Compromise: Give and take in political bargaining
• An insistence upon the widest possible degree of individual freedom

Individual vs. Common Good

• Democracy is firmly based upon a belief in the fundamental importance of the individual.
• Each individual is a separate and distinct being.
• At times, the interests of individuals is subordinated to the interests of the many.

Equality of All Persons

• Democracy stresses the equality of all individuals.
• The democratic concept of equality insists that all are entitled to:
  • Equality of opportunity
  • Equality before the law

Majority Rule, Minority Rights

• Democracy insists upon majority rule restrained by minority rights.
• The majority must always recognize the right of any minority to become, by fair and lawful means, the majority.
• The majority must always be willing to listen to a minority’s argument, hear its objections, bear its criticisms and welcome its suggestions.

Necessity of Compromise

• Public decision making in a democracy must be a matter of give-and-take.
• Compromise is the process of blending and adjusting competing views and interests to find a position acceptable to the largest number.

Necessity of Compromise (cont.)

• Compromise is an essential part of a democracy because:
  • Democracy puts the individual first and, at the same time, insists that each individual is equal to all others.
  • Few public questions have only two sides and most can be answered in several ways.
• Compromise is a process, not an end in itself.

Individual Freedom

• Democracy can only thrive in an atmosphere of individual freedom.
• Each individual must be free to do as he/she pleases as far as the freedom of all will allow.
• A balance must be struck between the freedoms of the individual and the rights of society.