AP Government Unit 1 Review Notes

AP Government Unit 1 Review: Foundations of American Democracy

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement in the 18th century that significantly influenced the framers of the U.S. Constitution. Key Enlightenment ideas include:

  • Natural Rights: Individuals are born with inherent rights granted by their creator, not by a monarch. These rights cannot be taken away. Enlightenment thinkers posited a theoretical "state of nature" preceding government, where humans are free.
  • Popular Sovereignty and the Social Contract: Power to govern resides in the people (popular sovereignty). To protect their natural rights, people willingly cede some power to a government (social contract). The state serves the people, not vice versa. If the government becomes tyrannical, the people have the right to overthrow it.
  • Republicanism: Citizens elect leaders to represent them and create laws in the public interest. To prevent tyranny, power should be separated among three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.

These Enlightenment ideas collectively suggest that the best form of government is a limited government, which is prevented from tyranny through checks and balances and the distribution of power.

Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence provides the foundation for popular sovereignty, the social contract, and natural rights. Key phrases demonstrating Enlightenment influence include:

  • Natural Rights: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
  • Social Contract and Popular Sovereignty: "That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Types of Democracy

The U.S. system incorporates three main kinds of democracy:

  • Participatory Democracy: Emphasizes broad participation in the political process by most, if not all, members of a society. This is evident in local government (town halls) and state-level initiatives and referenda.
  • Pluralist Democracy: Groups associate with interest groups that compete to influence public policy. Examples include the NAACP (civil rights) and the National Rifle Association (Second Amendment rights). These groups give people a voice.
  • Elite Democracy: Emphasizes limited participation in policymaking, assuming that government is complicated and best run by the most educated. This appears in the electoral college.