unit 1.1-1.3 (ideals and types of democracy & government power and individual rights)

1.1

Origins and The Enlightenment

Classical Origins

• societies like %%ancient greece%% and %%ancient rome%% had rare forms of early democracy   * %%ancient greece%%: athenian democracy     * @@the assembly@@: officials of the democracy were in part elected by the assembly and in large part chosen by lottery in a process called sortition     * citizenship: white, native-born, land-owning man   * %%ancient rome%%: republic in %%rome%%     * the senate: representative of the roman people and the repository of roman sovereignty     * @@consuls@@: held the highest elected political office of the roman republic
• english heritage: determined by the era of time   * @@magna carta@@ (^^1215^^): nobles vs. king john; limited monarchy to guarantee nobles rights and protections   * parliament     * house of lords     * house of commons   * petition of right (^^1628^^): applied protections of magna carta to rest of english citizens; restricted the monarchy further   * english bill of rights (^^1689^^): consisted of the following conditions:     * free parliamentary elections     * speedy trials     * prohibit cruel and unusual punishment     * petition the monarch     * no taxation without consent of parliament

The Enlightenment (16th-18th Centuries)

• age of reason: inspired by scientific revolution; empiricism and logic applied to human behavior   * break from tradition, hereditary, and fundamentalism
• natural laws: applied to society (natural rights); each individual born with natural rights (life, liberty, and property)
• social contracts: established relationships between citizens and governments; based on mutual consent

Enlightenment from England

• thomas hobbes: believed in a “strong but not absolute” government; started social contract   * leviathan (^^1651^^): state of nature (“the war of all against all”)   * social contract theory: people submit to government but have the right to overthrow
• john locke: added on natural rights   * second treatise on civil government (^^1689^^): right to revolution; consent of the governed; enforced state of nature (life, liberty, and land)
• baron de montesquieu: spirit of the laws (^^1748^^); separation of powers; checks and balances
• voltaire: advocated individual freedoms; criticized traditional institutions
• rousseau: believed in government being based on consent of governed (popular sovereignty)

Colonial America

Colonial Governments

• house of burgesses (^^1619^^): representative form of government in virginia
• mayflower compact (^^1620^^): social contract for common good/survival
• fundamental orders of connecticut (^^1639^^): first written constitution; outlined individual rights

Colonial Resistance

• navigation acts: proclamation of ^^1763^^, sugar act (^^1764^^), stamp act (^^1765^^)
• ideological arguments: no taxation without representation; virtual representation
• first continental congress: declaration of right and grievances; petition to the king
• second continental congress: olive branch petition; declaration of independence (^^1776^^); articles of confederation (^^1777^^, ^^1781^^)   * olive branch petition: written to persuade king george III of england to respond to the concerns of the american colonists and to settle their differences amicably   * declaration of independence: based largely on locke’s ideas; primarily written by thomas jefferson     * political theory, list of grievances, colonial unity for independence

New Constitution

New State Constitutions

Articles of Confederation vs. Constitution

New Constitution Establishments

• constitutional convention: called to revise a.o.c   * washington elected as president   * grand committee established (one person per state)
• new government w/ 3 branches   * powers of each branch listed
• established a representative republic   * reps are selected by public every 2 years

1.2

Types of Democracy

Representative Democracy

• a system where citizens of a country vote for government representatives to handle legislation and rule the country on their behalf
• rep democracies can take several forms along the following scale:   * participatory democracy ↔ pluralist democracy ↔ elite democracy

Participatory (Direct) Democracy

• a system where the citizens (not representatives) propose laws (initiatives) and vote directly for laws (referendums)   * initiatives: citizens of a state can place an item on the ballot for popular vote   * referendums: citizens can attempt to defeat or uphold a law of the legislature via petitions   * both can occur at state, county, or municipality level     * states can be classified as:       * both initiatives and referendums       * initiatives for constitutional amendments only       * referendums only       * neither initiatives or referendums
• large populations make this difficult at a national level   * primarily used a local and state levels
• emphasizes broad participation in politics and civil society

Pluralist Democracy

• a system where no one group dominates politics and organized (interest) groups compete to influence policy   * recognizes group-based activism by non-governmental interests striving for impact on decision-making
• interest groups try to influence local, state, and federal level policy makers
• the variety and number of interest groups make decision-making process slow
• constitution protects against undue influence via bicameral legislature, electoral college, etc.

Elite Democracy

• a system where elected representatives make decisions in their role as trustees   * the reps have the skills, education, and ability to protect against unwise popular policies
• house, senate, and cabinet are all examples of elite democracy

Tensions Over Democracy Models

• both federal and state democracies have interest groups that operate at all (national, state, and local) levels to influence policy making

Representative Democracy in US Today

• participatory   * initiatives     * in 26 states   * referendums examples     * control wages, covid, voting rights for felons
• pluralist   * raise money, support candidates, and monitor government   * advertise to push (candidate) agenda
• elite   * people in government have most (time, money, education, access)

1.3

Federalist and Brutus Papers

• written by alexander hamilton, john jay, and james madison   * 85 essays supporting ratification of constitution
• need to know federalist papers:   * federalist #10: factions   * federalist #51: checks and balances   * federalist #70: chief executive   * federalist #78: national judiciary
• need to know brutus paper:   * brutus #1: republic is too big and non-democratic     * factions will destroy the nation     * citizens won’t know their reps     * bill of rights must be added
• federalists: supported ratification of constitution; led by james madison   * published federalist papers to convince americans to ratify constitution   * in favor of strong national government and weaker state governments   * didn’t want a bill of rights to limit right only to those listed   * usually large landowners, wealthy merchants, and professionals   * indirect election of officials and longer terms served
• anti-federalists: opposed ratification of constitution; led by patrick henry   * published brutus papers to discourage americans from ratifying the constitution   * supported strong states rights and weak national government   * insisted on adding bill of rights   * usually small farmers, shopkeepers, and laborers   * direct election for reps and shorter terms served

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