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