Chapter Two

The Preamble to the Constitution

The Preamble to the Constitution

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

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ARISTOTLE

Define the Following Terms:

1. Power

2. Politics

3. Legitimacy

4. Authority

5. Nation2 | 4

POLITICSis the process by which groups make

decisions. Although the term is generally applied to behavior within governments, politics is observed in all human group

interactions.

POWERThe ability of one person to get another person to do act in accordance with the first person’s

wishes and intentions.

NATIONA self-identifying group of people who share

something in common (history, language, culture, religion)

LEGITIMACYacceptance by the citizens that their state has

the right to pass and enforce rules.

AUTHORITYThe exclusive right to exercise supreme political power over a group of people or

geographic region.

GOVERNMENTis the organization that has the accepted

authority to make laws, adjudicate disputes, and to issue administrative decisions, and that has a monopoly of authorized force to enforce

its decisions.

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PURPOSES OF GOVERNMENT

• Maintain order

• Provide public services

• Regulate the economy

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TYPES OF GOVERNMENT

• Autocracy–Dictatorship

–Monarchy

• Oligarchy–Aristocracy

• Republic

• Democracy

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TYPES OF GOVERNMENT• Unitary

–Complete control from the center

• Federal–Shared power between the center

and the local regions

• Confederal–Complete control by the local

regions

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TYPES OF GOVERNMENT

• Parliamentary–No separation of powers between

executive, legislative, and judicial

• Presidential–Separation of powers

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The Colonial Mind 1776

Colonists were focused on traditional liberties of BRITISH CITIZENS:

• The right to bring legal cases before independent judges

• The right to not have to quarter troops in their homes

• The right to trade without burdensome restrictions• The right to pay no taxes which they had not had

direct representation in establishingThey came to see independence as necessary

because they had lost confidence in the British Government

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The Magna Carta1215

Forced on King John by nobles:

• The right of Habeas Corpus

• No seizure of property without compensation

• The creation of a Great Council (Parliament)

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The Bill of Rights1689

Forced on King James II by nobles:

• Free speech

• Free elections without interference

• No taxation without representation

• Freedom to bear arms (for Protestants)

• No quartering of troops in private homes

• No punishment without trial by jury

• No cruel and unusual punishment

Foundation of American RightsRights Sources of Rights

Magna Carta (1215) English Bill of Rights (1689)

Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)

Bill of Rights (1791)

Trial by Jury X X XDue Process X X XPrivate Property X XNo unreasonable searches and seizures X XNo cruel punishment X X XNo excessive bail or fines X XRight to bear arms X XRight to petition X XFreedom of Speech X XFreedom of Press X XFreedom of religion X X

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The Colonial Mind1776

• Believed that men seek power because they are ambitious, greedy and easily corrupted.

• Believed in a higher law embodying inalienable natural rights:– Life– Liberty– Property

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Political Philosophy1588-1776

• Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan, 1651

• John Locke – Two Treatises on Government, 1689

• Charles Montesquieu – The Spirit of the Laws, 1748

• Jean Jacques Rousseau – The Social Contract, 1763

• Adam Smith – The Wealth of Nations, 1776

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• Individuals have right to life, liberty, and property

• But life is ‘nasty, brutish, and short’; violent anarchy

• Social Contract between Ruler and Ruled

• Citizens Trade liberty and property for security

• Leviathan creates order in exchange for obedience

Thomas HobbesLeviathan, 1651

Thomas HobbesLeviathan

1651

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John LockeTwo Treatises on Government, 1689

• Inalienable right to life, liberty, property

• Social Contract is between citizens

• Governments instituted to protect individual rights

• Not just right, but obligation to rebel when government violates

John LockeTwo Treatises on Government

1689

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Charles MontesquieuThe Spirit of the Laws, 1748

• Republic is the best form of government

• Separation of powers– Legislative– Judicial– Executive

• Checks and balances

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Jean Jacques RousseauThe Social Contract, 1763

• Natural rights and Civil Rights

• Sovereignty– Delegated– Limited– Separated– Revocable

• General will• General assembly

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Adam SmithThe Wealth of Nations, 1776

• Rational self-interest

• Natural liberty: freedom of choice

• Respect: Private property

• Responsibility: profit motive

• Laissez faire: government is generally unnecessary, but if it exists then it should be limited

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The Declaration of Independence1776

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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

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The Declaration of Independence1776

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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

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A war of ideology,

or economics?

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The Real Revolution1776

The “real” revolution was the radical change in belief about what made authority legitimate and liberties secure

• Government exists by consent of the governed, not by royal prerogative or divine right

• Political power exercised by direct grant of power from the people in a written constitution

• Human rights exists prior to government and government must respect those rights

• Legislative branch created as superior to executive branch because the legislature directly represents the people