What is a country?
Government• If it didn’t exist, we would have to invent it.
• Government is an institution and their systems that rule a country and its people.
Features of a country(state/nation-state)
• Population– The most stable governments exist when the people
share common ideas and beliefs.
• Territory– States/countries must have established boundaries.
• Sovereignty– The country must have supreme and absolute authority
over its territorial boundaries.
• Government– Every state has some form of and system of rules and
laws
Government
• “If men were angels, no government would be necessary”
Agree Disagree
Government
• Government
• If it didn’t exist, we would have to invent it.
• Government is an institution and their systems that rule a country and its people.
Origins of the State
• The Force Theory: the theory that the state was born of force—when all the people of an area were brought under the authority of one person or group
• Evolution Theory: the theory that the state evolved from the family
• Divine Right Theory: the belief that certain people are either descended from gods or chosen by gods to rule
• Social Contract Theory: theory that by contract, people surrender to the state the power needed to maintain order and the state, in turn, agrees to protect its citizens
The Force Theory
• A State was born by force
Primal man decided to force his will and rule on others
Evolutionary Theory
• The state gradually developed from primal families
Divine Right Theory
• The belief that the rule of king was God-Given and naturally perpetuated by the nobility
Social Contract Theory
• Agreement among individuals to unite and form a society in which members are governed by a set of rules.
Theories• Thomas Hobbes• Said people are violent
and disorderly and selfish• The government maintains
order without every man for himself
• People give up their rights in order to be safe.They have no right to rebel.
• The need a social contract- government where people act on their own self interest to keep them in control
• John Locke• Said people are moral and
reasonable• Government protects our
natural rights of life, liberty, and property
• People have natural rights and may overthrow the government that does not protect their rights.
• Government with consent of the people is the foundation of democracy.
Locke and Hobbes
John Locke
Thomas Hobbes
What is Purpose of Government?
• Public policies are in short all those things a government decides to do.
• Taxation
• Defense
• Environment
• Education
• Crime
• Civil rights
• Health Care
• Transportation
• Working Conditions
Maintain Social Order
• People need government to maintain social order because they have not yet discovered a way to live in groups without conflict.
Provide Public Service
• One of the important purposes of government is to provided essential services that make community life possible and promote the general welfare.– Sewer system – couldn’t do
that on your on
– Highways
– Firefighters
– Food inspectors
Provide for National Security
• Another task of government is to protect the people against attacks by other states
• This also includes maintaining positive relationships with foreign nations.
Make Economic Decisions
• Governments often use their power to reduce the conflict between the rich and the poor by intervening in the economic system.