Foundations of Government (We the People)

Foundations of Government (We the People)

Lesson 1:

*Founders – men and women who lived in colonial America and influenced the creation of our government

*Framers – the men who wrote our Constitution in 1787 at the Philadelphia Convention.

*political philosopher – a person who studies and writes about basic ideas of government

*Natural rights – rights people are born with (life, liberty and property)…. All persons have these rights because they are human beings.

*John Locke – wrote about natural rights in Two Treatises of Civil Government (1690)….he said the purpose of government should be to protect people’s natural rights and kings should not have absolute power (they should not be able to deprive people of their natural rights)

*State of Nature – no government exists and people’s rights might be taken away by other people

*Social compact (or social contract) – people agree to give up some of their freedom in exchange for protection and security…they create a government to make laws and agree to follow the laws

Lesson 2:

*The Founders had read about the Roman Republic.

*republican government - citizens have the power to govern and give power to leaders they elect to represent them…the representatives are responsible for promoting the common welfare

*civic virtue – citizens and their leaders lived modest lives, worked hard and put the common welfare above their own selfish interests.

*Montesquieu – He wrote, The Spirit of Laws - believed the best way make sure a government served the common welfare was to separate the powers of government, balance the powers, and give each branch ways to check the use of power by the other branches

Lesson 3:

*constitution – a frame work for a government (tells how the government is organized and run)…some are written, some are made up traditions and customs, some are both

*constitutional government – powers of the person or group running the government are limited (the constitution gives the limits on the power and the government must obey the limits)

*autocratic or dictatorial government – unlimited power (limits are not in constitution, or are there but not enforced)

*higher law – the constitution must be obeyed by the people running the government

Lesson 4:

*Separation of powers – some powers of government are given to each branch

*Legislative branch – makes laws

*Executive branch – carry out and enforce laws

*Judicial branch – interprets laws (manages conflicts over interpretation, application, and enforcement of laws)

*Checks and balances – powers given are balanced so that one branch may not dominate the others …and each branch may check (stop) the other branches from taking too much power

Lesson 5:

Common Law

-these are based on customs and traditions

-the courts applied legal ideas to all English citizens.

Magna Carta (Great Charter)- 1215

- Nobles forced King John to sign that was a written guarantee of the Barons rights and privileges

- The nobles would obey the king only as long as protected their rights;

Ø  King could not tax without consent

Ø  No free person could be imprisoned w/o jury trial

- Only protected a small amount of people.

*Showed that monarch’s powers could be limited.

*Governments are based on an agreement (contract) between the ruler and the ruled

-A government by contract means that both sides of the agreement are responsible for fulfilling its terms…and if either sides breaks the contract it is no longer valid

*The Rule of Law – both the governed and the government must obey the law

- limits the power of the government

- if the king broke the laws, the nobles had the right to overthrow him

Parliament -1600

* beginnings of representative government and the idea of the separation of powers

-Great Council became known as Parliament.

-Parliament was made up of nobles (barons) but had two houses (the House of Lords-represents the nobles, and the House of Commons represented land owners who were not titled noble)

English Bill of Rights - 1689

*Gave Parliament more power than the king/queen and protected more rights for the people

-Voters had the right to elect their representatives and the monarchy must respect their choices.

-People had the right to keep and carry weapons

-Monarchy could not

Ø  make or suspend laws w/o the consent of Parliament

Ø  raise taxes

Ø  raise an army

Ø  interfere with Parliamentary elections

Ø  require excessive bail or administer cruel punishments

The colonists brought this system of constitutional government to America with them.