NAME:______
US GOVERNMENT CHAPTER 1, SECTION 3 HANDOUT
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
*James Bryce once said: “No government demands so much from the citizen as Democracy, and none gives so much back.”
*What does democratic government demand from you?
*What does it give you in return?
CITIZENSHIP IN A DEMOCRACY
*Democracy exists in the United States, because the American people want it to exist. It shall cease to exist once people refuse to practice Democracy.
*The great leader of Britain, Winston Churchill, once said: “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
*What does this mean?
*The American concept of democracy rests on these basic notions:
1) A recognition of the fundamental worth and dignity of every person.
2) A respect for the equality of all persons.
3) A faith in majority rule and an insistence upon minority rights.
4) An acceptance of the necessity of compromise.
5) An insistence upon the widest possible degree of individual freedom.
WORTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL
*Every human being is important in a democracy.
*However, not every individual person can be served on behalf of the nation. This is why we all have to do things we may not be particularly fond of.
*An example is paying taxes. The worth of the whole supersedes the worth of individual wants in situations like these.
EQUALITY OF ALL PERSONS
*Equality of opportunity.
*Equality before the law.
*Race, color, religion, or gender does not matter.
MAJORITY RULE, MINORITY RIGHTS
*The majority is not always right, but more often than not, they are more correct than one person, a group of people, or multiple groups of people.
*In a democracy, there is a constant struggle that exists between the majority whose power is checked by the minority and the minority itself.
NECESSITY OF COMPROMISE
*Compromise is the process of blending and adjusting competing views and interests.
*How would it be possible to make decisions in a democracy without compromise?
*There are never two sides to an issue. There are always multiple sides. Compromise = A Healthy Democratic Process
INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM
*The right to swing my fist ends where the nose of the other man begins.
*Only in a society that lives by anarchy makes it possible for every man and woman to have unrestricted freedoms.
DEMOCRACY AND THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM
*The free enterprise system is an economic system that is characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods; investments that are determined by private decision rather than by state control; and determined in a free market.
*FREE ENTERPRISE:
1) Private Ownership
2) Individual Initiative
3) Profit
4) Competition
HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS
*Prices, production quotas, etc. are decided by the market in a free enterprise system.
*THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND
*Democracy is America’s political system.
*Free Enterprise (Capitalism) is America’s economic system.
GOVERNMENT AND THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM
*A mixed economy is an economy that functions side by side some degree of governmental regulation, etc.
*In a mixed economy government protects the public and preserves private enterprise.
*Pp. 21-22
DEMOCRACY AND THE INTERNET
*P. 22