Government and the State

Chapter 1, Section 1

What is Government?• Government – the institution through which a

society makes and enforces its public policies.– Public policy – all of the things a government decides to

do.• Every government has and exercises 3 types of

power.– Legislative power– Executive power– Judicial Power

The State• State – body of people, living in a defined territory,

organized politically, and with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority.– Four characteristics of a state:• Population• Territory• Sovereignty

– Each state has supreme and absolute power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign or domestic policies.

• Government

Origins of the State• What factors brought the state into being?– Four theories emerged as accepted explanations for the

origin of the state.• Force Theory – belief that the state was born by force.• Evolutionary Theory – some claim that the state was born out

of primitive families.– Family clan tribe state (birth of farming/end of nomads)

• Divine Right Theory – Belief that God created the state and gave those of royal birth a “right to rule.”• Social Contract Theory – state arose out of a voluntary act of

free people and serves the will of the people.– John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Purpose of Government

The Purpose of Government• Under the U.S. Constitution, American government

was created to serve several purposes.– Form a more perfect union.– Establish justice.– Insure domestic tranquility.– Provide for the common defense.– Promote the general welfare.– Secure the blessings of liberty.