Locke, Hobbes, and Social Contract Theory

Locke & Hobbes

• Thomas Hobbes was a social contract theorist.
  • Hobbes believed in the state of nature and natural rights.
  • Hobbes posited that humans are inherently bad or selfish, constantly seeking to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
  • Hobbes' social contract results in an authoritarian government, such as a dictatorship.
• John Locke was also a social contract theorist who believed in the state of nature and natural rights.
  • Locke argued that people are born with a blank slate and can use their intellect to be good.
  • Locke's view was that people's default is bad, otherwise government wouldn't be necessary.
  • Locke's social contract favors pluralism, as in a democracy.

Natural Rights

• In the state of nature, humans are born with rights, entitling them to everything.

State of Nature

• The state of nature describes humans in their natural state, absent any institutions.
• Individuals are born with rights regardless of their identity.

Divine Right of Kings

• The divine right of kings is rooted in religious, superstitious, and mystical beliefs.
• It suggests that monarchs rule by direct appointment from God.
• This benefits the upper class, using faith to justify oppression.
• Under this system, the king determines the rights of the people.

Enlightenment

• The Enlightenment sought to explain and act upon natural and social worlds using reason.
  • The Scientific Revolution contributed knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, and physics.
  • Scientific knowledge became more widespread and accepted, explaining the natural world.
  • Empirical observation involves gathering knowledge by watching events occur repeatedly.
  • Every human has the capacity for reason and critical thinking, or human intellect.
• The Enlightenment questioned God, king, and existing government and class structures.

Types of/Approaches to Government

• Authoritarianism concentrates power in one person or group.
  • Dictators and tyrants are the same, and oligarchies can be authoritarian.
  • Authoritarian governments control politically and economically.
  • Totalitarianism controls all of society.
• Totalitarianism takes control of all aspects of society.
• Democracy vests ultimate political authority in the people and operates based on majority rule.
  • Government authority comes from the people.
  • Majority rule is the standard for laws, rules, and other aspects of government.
  • Flaws
    • True democracy is not functional due to people voting on every issue.
    • Tyranny involves the severe deprivation of natural rights.
    • Democracy can cause tyranny of the majority, depriving the rights of the minority.
• Republic (Representative Democracy)
  • A republic is a system where people elect agents to make laws and policies, based on majority rule with protected minority rights.
  • A republic is less likely to cause tyranny of the majority because agents refine the majority's views.
  • Republics solve functionality issues by electing specialists for positions requiring specialized knowledge.
  • The minority can challenge the agent if ignored.
  • A large republic is better at preventing tyranny.
  • Smaller republics are more likely to cause tyranny due to ease of communication and identifying dissenters, and lack of diversity.
• Direct Democracy
  • Progressives in the 1900's favored direct democracy.
  • It was more successful in undeveloped states.
  • They sought to regulate corporations, administer social justice for workers (not immigrants), and build an expert administrative state (bureaucrats) with long-term control.
  • They favored a flexible constitution adapting to the times, rights determined by the government, group over individual, and public over private sphere.
• Absolute Monarchy
  • Power in an absolute monarchy is unlimited.
  • The King or Queen sets and enforces standards and resolves disputes.
• Tyranny
  • Tyranny is when one leader sets and enforces standards and resolves disputes in all aspects of life.

Direct Democracy

• Direct democracy policies aim to weaken political parties, representative power, and special interest groups, giving power to the people through majority rule.
• Policies involve initiative, referendum, and recall.
• Procedures involve collecting and verifying signatures, placing the measure on the ballot, and requiring a majority vote to pass.

Initiative

• Initiative allows the people to bypass the state legislature to propose and pass laws.
• It reduces the power of special interest groups.
• Citizens can circumvent the state legislature to write a law that is then placed on the ballot for a vote. The intention is to empower the people if the legislature doesn't address their needs, but interest groups now use the system to get their preferred policy without going through the republic process.
• Passing a statue requires approximately 547,000 signatures in 150 days.
• Amending the CA constitution requires approximately 875,000 signatures in 150 days.
• Private companies are often hired to help gather votes.
• Recent examples include initiatives to speed up the death penalty process (passed), eliminate independent contractor status for Uber (failed), eliminate recent gas tax increase (failed), early parole for “nonviolent offenders” (passed), and reduce penalties for some crimes (passed).
• Republic
  • Assembly & State Senate proceeds from Floor to Committee to Subcommittee to Committee to Floor to the Governor.
• Advantages
  • Initiative helps to diminish apathy and encourages political discussions.
• Flaws
  • Initiatives may face tyranny of the majority, may adopt unconstitutional laws, may have severe consequences, and offer only one solution to a problem.
• Optional
  • Voters can veto a law recently passed by the legislature and signed by the governor (except laws passed by a 2/3 vote).
    • To do so requires filing with the state the intent to veto and gathering approximately 623,000 signatures in 90 days.
    • This rarely happens, but a recent exception was the plastic bag ban.
    • The law is repealed with more "no" votes than "yes" votes.

Referendum

• Optional
  • Referendums allow voters to veto a recently passed law.
    • To do so requires gathering > 547,000 signatures in 90 days and receiving more "no" votes than "yes" votes.
• Compulsory
  • Referendums are required to adopt California Constitutional amendments based on a majority vote.
  • They are also required to authorize a bond measure to incur long-term debt, needing a majority vote.
    • Raising taxes to pay for bond measures requires a 2/3 vote.
    • Borrowing more means less money for services.
    • Payback is double the amount borrowed.
    • There is no mechanism to guarantee proper use of funds.
    • Examples include education, water, clean parks, stem cell, homelessness, and children’s hospitals.
  • CA Bond Debt
    • The CA bond debt totals $136 billion.

Recall

• Recall is the voters' ability to remove a state or local official before the end of their term.
  • The petition process involves gathering a number of signatures within a time period that depends on the office.
  • The recall ends if signatures are not received.
  • If signatures are received, the recall is placed on ballot.
  • Officials can be recalled for any reason.
  • Removal from office requires 50% + one vote (top portion of recall).
  • The candidate with the most votes takes office (bottom portion of recall).

Unique Features of US Government

• Individualism
  • Emphasizes self-sufficiency, the right, and the obligation to care for oneself.
  • Turns selfishness into a positive trait.
• Political Equality
  • Asserts that all individuals are born with natural rights, and no one is inherently better than another.
  • Prevents anyone from suppressing others.
  • Posits that everyone can attain truth and reason with human intellect.
  • Individuals can choose to listen to professional opinions but are not forced to.

Federalists/Anti-Federalists

• Similarities & differences
• Federalists argued the federal government wouldn't encroach upon the state.
• Anti-Federalists contended the federal government would encroach upon the state.
• The resolution came in the form of federalism.

Constitutional Convention

• Options - Virginia or New Jersey?
• A dispute arose over the structure of the legislature.
• Large states favored the Virginia Plan for two houses apportioned by population.
• Small states favored the New Jersey Plan for one house with equal representation.
• The House of Representatives is apportioned by population.
• The US Senate has two representatives per state.
• The Great Compromise resolved this dispute.

Legislative Branch - Article I

• Congressional Powers (Section 8)
  • Congress has the power to lay and collect taxes.
  • Congress has the power to borrow money on the credit of the United States.
  • Congress has the power to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several states.
  • Congress has the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof.
  • Congress has the power to establish Post Offices and post roads.
  • Congress has the power to declare war.
  • Congress has the power to provide and maintain a Navy.
  • Congress has the power to raise and support the military.
• Prohibitions on the Power of Congress (Section 9)
  • A writ of habeas corpus allows a prisoner to challenge their detention in court.
  • Bills of attainder are prohibited types of legislation enacting punishment without a trial.
  • Ex post facto laws are prohibited types of legislation retroactively making an action illegal or increasing punishment.
• Prohibitions on the Powers of the States (Section 10)
  • No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, levy any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Executive Branch - Article II

• Presidential Powers (Section 2)
  • The President can make treaties.
  • The President is the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the US.
  • The President grants reprieves and Pardons for offenses against the US.
  • The President appoints ambassadors.

Judicial Branch - Article III

• The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, and in disputes between two or more states.

States - Article IV

• The "Full Faith and Credit" clause requires each state to recognize and honor the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.
  • If a couple gets legally married in California, their marriage must be recognized as valid in all other states.

Debt, Supremacy, Oath - Article VI

• The "Supremacy Clause" establishes that the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties are the supreme law of the land.
  • If a state law allows something that federal law prohibits, the federal law will override the state law.

Enumerated, Implied, and Reserved Powers

• Enumerated Powers are explicitly granted to the federal government by the Constitution (Article I, Section 8).
  • Examples include the power to coin money, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, and declare war.
• Implied Powers are not explicitly stated but are necessary for carrying out the enumerated powers, derived from the Necessary and Proper Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18).
  • Establishing the IRS to collect taxes is an implied power.
• Reserved Powers are not delegated to the federal government nor prohibited to the states, reserved for the states or the people (Tenth Amendment).
  • Regulating education and conducting elections are reserved powers.

We the People - Chapter 1

• People respond to the world to what they think it is, not what it actually is.
• “To decide, you first have to know”
• Less than 1 percent of the federal budget is spent on foreign aid.
• Learning to Think Critically
  • Critical thinking - the process of forming an opinion after weighing relevant information
  • People can hold different opinions even if they have the same information
  • Critical thinking should be used, not wishful thinking, when it comes to politics.
  • Obstacles to Critical Thinking
    • Modern media has created multiple sources of false media that can spread misinformation to suit their purpose
    • “Explanations are often accepted based on what people like to believe rather than what the evidence shows”
  • Political science can contribute to critical thinking by providing:
    • Reliable information about how the US political system operates
    • Systematic generalizations about major tendencies in American politics
    • Terms and concepts that define key aspects of politics
• Political Culture: Americans’ Enduring Beliefs
  • Political culture - the widely shared and deep-seated beliefs of its people about politics
  • Americans are linked not by a shared ancestry but by allegiance to a common set of ideals
  • Core Values: Liberty, Individualism, Equality, and Self-Government
    • Individual is paramount, government is secondary
    • Liberty - the principle that individuals should be free from arbitrary and oppressive government so that they can think and act as they choose
    • The ability to choose is what brought many people to America
    • Individualism - a commitment to personal initiative and self-sufficiency
    • Equality - the notion that all individuals are equal in their moral worth and thereby entitled to equal treatment under the law
    • Equality in America is still debated; is it giving everyone the same opportunities? Is it removing barriers so that advancement is possible?
    • Self-government - the principle that the people are the ultimate source of governing authority and should have a voice in their governing
  • The Limits and Power of Americans’ Ideals
    • Black citizens have been mistreated for centuries and still are in today’s society
    • Equality has never been an American birthright in society
    • While America has a rocky past considering equality, American has also fought the most to build a more equal society
    • American’s also have also been determined to build a better public education system so it’s more obtainable by the average person
    • No country holds as many elections as does the United states or has anywhere near as many publicly elected officials
• Politics and Power in America
  • Politics - the means by which society settles its conflicts and determines who gets the benefits and who pays the cost
  • Power - refers to the ability of persons, groups, or institutions to influence political decisions
  • Authoritarian government - one that openly represses its political opponents, mostly through intimidation and prohibitions on free expression but sometimes through brute force
  • There a three basic systems that keep the government in check
    • A Democratic System
      • A form of government in which the people govern, either directly or through elected representatives
      • Majority rule tends to happen in this system
      • Majoritarianism - the term used to describe situations in which political leaders act on behalf of the majority
      • This occurs through the competition between the Republican and Democratic parties
      • Pluralism - the government is chiefly responsive to interest groups
      • Authority - the recognized right of officials to exercise power
    • A Constitutional System
      • Authority is divided between legislative, executive, and judicial branches
      • Constitutionalism - the idea that there are lawful restrictions on the government’s power
    • A Free-Market System
      • Operates mainly on private transactions
      • The US economy is largely a free-market system
      • Corporate power - the influence of business firms on public policy
      • Elitism - the power exercised by well-positioned and highly influential individuals

We the People - Chapter 2

• Marbury v. Madison (1803) is a landmark Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review, which allows the Supreme Court to declare a law unconstitutional.
  • Background: William Marbury was appointed as a justice of the peace by President John Adams, but his commission was not delivered before Thomas Jefferson took office. Jefferson's Secretary of State, James Madison, refused to deliver the commission.
  • Issue: Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court to compel Madison to deliver the commission, arguing that the Judiciary Act of 1789 gave the Court the authority to do so.
  • Decision: The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, ruled that Marbury had a right to his commission, but the Court did not have the authority to issue the writ of mandamus because the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional.
  • Significance: This case established the principle of judicial review, giving the Supreme Court the power to declare laws passed by Congress unconstitutional.
  • The constitution was an instrument that helped Americans turn their ideals into a system of government.
  • Limited government - Subject to strict legal limits on the uses of power so that it would not endanger the people’s liberty
  • Representative government - People would govern through the election of their representatives
• Before the Constitution: The Colonial and Revolutionary Experiences
  • The American Revolution was a result of Britain’s failure to uphold the colonies’ traditions.
    • The French and Indian War caused the British to go into debt, so they took their debt out on the colonies and levied unjust taxes.
    • The colonists wanted their own councils for the imposition of taxes, an end to the British military occupation, and a guarantee of a trail by local juries
  • The Declaration of Independence
    • John Locke claimed that government is founded on a social contract.
      • People living in a state of nature enjoy certain inalienable (natural) rights, including life, liberty, and property.
      • Those rights are threatened by individuals who steal, kill, and otherwise act without regard for others.
      • People submit to the government’s authority in return for the protection it can provide, but in doing so they retain their natural rights. If the government doesn’t respect their natural rights, people can rightfully rebel against it. (the social contract)
  • The Articles of Confederation
    • Constitution - A basic law that defines how a government will legitimately operate - the method for choosing its leaders, the institutions through which these leaders will work, the procedures they must follow in making policy, and the powers they can lawfully exercise
    • The first government of the United States was based on the Articles of Confederation
    • Colonies had representatives that were elected by property-owning males
    • They believed a closer government was better
    • Colonists were weary of a centralized government
    • Legislation could only be applied if 9 of the 3 colonies agreed to it
  • A Nation dissolving
    • The American democracy only stuck together in times of war
    • Shay’s rebellion showcased the weaknesses of their national government
    • Only 5 states sent delegates to propose amendments to the Articles of Confederation.
• Creating a Constitution
  • They set out to create a new government that was stronger
  • The Great Compromise: A Two-Chamber Congress
    • Virginia Plan - Separate judicial and executive branches, as well as a two-chamber Congress. Representation depended on population.
    • New Jersey Plan - Favored a stronger national government than provided by the Articles.
    • Great Compromise - Contains a two-chamber Congress. The House of Representatives would be apportioned by population while Senate would have an equal number of senators.
  • The Three-Fifths Compromise: Issues of Trade and Slavery
    • The North and South were at odds.
    • The South feared the North would end slavery.
    • Congress would be prohibited from ending slavery before 1808.
    • The North argued not to count slaves.
    • The South wanted to count slaves as people in apportioning House seats, but nonpersons when apportioning taxes.
  • Defining the Office of the President
    • While they agreed on the powers of presidency, they differed on its structure and method of selection
• Ratification of the Constitution
  • The Ratification Debate
    • Anti-Federalists (opponents of the Constitution) claimed a national government would be too powerful
    • They also believed in stronger economic cooperation in the states, and feared Congress could take that over
    • Federalists argued the Constitution would provide a strong government without being overbearing
  • Demand for a Bill of Rights
    • The Anti-Federalists argued for a Bill of Rights, including 10 amendments that discuss free-expression rights.
  • The Vote on Ratification
    • Many Americans preferred state-centered governments
• Protecting Liberty: Limited Government
  • The writers of the Constitution had four major goals
    • Strong Government: Create a national government strong enough to meet the nation’s needs
    • Federal Government: Preserve the states as governing entities through a system of government that divided power between the national government and the states
    • Limited Government: Establish a national government that was restricted in its lawful uses of power
    • Representative Government: Create a national government that gave the people a voice in governing
  • Grants and Denials of Power
    • Liberty - The principle that people should be free from oppressive government
    • Grants of Power - Powers granted to the national government; accordingly, powers not granted it are denied it
    • Denials of Power - Powers expressly denied to the national and state governments by the Constitution
    • An amendment would be proposed by two-thirds majority in congress but be ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures
  • Separated Institutions Sharing Power: Checks and Balances
    • Factions must be prevented in government as they can use government to advance itself at the expense of others
    • The separation of legislative, executive, and judicial branches created a system of checks and balances
    • Shared Legislative Powers
      • The president can veto acts of congress, recommend legislation, call special sessions of Congress, and execute/interpret laws Congress makes
    • Shared Executive Powers
      • Vested in the President, but constrained by legislative and judicial checks
    • Shared Judicial Powers
      • Judicial power rests of the Supreme court and with lower federal courts
  • Providing for Representative Government
    • Democracy Versus Republic
      • Direct Democracy - Where people meet to vote directly on policy issues
      • Representative democracy - People’s elected delegates decide policy issues
    • Limited Popular Rule
      • House members serve two years
      • US Senators serve 6 years and every 2 years one-third of senators’ terms expire
      • The President serves 4 years

We the People - Chapter 3

• Categorical Grants
  • These are grants issued by the federal government to state and local governments for a specific purpose, and come with strict guidelines and requirements on how the money can be spent.
    • Example: a grant to improve public transportation systems in urban areas which must be used specifically for transportation-related projects.
• Block Grants
  • These are grants by the federal government to state and local governments for broader purposes with fewer restrictions, offering more flexibility in how the funds can be used.
    • Example: a grant for community development where the state or local government can decide how to allocate the funds across various projects, such as housing, infrastructure, or social services, based on local needs.
• Key Differences
  • Purpose: Categorical grants are for specific, narrowly defined purposes, while block grants are for broader, general purposes.
  • Flexibility: Categorical grants have strict guidelines and requirements, whereas block grants offer more flexibility in how the funds are used.

Mill

• Mill is not about “free speech for the sake of free speech” – 1A.
• Mill does NOT believe that “every opinion is valid”.
• Mill believed that everyone has the RIGHT to have an opinion/belief and that the government should not coerce or manipulate what those opinions should be.
• Mill's "why" for protecting free speech is so that everyone can get closer to the truth, by correcting error (when wrong) and gaining confidence in a position (when right).
• No person or government is infallible, so everyone can ALL be wrong, and people should hold their conclusions or truth somewhat lightly.
• Mill does not believe that, if someone is “proven” wrong then should be silenced.
• "Harm" argument