Philosophical Foundations of Government

The philosopher who wrote Leviathan, who believed we need a dictatorship because we need to be controlled and without government we create constant war

The philosopher who believed the State of Nature was perfect freedom but was ruined by a few degenerates, so we needed a limited government only to protect our life liberty and property

How we would live without (or before) government - philosophers develop theories of this based on their view of human nature. Hobbes believed it was a state of constant war. Locked believed it was perfect freedom, ruined by a few who would violate the law of nature.

The concept of Locke's that government should only have enough power to achieve limited goals, (to protect life liberty and property) especially as defined in a Constitution - one of the big ideas of democracy

An agreement among a group of people to form a government, usually through the adoption of a constitution

A form of direct democracy developed in the classical period, in which all adult citizens vote directly on matters affecting the community

A form of representative democracy developed in the classical period where people elected representatives to the senate which made decisions about policy

A system where everyone votes on laws and policies v. a system where people elect a group who decide on laws and policies.

The U.S. form of government in which powers are divided between a strong central government and several local (state) governments.

The principle that everyone has to follow the laws, including people who are part of the government - decisions are made based on what the law says, not just what the leaders may want to do - one of the big ideas of democracy

The principle that the people have the right to decide who will rule them and how they will be ruled - one of the big ideas of democracy

An agreement made by the Pilgrims before going ashore where they agreed to stick together as one colony and govern themselves as a democracy - one of the documents that influenced the Constitution

The constitution of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy - protected the rights of the people and of each tribe - a confederate system - one of the documents that influenced the U.S. Constitution

The first system of government in the United States, it operated from 1777-1788, and created a weak one-branch government that could not create a uniform system of money and commerce for the country or raise money through taxes

The document that marked our formal split from Great Britain, and which started the Revolutionary War - it included the phrase 'All men are created equal...' - it was not a constitution

A movement in central and western Massachusetts of farmers in 1786-7 organizing against bank foreclosures, this led to armed confrontations and convinced many that we needed a stronger government to deal with this kind of disorder

The 1787 meeting to discuss changes to the Articles of Confederation, that then decided to draft a new proposed constitution, sometimes called the Philadelphia Convention

At the Constitutional Convention, a proposed new constitution with equal votes for each state v. a different proposal that would give a different number of representatives to each state based on their population

At the Constitutional Convention, this was the compromise that determined that slaves would count partially for purposes of determining a state's number of representatives

At the Constitutional Convention, this was the compromise that established two houses of Congress - one in which states have equal votes, and one based on population. It is sometimes called the Connecticut Compromise for the state that proposed it.

This term refers to dividing the legislative power into two houses to limit its power, the Constitution used this in setting up Congress as a House of Representatives and a Senate

Those who supported the Constitution during ratification who believed we needed a new stronger government v. those who opposed it because they thought it was too powerful and was dangerous for our rights and our state governments

During the Massachusetts Ratification Convention, John Hancock proposed that they should ratify the Constitution, but add a list of suggested amendments - this helped it pass, the model was followed by other states, and it led the Bill of Rights to be added to the Constitution.

The idea that the legislative, executive, and judicial branches should be apart from each other - that this would prevent the government from abusing its power

The ways in which each branch can limit the power of the other branches, for example the President's veto power - another way to prevent the government from abusing its power

One example of 'Checks and Balances' which says that the courts can overrule actions of the executive or legislative branches - for example to declare a law unconstitutional

The first ten amendments that protect our basic freedoms