Introduction to Government What is government What do governments do Limited government liberalism I II III I Democracy dictatorship monarchs are all governments Thomas Hobbes 1588 1679 wrote Leviathan in 1651 Leviathan says that society without a government is a terrible place to be called state of nature Men are constantly living in continual fear Life of man is solitary poor nasty brutish and short There is a danger of violent death It is the survival of the fittest While Thomas Hobbes was writing he lived through the English Civil War There was no monarchy in England Collapsed states with no government no laws and no structure Rowanda in the mid 1990 s country collapsed State of nature There was a historian that wrote about these situations He talks about getting a drink and how there is no basic trust You have to open your own bottle or if it is like in a bowl the host would have to drink out of the bowl first Basic trust is gone Government institutions and procedures through which a land and its people are ruled Government rules all institutions it s territorial authority to rule capacity ability to rule enforce procedures rules policies II All governments 1 Have to maintain order protect life and property all governments use force to do this institute rules laws courts for people who don t follow rules even democracies use coercive power example a speeding ticket meaning do not speed different depending on the type of government some will run people over with a tank or some will give out tickets 2 National defense protect national sovereignty some kind of military armed forces 3 Provide public goods Private goods are individual you only have it if YOU buy it you don t have it to share example car or a cup of coffee 4 Socialize the young into the political culture Pledge of allegiance this is the start of patriotism Class socialization which feels like we have strong ties with our government 5 Collect taxes we need these funds for 1 4 coercive powers Used to gain revenue through taxes wide variety of types ways III Thomas Jefferson says that the government which governs least is the best government Aspects of our lives that we don t want government rights to privacy and speech which is limited government We Americans protect our own rights Liberalism classical political philosophy Madison explains our system by saying that government needs to control us but also itself limited government Government is created to protect your rights liberal Liberalism name of a certain kind of theory of government one centering on the individual and primarily concerned with protecting the individual s rights through a social contract Liberalism individual rights aka protecting your rights Bourgeoisie freemen of the city or Bourg made living by taking over the parliament and being in it This is the first seed of liberalism Political power tied to aristocrat family lands which are monarchs Livelihood from trade gaining economic power This is economically well but politically not well Kings do what they want Parliaments are weak but they need political power No protection of property because the king can tax them on their trade use parliament to limit power of monarchies God s representative Magna Carta 1215 13th century early attempts of limiting power of a king in England This was the first attempt of constitutionalism Charles the 1st wanted the petition of rights In the United States John Locke 1632 1704 was the first liberal thinker Hobbes is not a liberal because he believes in the social contract with the government He thinks that in order for the government to protect us we give up all of our rights This does not limit the government in any way Locke said that the state of nature was inconvenient Social contract with the government gave up some rights to the government but we didn t give up the right for revolution
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