Transcript Chapter 2 Democracy in America 1

Chapter 2
Democracy in America
1
Evolution of American Democracy
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Democracy must contain the following:
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Dignity of individuals
Equal protection under the law
Decisions made by majority rule
Opportunity for each individual to participate in
decision making
One person one vote
If the principles of democracy are unjust then civil
disobedience maybe used to challenge the law.
Civil disobedience being expressed (video)
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Evolution of American Democracy
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Natural Law – a doctrine that says society
should be governed by certain ethical
principles that are a part of nature
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Introduced by Aristotle in 384 BC
Newton introduced self government 1642 based
on science and reason
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Evolution of American Democracy
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Locke and Hobbes developed Social Contract
Theory
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People are free and equal by God given rights and
each person is required to give consent to be
governed
Hobbes believed that a single ruler would be better
than no ruler – Locke disagreed
Locke believed that government’s job was to
preserve the private property of the citizens
Locke’s work was used by Thomas Jefferson to
draft the Constitution
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Politics in America
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Politics = who gets what, when, where, and
how
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Government = legitimately uses force to carry
out decisions
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A Land of Law, Not of People
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Constitution limits government intervention
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First Amendment guarantees freedom of Religion, speech,
press, assembly, petition.– beyond the reach of government
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In order to keep a lawless society we grant governments the
ability to secure peace and self-preservation. Can the
government become to strong and trample on the liberties?
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A Foreign Eye on Democracy
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Alexis de Tocqueville, French Philosopher
visited America
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Wrote a book, Democracy in America
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America sets an example for the world in how a
democracy should work
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Direct and Representative
Democracy
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Direct Democracy
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People govern themselves, vote on policies and laws
and live by majority rule
America is not a direct democracy
Representative Democracy
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Elected representatives make decisions for the
people
America is a representative democracy
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