American Government:

Roots, Context, and Culture

Danny Lehman/Corbis

Learning Objectives

1.1

Trace the origins of American

government.

1.2

Evaluate the different types of

government countries may employ.

Learning Objectives

1.3

Explain the functions of American

government.

1.4

Describe American political culture,

and identify the basic tenets of
American democracy.

Learning Objectives

1.5

Analyze the changing characteristics

of the American public.

1.6

Assess the role of political ideology

in shaping American politics.

Learning Objectives
1.7

Characterize changes in Americans'

attitudes toward and expectations of
government.

Roots of American
Government: We the
People
The Earliest Inhabitants of the Americas
The First Colonists

1.1

The Earliest Inhabitants of

the Americas

1.1

Indigenous peoples
Thought to have Migrated from present-day Russia
through the Bering Strait into North America
Crossed an ice bridge from Siberia or arrived on
boats from across the Pacific
Inhabited North America for 30,000 years
Not homogeneous
cultures, customs, values, their political systems
varied widely

The Earliest Inhabitants of

the Americas
Estimated 100 million inhabitants
Numbers dropped
Diseases to which the indigenous peoples had
not been exposed.
Warfare
with the European settlers
within tribes
These killed many American Indians but also
disrupted previously established ways of life

1.1

The First Colonists

1.1

Reasons for immigration

Wealthy Englishmen and other Europeans left home

seeking to enhance their fortunes.
Also laborers who hoped to find their own opportunities for
riches (working for wealthy)

Dutch
New Netherlands Company settled along the Hudson and lower
Delaware Rivers,
Dutch West India Company established trading posts on the
Hudson River.
Were populated by salaried employees.

The First Colonists

1664 Changed name to New York

Settlers from Finland, Germany, and Sweden.
Immigrants also included free blacks.
This ethnic and racial mix created its own
system of cultural inclusiveness that continues
to make New York City and its citizenry unique
today. Slavery New York

1.1

FIGURE 1.1: What did colonial

settlement look like before 1700?

1.1

The First Colonists

1.1

A religious tradition takes root

"A city on a hill
1620, a group of Protestants known as
Puritans left Europe aboard the Mayflower
They believed the Old Testament charged
them to create a city that would shine as
an example of righteousness. (Calvinist)

The First Colonists

1.1

Lack of religious tolerance

Colonists with religious views that the Puritans
considered heretical were thrown out of the
colony and forced to settle elsewhere,
founding places such as :
Portsmouth, Rhode Island (mid-wife Anne
Hutchison)
Providence, Rhode Island; (Roger Williams)
Hartford, Connecticut (Thomas Hooker)

The First Colonists

Some Colonies in the New World were
established with religious tolerance in mind .

In 1632, King Charles I granted George Calvert, a

charter to establish a Catholic colony in the New
World.
Became known as Maryland (after Mary, the
mother of Jesus)

1.1

The First Colonists

In 1681, King Charles II granted William Penn (a

Quaker) a charter giving him sole ownership land just
north of Maryland.
The king called the land Pennsylvania, or Penns
Woods.
Penn, purchased the land that is present-day
Delaware.
Penn launched what he called the holy experiment,
attracting other persecuted Europeans including,
German Mennonites and
Lutherans and
French Huguenots.

1.1

Who was Anne Hutchinson?

Bettmann/Corbis

1.1

1.1 In which state did the

Puritans first settle?
a. Massachusetts
b. Virginia
c. New York
d. Rhode Island

1.1

1.1 In which state did the

Puritans first settle?
a. Massachusetts
b. Virginia
c. New York
d. Rhode Island

1.1

Types of Government

1.2

Classification of governments

We classify governments according to who participates, who governs,

and how much authority those who govern enjoy.

Monarchy
rule by hereditary king or queen in the interest of all of
his or her subjects. .
Aristocracy,
an aristocracy, is government by the few in the service of
the many. (few =the morally and intellectually superior)

What does a modern

monarchy look like?

1.2

Jeff J. Mitchell/AP Images

Types of Government

1.2

Totalitarianism
Tyrants rule their countries to benefit themselves.
EX North Korea under Kim Jong-Un.

Oligarchy
occurs when a few people rule in their own interest.
wealth, social status, military position, or achievement
dictates participation in government.
EX. China and Russia

Types of Government

1.2

Democracy
System of government that gives power to the people. Most
governments worldwide are democracies.
Direct democracy.
members of the polity meet to discuss all policy decisions and
then agree to abide by majority rule.
Ancient Greeks / Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that true
democracy is impossible unless all citizens participate in
governmental decision making
Representative democracy
people vote for representatives who work on their behalf
AKA-- A Republic government rooted in the consent Of the
governed;

TABLE 1.1 How did Aristotle classify

the types of governments?

1.2

Devising a National
Government in the
American Colonies
Devising a National Government in the
American Colonies

Rejected monarchy/aristocracy
Rejected direct democracy as unworkable
Chose republic
Indirect democracy

1.2

1.2 Which form of government

did the colonists choose for their 1.2

new nation?
a. Direct democracy
b. Aristocracy
c. Oligarchy
d. Republic

1.2 Which form of government

did the colonists choose for their1.2

new nation?

a. Direct democracy
b. Aristocracy
c. Oligarchy
d. Republic

Functions of American
Government

Establishing Justice
creation of a system of laws
Ensuring Domestic Tranquillity
Societies must abide by the rule of law
Providing for the Common Defence
Major purpose of government is to provide
defense for its citizens against threats of
foreign and domestic aggression

1.3

Functions of American
Government
Promoting the General Welfare
notions of what governments should do have
expanded along with governmental size.
Securing the Blessings of Liberty
freedoms including freedom to criticize the
government and to petition it

1.3

American Political Culture and

the Basic Tenets of American
Democracy

Political Culture: Political culture is a group's

commonly shared attitudes, beliefs, and core
values about how government should operate
Liberty and Equality
Concepts of personal liberty have changed and
evolved from freedom from to freedom to
Freedom to: include demands for freedom to work or
go to school free from discrimination

American Political Culture and

1.4
the Basic Tenets of American
Democracy
Political Equality

the principle that all citizens are the same in the

eyes of the law.

Popular Consent, Majority Rule, and Popular

Sovereignty
Popular Consent
Derived from English political philosopher John
Lockes social contract theory

Forms of Government Access to

Government

Americas founders were influenced by

the English thinker John Locke (1632
1704). Locke argued that governments
need the consent of the people.

American Political Culture and the Basic

Tenets of American Democracy
Majority rule
Election of officials and transformation of policies into law takes
place only if the

MAJORITY of citizens in any political unit

SUPPORT it
Majority (normally 50 percent of the total votes cast plus
one)
American system also stresses preservation of minority
rights,

Popular sovereignty,
has its basis in natural law, a doctrine that certain ethical
principles are part of nature and, as such, can be understood by
reason.
Ultimately, political authority rests with the people, who can
create, abolish, or alter their governments.

American Political Culture and

1.2
the Basic Tenets of American
Democracy
Individualism
Traced back to the Puritans. This emphasis on
individualism
Makes Americans quite different from citizens
of other democracies
Linked to unalienable rights

Liberty and Equality

Which is most important?

Most important characteristics of the American

republican form of government,
Liberty valued over equality.
The Framers wrote the Constitution itself to ensure
liberty.

Freedom from versus freedom to

Concepts of personal liberty have changed. From
freedom from governmental infringements on
freedom of religion and speech etc.
To freedom to work or go to school free from
discrimination.

1.4

Liberty and Equality

1.4

Political equality

all citizens are the same in the eyes of the law.

Notions of political equality have changed dramatically from
the founding era.

Religious Faith and

Religious Freedom
Religious conflict motivation for immigration
Colonists sought freedom of religion.
Did not want to grant it to others

Religious freedom enshrined in Constitution

Tolerance still more of an ideal

1.4

Why is religious freedom a tenet of

American democracy?

Rex Features/ AP Images

1.4

1.4

1.4 What is the idea that

society should be governed by
certain ethical principals that
are part of nature and, as such,
can be understood by reason?
a. Biblical law
b. Natural law
c. Majority rule
d. Oligarchy

1.4 What is the idea that

society should be governed by
certain ethical principals that
are part of nature and, as such,
can be understood by reason?
a. Biblical law
b. Natural law
c. Majority rule
d. Oligarchy

1.4

The Changing American

People

Racial and Ethnic Composition

Aging
Religious Beliefs
Regional Growth and Expansion
Family and Family Size
Census data

1.5

Racial and Ethnic

Composition

1.5

Immigration from Eastern Europe

Growth of Hispanic population
Hispanics overtaking African
Americans as the second most
common racial or ethnic group.
The Asian American population, is
fastest growing minority group in the
United States.

Racial and Ethnic

Composition
This means that the majority of babies
born in the United States are now
members of a minority group, Minorities
now the majority

1.5

Age

Aging
Strain on Social Security
Impact on working Americans

1.5

Religious Beliefs
No longer mainly Christian?
Different political and social demands
Religion pew study

1.5

WHO ARE AMERICANS?

Geography
1790*

1900*

2010

50%

28%

6%
50%

Northeast 50%
South
50%

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov (accessed 8/16/12).

36%

18%

23%

33%

Northeast
South
Midwest
West

28%
33%
35%
6%

22%
37%

Northeast
South
Midwest
West

18%
37%
22%
23%

Regional Growth and

Expansion

1.5

North versus South

Settlers from the Virginia colony southward largely
focused on commerce.
Those seeking various forms of religious freedom
populate the North.
Religious freedom also came with puritanical values,
so that New England evolved differently from the South
in many aspects of culture
Immigrants with various religious traditions and
customs entered the country, often settling in
areas where other immigrants from their homeland
already lived.

Regional Growth and

Expansion
South
During the Constitutional Convention, Southerners
wanted a weak national government.
Civil War fought in part because of basic
philosophical differences about government and
slavery --Northerners opposed.
South continues to lag behind the rest of the
nation in supporting civil rights,
Still favors return of power to the states and
downsizing the national government.

Regional Growth and

Expansion

1.5

The West
Populated first by those seeking free land and
Then by many chasing dreams of gold,
Some people have moved there to avoid city life
and have an anti-government bias.

Regional Growth and

Expansion
In recent presidential election:
Democratic candidates carried almost every large
city in America;
Republicans carried most rural voters as well as
most of Americas heartland.
Republicans won the South, the West, and much
of the Midwest;
Democrats carried the Northeast and West Coast.
270 to win

Family and Family Size

1.5

Declining marriage rate

In 1940, 90 percent households were
traditional. Today, just 69 percent of
children under eighteen live with both
parents;
Over 25 percent of children under
eighteen live with just one of their
parents
One-third of all households consist of a
single person

Family and Family Size

Gender roles
Women did housework and men worked in the
fields.
Large families were imperative
Industrialization and knowledge of birth control
methods led to decline in family size

Same-sex marriage
thirty-six states plus the District of Columbia allow

What does the typical American

family look like?

ABC/Photofest

1.5

1.5 Regional differences in

America include
a. North versus South
b. East versus West
c. Urban versus rural
d. All of the above

1.5

1.5 Regional differences in

America include
a. North versus South
b. East versus West
c. Urban versus rural
d. All of the above

1.5

Political Ideology
Finding Your Political Ideology
Conservative

a defender of the status quo

prefers change to come slowly, and in
moderation.
social conservative voters (Religious Right)
Evangelical Protestants, Mormons,
some Roman Catholics, some Jews and
many Muslims

1.6

Political Ideology
Liberal
one who seeks to use the government to change
the political, economic, and social status quo and
foster the development of equality and the wellbeing of individuals.
value equality
Support well-funded government social welfare
programs
generally oppose government efforts to regulate private
behavior or infringe on civil rights and liberties

Political Ideology
Moderate
moderate takes a relatively centrist view on most
political issues.

Statist
pro-governmental interference

Libertarian
anti-governmental interference

Problems with Labeling

20 percent to 60 percent of people will hold a traditionally
conservative view on one issue and a traditionally liberal
view on another

FIGURE 1.3 What are Americans'

political ideologies?

1.6

1.6

Which ideology seeks to change the

political, economic, and social status quo
to foster the development of equality and
the well-being of individuals?

a. Conservative
b. Liberal
c. Libertarian
d. Social conservative

1.6

1.6 Which ideology seeks to

change the political, economic,
and social status quo to foster
the development of equality and
the well-being of individuals?
a. Conservative
b. Liberal
c. Libertarian
d. Social conservative

1.6

Toward Reform: People

and Politics

1.7

Politics

study of who gets what, when, and how

the process by which policy decisions are made

The American Dream

American ideal of a happy and successful

life, which often includes wealth, a house, a
better life for ones children, and, for some, the
opportunity to grow up to be president.

Redefining Our
Expectations

1.7

Loss of faith in American institutions

Frustration
Dissatisfaction
Today, many Americans lack faith in the countrys
institutions
a 2012 poll revealed that more than seven in ten Americans
think the country is headed in the wrong direction

FIGURE 1.4 Do Americans have

confidence in political institutions?

1.7

What is the role of American

government?

AP Images/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

1.7

1.7 What has happened to faith

in public institutions over the
last half century?
a. It has stayed the same.
b. It has risen.
c. It has declined.
d. It has ceased to exist.

1.7

1.7 What has happened to faith

in public institutions over the
last half century?
a. It has stayed the same.
b. It has risen.
c. It has declined.
d. It has ceased to exist.

1.7

Discussion Question
In what ways has America changed since the first
permanent settlement of European immigrants at
Jamestown? Consider ethnic, racial, religious,
geographic, economic, political, and other
changes.