Chapter 1: Principles of Government
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Chapter Outline
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Governments hold the legal and judicial powers in every society, but they exercise those powers in different ways. Governments have various structures and forms, from dictatorships to democracies. American democracy rests on such basic concepts as individual rights and majority rule.
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Section 1: Government and the State -The basic unit of government is the state. John Locke's theory of the origin of the state had a profound impact on the United States' government.
Section 2: Forms of Government - Governments can take a variety of forms, each of which distributes power differently. Section 3: Basic Concepts of Democracy - Democracy is based on five principles. Like democracy, the United States' economic system relies on individual freedoms.
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AP Government Connections
- 1A: Considerations that influenced the formation and adoption of the Constitution
- 1E: Theories of Democratic Government
Flashcards |
Review Questions
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As long as people are people, democracy, in the full sense of the word, will always be no more than an ideal. In this sense, you too are merely approaching democracy. But you have one great advantage: you have been approaching democracy uninterruptedly for more than 200 years, and your journey toward the horizon has never been disrupted by a totalitarian regime. |