Focus Questions - Focus Questions Q1 What are the broad purposes ...

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Chapter 1 The Origins of American Political Principles Focus Questions Q1 What are the broad purposes of government?A1 The ancients believed the role of government and politics was to foster human excellence. However, it is imperative to remember that the Greeks and Romans believed the virtuous should rule. Furthermore, values of equality and order would be served through a society based upon the rule of law to provide for the common good. In the Middle Ages, government was largely used to facilitate religion and maintained the need for the individual to live a proper life in the service of God. The role of government changed in the early sixteenth century by downplaying the role of religion while alternatively promoting the role of limited government to protect private property and individual rights.Q2 How should government be designed to achieve its purposes?A2 According to Plato the philosopher-king’s wisdom and intellect would promote order, stability and justice. Yet, Aristotle takes a more realistic view of Athenian society by advocating the best form of government as a polity which combined oligarchic and democratic elements. The Romans combined monarchical, aristocratic, and democratic principles as a mixed government within representative bodies like the Senate and the Assembly in order to champion the causes of both the rich and the poor. Government in the Middle Ages was determined through divine right, whereby a monarch or Pope was ordained by God to rule. Hence, wisdom and virtue rested within these few individuals who governed to promote religious life and protect the religious establishment. The Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, and Enlightenment periods shifted the role of government from upholding religious doctrine to secular concerns such as protecting inalienable rights, private property and promoting commerce. In turn, Enlightenment political philosophers largely appealed to individualism and not religious hierarchy as a means to provide order and stability in which individuals could flourish.Q3 What lessons about government did colonial Americans draw from the history of ancient Greece and Rome?American Government Political Development and Institutional Change 7e Cal Jillson (Solutions Manual All Chapters, 100% Original Verified, A+ Grade)

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A3 The Framers of the U.S. Constitution adhered to the tradition of mixed government initially expounded by Aristotle and the Romans. Plato was suspicious of democracy’s rule of the many because good government would decay into mob rule. Hence, the passions of the masses needed to be quelled by more aristocratic elements. This was maintained in the indirect selection of both the Senate and the presidency within the Constitution. Aristotle also advocated mixing aristocratic and democratic elements in a governing structure called a polity. In effect, this governmental design allowed the few and the many to participate in the politics providing an orderly society where the poor should be able to select government officials who were held accountable. This was made manifest in the aristocratic-like Senate and the more democratic House of Representatives. The Framers referenced the institutional design of the Roman republic.The republic was designed designating institutional powers and governed according to the rule of law. While the Framers rejected the religious hierarchy of the Middle Ages, they appealed to inalienable rights endowed upon every individual by God, per the writings of John Locke, in which a just government and society could not be impeded.Q4 What circumstances led Europeans to leave their homelands to settle in America?A4 Individuals immigrated to the colonies to escape religious persecution, civil unrest after the English Civil War and to pursue social and economic opportunities. Colonists enjoyed a vast array of natural resources, a large geographical area where freedom of religion and economic opportunity flourished. Also, their heterogeneous social composition as well as continual promotion of ideals such as equality and tolerance tended to promote political freedom at the same time that social expansion of the population was occurring.Q5 What did democracy mean to our colonial ancestors, and did they approve it?A5 Answer: The colonists were skeptical of democracy and viewed this type of governing authority as mob rule. Society was largely seen as segmented into those who should rule and those who should not. In fact, the Founders believed the elite (well-educated, land owners) should occupy positions of leadership. Thus, an aristocratic element within government was necessary to protect against the threat of mob rule historically associated with democracy. Fundamentally, the idea of republicanism was promoted as an ideal at a higher level than democracy. This was made most manifest in the tendency to prefer mixed constitutional schemes over single-body regimes like monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. It was in this respect that our colonial ancestors were both innovative and critical of extant governmental forms yet simultaneously wedded to the past, especially the Greco-Roman ancients.

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Chapter Outline I.A Tradition to Draw From History and experience provided lessons upon which the Founders referenced in designing American political institutions.

A.The Ancients: Who Rules and for What Purposes?

The philosophy of Plato and Aristotle was concerned with structuring a society, known as a city-state,

and based upon human nature: Speech and reason as the

fundamental characteristics of humans. Thus, the political community or polis is designed according to the virtues and abilities of its inhabitants.

1.The Greeks: Monarchy, Aristocracy, Democracy

a.According to Aristotle, the purpose of politics is to create an order that fosters human excellence. Plato’s leader was the philosopher-king. While Plato doubted the reality of this king, concluding that good government

would be uncommon and short-lived, he and particularly Aristotle

identified three forms of government:

1)Monarchy—rule by one leader.2)Aristocracy—rule by a few good men.3)Democracy—rule by the many.b.Aristotle also theorized that governments would decay. Thus, monarchy decays into tyranny through despotic actions of a single ruler. Second, aristocracy decays into oligarchy whereby the few rule to advance their self-interests contrary to the common good. Finally, democracy decays into mob rule as the masses rule according to their passions.

c.Aristotle’s additional contribution: Political Order based on Reality.

1)Aristotle’s contribution was pragmatic by addressing the needs of the wealthy and the masses within a society to form a mixed government.2)He believed oligarchy and democracy are the most common regimes. Therefore, the best elements of each might be combined and made into a good, workable, and stable government. He called this form “polity.”

2.The Romans: Republicanism and Mixed Government

a.The Romans, notably Polybius and Cicero, believed government’s institutional structure should arbitrate power between rich and poor.Accordingly, this order was a republic or mixed state in which monarchical, aristocratic, and democratic elements are represented.b.Polybius asserted this mixed government would promote stability via a strong executive while also providing a legislative branch whereby the few (wealthy) and many (poor) could participate in the political process.c.Cicero appealed to the rule of law and the virtues of liberty, equality, and the informed consent of individuals to provide stability, order, and

freedom.

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• Cicero’s impact upon the Framers is seen with the concepts of limited

government, separation of powers, and checks and balances. The Founders, specifically James Madison, reflected upon the ancient philosophers’ beliefs concerning the roles, institutions, and mechanisms of politics. However, the task at hand for the Framers of the U.S.Constitution was to design a government balancing order and freedom to an end of providing a just government that may be sustained over an extended period of time.

B. The Middle Ages: The Secular Serves the State

The Christian view of political life maintained the highest goal of man is salvation and eternity which is achieved by serving God. This view of political life was proposed by St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas who advocated that both ruler and ruled should conduct themselves in the political realm as in their personal life through a devotion to God.

• This had political implications. To achieve salvation the political order was

organized to support religion. Thus, religious institutions were active in political matters.

• Order was needed to allow religion to prosper in peace.
• Rule by one or a few (i.e. the Pope or king).
• Religious order assured obedience to authority.
• Power would flow down.

e. The many would follow: Obedience would flow up from the masses.

• Religious values (moderation, tolerance and faith) would promote

stability and peace.

• Accordingly, hierarchy was the best form of social and political organization.
• These conditions led to the formation of a stable and peaceful community.
• The emphasis placed on religion in the Middle Ages negatively influenced the

Framers. The Founders believed politics and religion should be separate.

• In American colonial history, the Puritans of Massachusetts were the closest

approximators to the theocratic elements in politics inherited from the Middle Ages.

• Secularism, Individualism, and the Idea of Progress

Beginning in the 1600s the religious hierarchy dominating politics began to wane.Subsequently, a commitment to science and human progress replaced a devotion to religious doctrine within social life. Instead, more emphasis was placed upon the idea that an appeal to individualism and freedom would lead to political and social order.

• Because there was less emphasis upon salvation, religion was increasingly

divorced from politics. However, this did not discount the need for strong government.

• The political theorist, Niccolo Machiavelli, observed Italian politics and

concluded that strong government was needed to provide peace and order.

• Individualism and the Protestant Reformation.

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