Can you imagine if the world didn’t have a government ? It would be total chaos. That’s why I said IMAGINE. There are numerous of definitions that people or citizens of a country considered their government to be. In the Merriam -Webster Dictionary their definitions of government are “1. 'the group of people who control and make decisions for a country, state, etc.', “2. a particular system used for controlling a country, state, etc.' and “3.'the process or manner of controlling a country, state, etc.' With all three definitions they share a common interest of government are people that are involved in a system within a specific place.
Where the controversy begins are the ideas of what role government should play in society. During the Age of Enlightenment numerous philosophers stated their opinion on government. The Age of Enlightenment can often be referred to as the Age of Reason. This took
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place during the beginning of the 18th century. Major figures that were in the Age of Enlightenment were, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Isaac Newton and Thomas Jefferson. Many may even argue that the philosophies that happened were just more than reason, skepticism , progress and rationalism. This was a change to not only United States of America but also for other countries that reside near us and rely on us for economical reasons. The formation of government first established and formed back when people realized that protection was easier if they stayed together in groups.
People who share the same common interest for the aspirations of life would stay together and strive for what they believe in. This lead to the basis of sovereignty, people could be free to govern itself without any interference. In order to understand how governments are created and structured, there has to be a comprehension of the reason behind WHY there were created.
Relating back to my question of “Imagine if the world didn’t have a government”. Well it was like that at point of time during history, which probably makes sense to why there were numerous of documented wars. Complete chaos and disorder happening. Some will say governments serve as a purpose to bring order to society , but on the other hand if the government doesn’t meet the needs of the people they will try and change the rules. Even worse ! If the government feels like they have complete control over the people, the people will take authority to
overthrow. During the Enlightenment, philosophers gave their idea and opinion are how governments are created then structured. Based on Jean-Jacques Rousseau from his article, “Discourse on the Origin of Inequality” he sees despotism ( absolute power ) as the worst type of rule and democracy ( government by the people ) as the best. His judgment of democracy being the best is due to the fact that it is the most equal system closest to natural freedom. For the same reason, Rousseau argues that humans can’t be controlled and society turns them selfish. This is why he believed only a good government could be created and structurally maintained if it freely formed by consent of the people. John Locke also provides his judgement with the idea of government in his Two Treatises of Government by saying that there should be a natural law that governs behavior. This is having each person able to license and execute that law against someone who wrongs them by infringing on their rights. Locke believed government would be maintained if and only if the needs of the people were met. Governments exist to serve people, not people serving the government. The people don’t own any loyalty towards them. However John Locke additionally believed that if the government stopped satisfying the needs of the people,it was upon the people to change to that . They have the obligation to make necessary changes even if it mean to abolish the government and replace it. Lastly, Montesquieu introduced the idea of creating a government when he suggests in “The Spirit of Laws” that there be three governments which are: Monarchical, Republic and Despotic. He argued that the best type of government would be one which power was balanced and divided. This ensures that no one section has more power over the others. Sounds familiar? This is how the U.S government is set up separation of powers aligned with checks and balances. Some examples of how Montesquieu elaborated his ideas are back in time when monarchs actually had a saying there would be the Monarch and the Parliament. The separation here is that the Parliament made laws for the people , Monarch would enforce it while the courts will interpret the law. "When the [lawmaking] and [law enforcement] powers are united in the same person... there can be no liberty." According to Montesquieu, each branch of government could limit the power of the other two branches. Therefore, no branch of the government could threaten the freedom of the people. The ideas that he contributed here later came for the basis of the United States Constitution. Essentially, there are many philosophers from the Enlightenment era that contributed prominent ideas of enforcing government to control people’s state of nature. The idea of government has been instituted and established since the early 16th century, however there are many different government structures to a government. For example, governments operate at many different levels; oligarchy, absolute monarchy, democracy constitutional, communist, parliamentary and more. Each government is made to appease a various group of people. For example, the United States is a democracy which is a form of government in which the supreme power is retained by the people. In China, The Communist Party of China is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China. Communism is a system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian, party holds power. Ultimately, the differences among the structure of each government is chiefly concerned to whether power is held by one, by a few, or by many and what benefits the people in the country, region, state, etc. To ensure meeting the needs of the people and maintaining structured balance many governments use police force & make implementing Non Negotiable laws. If people don't abide by the laws, they either get sent to jail or prison. These are facilities used to help the society remain orderly. In addition to that, they maintain order by providing services to benefit their people. Meeting and satisfying EVERYONE’S needs as a government is just simple impossible, so they try and make it less complicated. Sometimes governments also maintain their structure and regulations by coming up with resolutions to various conflicts that cause aggression which leads to compromise, cooperation, and change. For example, in the United State there is welfare. Within welfare, there are certain qualifications for an applicant to be considered. Food stamps, housing assistance, childcare and transportation are all services provided by the government through welfare. This all ties together to help create and sustain a government that can satisfy almost everyone's needs and wants. The idea of creation of government goes way back to when order needed to be maintained and structured. Of course not every type of government is perfect or the suitable type for their society. It is upon the people to change and reform those who control their everyday life.
During the Age of Absolutism, views of how government should have been run were drastically different that the views of Enlightenment thinkers. The fundamental difference between these two views of government – absolutism and Enlightenment – was that, in an absolute view of government, it stated that it should be run by a monarch – such as a king or a queen – and that he or she should have complete and unquestionable authority over everything, whereas the Enlightenment resulted in the development of new ideas, many of which criticized absolute monarchies, such as the idea that the fundamental function of government was to protect it's people's rights. The Enlightenment thinkers all had different ideas, and all to varying degrees, but the main theme is that all of their ideas criticized absolutism (except for Hobbes) and resulted in the gradual rejection of it.
Mini-Q Essay A time period known as The Age of Reason or The Enlightenment was when philosophy, politics, science and social communications changed drastically. It helped shape the ideas of capitalism and democracy, which is the world we live in today. People joined together to discuss areas of high intellect and creative thoughts. The Enlightenment was a time period in which people discussed new ideas, and educated people, known as philosophers, all had a central idea of freedom of choice and the natural right of individuals. These philosophers include John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, and Mary Wollstonecraft.
This paper is about John Locke who was a philosopher in the 17-century. He was an Englishmen and his ideas formed the basic concept for the government and laws, which later allowed colonist to justify revolution. I agree with what Locke is saying because everybody should be able to have their own freedom and still respect the freedom of other people. John said, “Individuals have rights, and their duties are defined in terms of protecting their own rights and respecting those of others”. This paper will present to you information about his enlightenment, personal information, and how we as people feel about his decisions.
There are many different ways in which the Enlightenment affected the Declaration of Independence and the U.S Constitution. One way was the by the idea of a Social Contract; an agreement by which human beings are said to have abandoned the "state of nature" in order to form the society in which they now live. HOBBES, LOCKE, and J.J. ROUSSEAU each developed differing versions of the social contract, but all agreed that certain freedoms had been surrendered for society's protection and that the government has definite responsibilities to its citizens. Locke believed that governments were formed to protect the natural rights of men, and that overthrowing a government that did not protect these rights was not only a right, but also an obligation. His thoughts influenced many revolutionary pamphlets and documents, including the Virginia Constitution of 1776, and the Declaration of Independence. The Bill of Rights was created as a listing of the rights granted to citizens, the Bill of Rights serves to protect the people from a too powerful government. These civil rights granted to U.S. Citizens are included in the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, Locke’s ideas about checks and balances and the division of church and state were later embodied in the U.S. Constitution as well. The Constitution replaced a more weakly organized system of government as outlined under the Articles of Confederation.
The church’s robust grip on religious expression shattered as medieval society transitioned into a period known as the Reformation. Characterized by the rejection of common ideology, the Reformation sparked religious curiosity. Reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther offered interpretations of the Bible in direct opposition to the Catholic Church’s teachings, forcing Europeans to examine and formulate their own beliefs. This style of thinking was foreign to European society because up to this point in history Europeans were passive absorbers of Catholic Church ideology. Hence, it was natural that an era considered the Age of Enlightenment followed the period of rejection and questioning known as the Reformation. The Age of Enlightenment did not merely confine itself to religious expression, but spread throughout natural and social science. Thus, the Age of Enlightenment marked the beginning of academic and religious philosophy and allowed great minds to think free from restriction and condemnation of established institution. As the perception of natural
The definition of a government is “a governing body of a nation state, and community”(Merriam-Webster). The Dystopian that we live in today is probably the same as in the book 1984 and the movie Divergent. However, there many other things that are different. One of those things is that there are no rebelling against. Also there is no different parties within the government. Most importantly, our government doesn’t control what the people do, and they don’t force people to do anything. People today can do and say what they want without the government knowing, or without the government looking over your shoulder. After reading the book 1984 and watching the the movie Divergent, there are a lot of themes that both the book and the movie have
The Enlightenment is a unique time in European history characterized by revolutions in science, philosophy, society, and politics. These revolutions put Europe in a transition from the medieval world-view to the modern western world. The traditional hierarchical political and social orders from the French monarchy and Catholic Church were destroyed and replaced by a political and social order from the Enlightenment ideals of freedom and equality(Bristow, 1). Many historians, such as Henry Steele Commager, Peter Gay, have studied the Enlightenment over the years and created their own views and opinions.
the government inflicts the same ideas on everyone. The absence of original thought thus hinders society’s ability to develop.
The Declaration Of Independence states that,“Governments are instituted among Men.” Meaning that the governments will have all the power over its people. Compared to today, governments are still in power over their people. There are different types of government that help keep balance and govern people.
The Government can take and give to us in many ways. What would you say that the government is in regarding the Enlightenment , in my opinion I would say that the government is revolutionary because he would take all the power away from men and they end up being immature, and have that lack of determination to fight back for what is theirs. Men give up everything they have to the society and the government decides if he likes them or not and if he doesn't like them he just takes all the powers away.
What is government? Government is a person or group of people who control and make decisions for a country. It has a number of particular roles to help make a country survive and function successfully. I believe that without the roles a government provides a country would not function and would eventually fail. Therefore, I think government is necessary because without it there would not be any provided protection, resources, and regulations.
Ultimately, a government cannot exist for any significant amount of time without support from its people. Although I and others may have an opinion of the greatest current form of government, the answer is ever changing. The truth is, government works if the people under it believe that it does and supports it. Citizens are the pillars which give support and stability to any government. In recent years, political situations around the world have exemplified this point. Governments are made to support its people and when it fulfills that role, it is stable, successful, and has longevity.
The world has been ruled by humans through a form of a government system. Through the history of humankind, we have seen enormous types of institutions. Monarchy is the oldest form of government system in the entire world, and exists today in some parts of the world. For many years, the world has practiced democracy through different types of authoritarian systems. The ancient history systems have formed a footprint for how the government should be established. Every civilized society has a structure of government to keep order over the members of the society. The changes of a regime might seem skeptical but it’s
From the early stages of civilization men created a form of government to help bring order to society. One of the greatest philosophers Thomas Hobbes believed that men left in their natural state is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short; however, for men to obtain peace they must renounce their freedom to a form of government to gain freedom. (Hobbes, 1865 ) The government has shaped many civilizations, and brought many changes to each new civilization. Throughout history one can observe many forms of government, some government systems brought peace and prosperity to the states while others brought destruction, war, and famine which can be seen in Ancient Greek and Rome. The question then arises, what there a perfect form of government? If not, can there be a perfect government? ,
The types of governments and the theories on the origin of government described in this paper have hopefully given a basic understanding of what government is. People often feel that they need to hate government without even knowing what it is or the theories of its origin. Hopefully, people will begin to understand more about politics and government and realize that it is not something to hate. The more someone learns about government and political processes, the more likely someone is to take action and become involved. That is why even a basic understanding of politics and government is so important for people of this country.