WGU C963 AMERICAN POLITICS AND US
CONSTITUTION
1. Social Contract
Answer An agreement between people and government zens in which citi-
consent to being governed so long as the government protects their natural
rights.
2. Natural Rights
Answer the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life,
liberty, and property
3. State of Nature
Answer A theory on how people might have lived before societies came into
48) to
existence. is a condition in which all of us live individually and solitarily, prior regards
the
egislative,
her, limiting
existence of society. We are physically and mentally capable of achieving our own
social
survival.
4. Montesquieu (1689-1755)
Answer contribution in The Spirit of the Laws (17 the structure of political
institutions. He argues for a separation of powersl executive, and judicial.
Each will serve as a check on the power of the ot the harm each might do.
separates power to offset the power of different interests
,Answer ordinary people, the aristocracy, and the monarch.
5. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) bute to the
er. Hobbes
Answer One of the first individuals to contri idea of the social contract s something
ake our lives
was a pre-Enlightenment English philosoph argues that society is not of nature is
something natural and immutable, but rather it i created by us. We do this
to resolve problems we collectively face, to m better. State of Nature
Answer it's "a war of all against all." Basically, the state a pretty nasty
place where lives are perpetually insecure.
6. John Locke (1632-1704)
nterest is
Answer we are autonomous individuals, capable of using reason, and are sdriven
security
ees, saying
to advance our personal interests. Our primary i survival, which we wantonal
to people,
along okay.
ncentive for
make secure and comfortable. To achieve thi
and comfort, we acquire property. Two Treatises of Government, disagr
the state of nature is a relatively decent place. All its inhabitants are rati
mindful of the basic law of nature to not harm another, and people will get
But our relationship in the state of nature is "inconvenient," implying an i
us to devise a better, more convenient arrangement.
7. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Answer A French man who believed that humans are naturally good andect common
free and can
tted to individ-
g, rather than
oles, believing
,rely on their instincts. He also advocated a democracy because he believed the
government should exist to prot
good. Like other Enlightenment thinkers, he was passionately commi
ual freedom, but he attacked rationalism and civilization as destroyin
liberating, the individual. He also called for a rigid division of gender r
women should be subordinate in social life. His ideals greatly influen
romantic movement, which rebelled against the culture of the Enlight
late eighteenth century. Rousseau was both one of the most influential voices of the
, Enlightenment and, in his rejection of rationalism and social discourse, a harbinger of
reaction against Enlightenment ideas.
8. Constitution is influenced by the Enlightenment
Answer (Separation of powers) em- bodies Montesquieu's principles by separating
the legislative, executive, and judicial power, placing each into the hands of different
political actors.
9. Bill of Rights influenced by Enlightenment
Answer · The First Amendment gives us a definitive declaration for the protection of
natural rights. Protections of individual conscience as well as protections for
democratic participation (John Lock ideology).
· The Second Amendment, which also embodies Lockean ideas, permits the pos-
session of arms for the "security of a free State."14 In this Amendment, the right to
rebellion is established.
· Due process says all citizens are subject to fair and equitable treat ment.
rnment has
· The Fourth - Eighth Amendments serve to both limit the power gove with us.
over us and lay out procedures which must be followed when dealing
· The Ninth Amendment makes it clear that the list of rights protected in the first eight
CONSTITUTION
1. Social Contract
Answer An agreement between people and government zens in which citi-
consent to being governed so long as the government protects their natural
rights.
2. Natural Rights
Answer the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life,
liberty, and property
3. State of Nature
Answer A theory on how people might have lived before societies came into
48) to
existence. is a condition in which all of us live individually and solitarily, prior regards
the
egislative,
her, limiting
existence of society. We are physically and mentally capable of achieving our own
social
survival.
4. Montesquieu (1689-1755)
Answer contribution in The Spirit of the Laws (17 the structure of political
institutions. He argues for a separation of powersl executive, and judicial.
Each will serve as a check on the power of the ot the harm each might do.
separates power to offset the power of different interests
,Answer ordinary people, the aristocracy, and the monarch.
5. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) bute to the
er. Hobbes
Answer One of the first individuals to contri idea of the social contract s something
ake our lives
was a pre-Enlightenment English philosoph argues that society is not of nature is
something natural and immutable, but rather it i created by us. We do this
to resolve problems we collectively face, to m better. State of Nature
Answer it's "a war of all against all." Basically, the state a pretty nasty
place where lives are perpetually insecure.
6. John Locke (1632-1704)
nterest is
Answer we are autonomous individuals, capable of using reason, and are sdriven
security
ees, saying
to advance our personal interests. Our primary i survival, which we wantonal
to people,
along okay.
ncentive for
make secure and comfortable. To achieve thi
and comfort, we acquire property. Two Treatises of Government, disagr
the state of nature is a relatively decent place. All its inhabitants are rati
mindful of the basic law of nature to not harm another, and people will get
But our relationship in the state of nature is "inconvenient," implying an i
us to devise a better, more convenient arrangement.
7. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Answer A French man who believed that humans are naturally good andect common
free and can
tted to individ-
g, rather than
oles, believing
,rely on their instincts. He also advocated a democracy because he believed the
government should exist to prot
good. Like other Enlightenment thinkers, he was passionately commi
ual freedom, but he attacked rationalism and civilization as destroyin
liberating, the individual. He also called for a rigid division of gender r
women should be subordinate in social life. His ideals greatly influen
romantic movement, which rebelled against the culture of the Enlight
late eighteenth century. Rousseau was both one of the most influential voices of the
, Enlightenment and, in his rejection of rationalism and social discourse, a harbinger of
reaction against Enlightenment ideas.
8. Constitution is influenced by the Enlightenment
Answer (Separation of powers) em- bodies Montesquieu's principles by separating
the legislative, executive, and judicial power, placing each into the hands of different
political actors.
9. Bill of Rights influenced by Enlightenment
Answer · The First Amendment gives us a definitive declaration for the protection of
natural rights. Protections of individual conscience as well as protections for
democratic participation (John Lock ideology).
· The Second Amendment, which also embodies Lockean ideas, permits the pos-
session of arms for the "security of a free State."14 In this Amendment, the right to
rebellion is established.
· Due process says all citizens are subject to fair and equitable treat ment.
rnment has
· The Fourth - Eighth Amendments serve to both limit the power gove with us.
over us and lay out procedures which must be followed when dealing
· The Ninth Amendment makes it clear that the list of rights protected in the first eight
