Introduction to Civics

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Introduction to Civics

• Citizenship and the Origins of Government

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Key Terms you need to know

• Citizenship Membership in a political community,
  such as a country, including rights, duties and
  responsibilities.
• Government A system by which a group of people
  makes laws that are enforced to guide the affairs
  of the community, such as a country, province or
  municipality.
• Society A group of interacting people who share
  a community
• Authoritarian A form of decision making or a
  government system in which one person, or a small
  group holds all power (e.g. a dictatorship).
• Democratic A form of decision making in which
  all group members have a vote.
• Consensus A group decision reached through
  discussion to which all group members agree.

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Key terms you need to Know

• Politics A human activity in which opposing
  individuals or groups mobilize support to obtain
  power to govern.
• Power The ability of an individual or group to
  get what it wants. (The ability of A to get B to
  do C)
• Common Good That which benefits all (or most)
  people in a community or society.
• Rule of Law The fundamental constitutional
  principle that no government or person is above
  the law and that society is governed by laws that
  apply fairly to all sometimes referred to as
  law and order
• Direct Democracy A government in which all
  citizens directly participate in decision making
  without representatives (Ancient Greece)
• Representative Democracy A democracy in which
  citizens periodically elect others to represent
  them in government.

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The Beginnings of Democracy

• The origin of democracy goes back to the 5th
  Century BC (495-429 BC).
• The polis (city) of Athens was the most famous
  of the city states. It was here that the idea of
  democracy first took shape that is, that
  citizens of the city could have a direct say in
  the affairs of the state. This democracy was
  direct democracy since people could make
  political decisions themselves without
  representation.
• However, only free born males over a certain age
  could vote. Women and slaves were excluded from
  political participation (politics).

Plato Greek Philosopher
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The Beginnings of Democracy

• However, as Athens grew in size, the idea of
  Direct Democracy became impossible to maintain
  (too many decision makers).
• As a result, their system was eventually changed
  to a Representative Democracy whereby citizens
  would elect other citizens to represent them. The
  role of these representatives (politicians) was
  to give a voice to the concerns of their
  communities.
• Plato, Socrates and others were deeply critical
  of representative democracy. Socrates was later
  put to death for his views. Why?

The Trial of Socrates
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Representative Democracy

• In our current democratic system, we use
  political leaders to represent our concerns
  within Canadas Political institutions.
• However, if we cannot exercise direct democracy
  except at the ballot box, is it still democracy?
  What if they make decisions without our consent?
  What if they satisfy the majority of Canadians
  (to win elections), but ignore minority voices?

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
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Thomas Hobbes

• Political Philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
  wrote a political treatise called Leviathan.
• He believed that human beings are naturally
  selfish and will stop at nothing to satisfy their
  material desires (felicity). Without government,
  Hobbes believed that there would be a state of
  Anarchy whereby man would turn against man. For
  Hobbes, life without government would be nasty,
  brutish and short

Thomas Hobbes
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Leviathan
We need a powerful government to rule over the
people. Government Is needed in order to save us
from ourselves. Do you agree?
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Hurricane Katrina
During the flooding of New Orleans, the U.S. Army
was sent in to restore order. However, in many
areas there was an absence of authority.
Government simply did not exist. What happened?
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Hurricane Katrina
Looting in downtown New Orleans
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Hurricane Katrina
The response to Looting. Is this necessary?
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Jean Jacques Rousseau

• French Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
  (1712-1778) disagreed with Hobbes and thought
  that societies were free and friendly before
  governments were formed. In his famous political
  work The Social Contract he states that Man is
  born free, but everywhere he is in chains.
• He believed that humans have a general idea of
  what is the Common good. That is, they know
  what is morally right and wrong. All we need is
  a Social Contract which represents the general
  will of the people. Our common sense will save
  us from ourselves not an all powerful
  government. Do you agree with Rousseau?

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Why do these students Obey?
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Why do People Obey?
Why are they waiting in line? Did someone teach
them?
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The Magna Carta

• The Magna Carta was signed in 1215 by King John.
• With the Magna Carta, governments and people must
  follow the law even the King!

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The French Revolution

• King Louis was an Absolute Monarch. He was
  referred to as the Sun King and above the rule
  of law.
• He was later replaced by Louis 16th. The French
  people eventually revolted against his absolute
  power. The result? The French Revolution

Louis the 14th
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The French Revolution (1789)
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
The Execution of King Louis the16th
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Questions for Discussion

• How do Hobbes and Rousseaus views on human
  nature differ?
• Do you agree with Hobbes or Rousseau? Explain
  your answer in a short paragraph (150 words)

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Citizenship

• Civics is defined as the rights and
  responsibilities of citizenship.
• As a Canadian Citizen, you are bound to follow
  the laws of Canada. You are also entitled to
  certain rights and freedoms.
• In other words, you have Rights, but you also
  have responsibilities. There is a balance!

Governor General Michelle Jean offering Canadian
Citizenship. Whats interesting About this
picture?
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Citizenship

• What are the Characteristics of Citizenship? How
  do you become a Canadian Citizen?
• C\Documents and Settings\Hugh\Desktop\Civics
  Stuff\Cdn citizenship.doc

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The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms Civics
Stuff\Charter text Guarantee of Rights and
Freedoms.doc
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Some Questions to Consider

• Who defines the rights, duties and
  responsibilities?
• How do you balance rights with duties and
  responsibilities?
• Who gets to be a citizen?
• Who makes these decisions and how are decisions
  to be made?

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How are decisions made?

• There are various ways in which decisions can be
  made. We will be discussing three
• Authoritarian
• Democratic
• Consensus

Straw Exercise
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Authoritarian

• With an Authoritarian decision making system, one
  person makes all the decisions.
• Other members of the group follow orders and have
  no direct involvement in how decisions are made.
  Coaches of sports teams sometimes make decisions
  this way. Why? Is there an advantage to this
  system? Disadvantages?

Adolf Hitler An Authoritarian Decision Maker
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Democratic Decision Making

• In a democratic decision making system, decisions
  are made by a system of voting. All individuals
  get to vote on the outcome.
• However, not all participants will necessarily be
  happy with the outcome! Advantages to this
  system? Disadvantages?

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Democratic Decision Making
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Consensus

• With the consensus system of decision making, all
  group members must agree in order for a decision
  to be made. What are the advantages and
  disadvantages of this system of decision making?

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What is Politics?

• Are we always going to be happy with the
  decisions that are made? If not, how will we
  react? The way we react is called politics.
• In essence, politics is an activity whereby an
  individual or group seeks power by mobilizing
  support for their particular point of view.
  Politics is the ability to get what you want by
  obtaining power. What is Power?

The Essence of Politics?
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What is Power?

• Power is the ability of a person, group, or
  nation to get what it wants.
• In the case of governments, they can use soft
  power (e.g. persuasion), or hard power (e.g.
  military force)

U.S. Aircraft Carrier.
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The North Korean Military. What kind of Power?
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Hard or soft power?
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Types of Government

• As discussed earlier, there are various ways of
  making decisions.
• These ways are reflected in the various types of
  Government
• Dictatorship (e.g. Fascism)
• Democracy (e.g. Canadas Political Parties
• Communism (one party rule)

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Dictatorship

• Authoritarian governments are usually dominated
  by a single individual that is, a dictator.
• Authoritarian dictators (e.g. Hitler, Mussolini)
  do not tolerate any form of opposition. They will
  usually use the military to maintain their grip
  on power. In other words, they do not need the
  support of the majority through elections to
  maintain power. They rule through force.

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Democracy

• Democratic governments make decisions based on
  the will of the people. They are elected.
• They tolerate opposition to their rule whether by
  individuals, the media, or other political
  parties. Democratic governments maintain power
  through the support of the people not military
  force.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces tough
questions by Journalist Peter Mansbridge of the
CBC
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Characteristics of Democratic Governments

• Two or more political parties
• Free Media
• Free Press
• Free, Fair and Frequent Elections
• Equal legal rights
• Courts free of Political Control
• Minorities respected

Freedoms enjoyed in a democracy. Is there such a
thing as too much Freedom? Where do you draw the
line?
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(No Transcript)
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Characteristics of Authoritarian Governments

• Only one political party
• Government controlled press
• Censored Media
• Fake elections or no elections
• Unequal legal rights
• Courts under political control
• Minorities are often under attack

Hitlers Germany
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Types of Government

• It is a generalization to suggest that all
  authoritarian governments do not address the
  needs of the people.
• Under a Communist mode of production, the
  unelected state government provides subsidized
  health care, education and housing to the
  population. Communist leaders often criticized
  the United States for not providing the necessary
  essentials to their population.
• This being said, Joseph Stalin was hardly an
  example of a benevolent dictator!

Joseph Stalin Leader of Communist Russia During
World War 2
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How do Governments Maintain their power?
The Canadian House of Commons
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Authority
All governments need authority in order to
maintain their power. However, some governments
need more authority than others. In addition,
some governments especially authoritarian
onesuse their authority to maintain their power
more than others. One method of authority is
Coercion The usage of threats of force to
intimidate citizens to bend to the will of the
government.
The use of force to maintain order
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Maintaining Authority Influence

• To promote safe driving, or discourage the usage
  of tobacco, governments will often use persuasive
  advertising.
• Although the usage of threats can work, (anti
  smoking laws, and driving and driving laws), they
  are often not as effective as positive influence.
• Why do you think that this is so?

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Attack Ads
You can maintain power by attacking your
competition. This is often referred to as dirty
politics
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How can you resolve conflicts in society?
Negotiation People with opposing views can sit
down and try to reach an agreement
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How can you resolve conflicts?
Mediation Sometimes a third party will need to
intervene in order to bring about a resolution to
a complex problem.
Former Secretary General of the United Nations
Kofi Annan (Pictured right), often acted as a
mediator in international Disputes.
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How do you resolve conflicts?
Arbitration When two sides cannot agree,
the issue can be sent to arbitration. When this
occurs, The decision that is made by the 3rd
party is final
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Closing Comments

• What have we learned?
• Key terms used in Civics
• The origins of government
• Political Philosophy (Plato, Hobbes, Rousseau)
• Methods of decision making
• The meaning of politics and power
• Different types of Government
• The usage of Authority
• The resolution of disputes in a Civil society