Origins of the State

The Origins of the State

Principles of Government

Essential Question

Why should you care about power, politics, and government?

Objectives

Social Studies 

• Analyze the relationship between power and authority.

• Describe the purpose and role of government.

• Could you explain how political behavior is a natural function of society?

• Evaluate differing assumptions people hold across time and place regarding power and authority. 

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Introduction

The Senate and the House of Representatives meet in the U.S. Capitol Building, shown here.

The United States of America was born in an explosion of rebellion against authority. The Declaration of Independence, defending that rebellion, spit forth a list of all the British monarchy's crimes against the American colonies. Clearly, many colonists had lost faith in the British government—if not in government in general.

Society in every state [condition] is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.

— Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

This general mistrust of government did not end with the American victory in the Revolutionary War. In fact, it continues to this day. In 2017, more than 1,500 Americans were asked this question in an opinion poll conducted by the

​ Pew Research Center: How much of the time do you think you can trust the government in Washington to do what is right: just about always, most of the time, or only some of the time?

Only 4 percent of participants answered, "just about always." Another 16 percent responded, "most of the time." About 70 percent answered, "only some of the time." And the remaining 10 percent voluntarily said, "never."

This distrust of government also shows up in popular movies and television dramas. Corrupt or power-hungry politicians are often the villains in movies. The plot lines of some television shows center on conspiracies hatched by public officials at the highest levels of government. Conspiracy theories about government involvement in the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. continue to generate books and magazine articles even today.

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Is this attitude that politicians and government in general cannot be trusted justified? Is government at its best, in the words of Thomas Paine, "a necessary evil"? Or is it necessary at all? To answer these questions, we must first figure out what government is and what it does. One way to begin is to examine the central concern of all governments: power.