1.01: Natural Rights

What do Americans value as the basic individual or natural rights?

Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness

"When the president does it, that means it is not illegal."—President Richard M. Nixon Which of the following concepts best contradicts this quote?

Rule of law

"In the government of this commonwealth, the legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them. The executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them. The judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them. To the end it may be a government of laws and not of men."—Massachusetts Constitution, Part the First, Article XXX, 1780 Which two government principles does this quote reflect?

Rule of law, limited government

A government facing protests and demonstrations that are supported by most of its citizens and spread across its territory has lost

consent of the governed

An example of an important service the government provides to all U.S. citizens is

education

Throughout the city, police officers patrol the streets and neighborhoods of St. Louis. This image (picture of a police car) best illustrates how government

enforces laws and provides protection for citizens

Rule of Law means that

everyone in a society must follow the laws equally

A "limited government" is a government that

has restrictions on the powers of its officials

The Constitution divides the U.S. government into three branches that can each stop, or check, actions of the other branches. This division of power is a result of the principal of

limited government

Protection for individual rights in U.S. society reflects the idea that all people have

natural rights

In 2011, a movement known as Occupy Wall Street began in New York City. The protestors asserted that large corporations had too much influence on government. They blamed this influence for greater financial problems for the majority of Americans, such as the lack of jobs. Which principle do the protestors most likely believe the government violated?

representative government

An example of a location that directly shows government in action is a

school