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