9/13/07

Purposes of Government
-Governments are in place to serve the State. There are 4 major purposes for having government. They are as follows:

1. To maintain social order: Governments make and enforce laws mainly for the purpose of creating a safe and livable society that runs smoothly.

2. To provide public services: Governments provide the people with many public services that they are unable to provide for themselves. Some of these services include trash pick up, water and sewage services, providing people with health services, etc.

3. To provide national security: Governments have the duty to do their best to protect the people against the threat of attack by other States. Governments raise and maintain military forces in order to carry out this task.

4. To make economic decisions: Governments pass the laws that provide and control the economic environment for the nation. They make decisions that define the financial goals of the State and the methods used to attain them.

Politics
*The effort to control or influence the conduct and policies of government is called politics. The 4 purposes of government are listed above; the way these purposes are fulfilled is through politics. Anyone who actively tries to control or influence the conduct and policies of government is engaged in politics. A person who makes a career out of politics is called a politician.

*When a state is forming, politics plays an essential role in determining what form and type of government and economy the State will feature.

*Once a State is formed, politics plays a role in determining almost all of the major decisions the government of a State makes. Ways that laws are proposed, passed, and enforced are all determined by politics. Politics determines who our leaders are, and our leaders are not. Government and politics are not the same thing; however one could not, in practice, exist without the other.

Constitutions
*A constitution is a plan that provides the rules for government. A constitution serves several major purposes:

1. They outline ideals that the people bound by the constitution believe in and share.

2. They establish the basic structure of government and define the governments powers and duties.

3. They provide the supreme law for the country and provide the rules that shape the actions of government and politics.

*Every State’s constitution is different in its form and in the way that it is written. Most constitutions provide three things:

1. A statement of goals: Many constitutions state the reasons for why the constitution is being written and applied to the State. The US constitution has a statement of goals at the very beginning of the constitution called the Preamble.

2. A framework for government: Constitutions usually always establish the form and type of government that will be used in the State. Many constitutions also list the rights of the citizens, and some provide most of the laws that govern the State.

3. The Highest Law: A constitutions usually establishes within itself that it is the highest law that governs the State. Some constitutions define whether they can be changed, or not, and how.

*The oldest written constitution in the world is that of the United States of America.