Unit Two The Rise of Democratic Ideas

Unit TwoThe Rise of Democratic Ideas

Focus Question: Are there any ideas you would fight for? Go to jail for? Give up your life for?

Essential Features of Modern Democracy • A. Modern Democracies are not • all alike • 1. Parliamentary • 2. Congress and Presidents

Four Common Features of Modern Democracies • 1. Representative Government • a. Government gets its power • from the people • (consent of the people)

b. Representative democracy 1.) not a pure democracy – people do not vote directly on each law or issue

2.)the people elect officials (representatives) to do the work of government a. the elected officials represent those who elected them b. the people can vote the officials out of office in the next election

c. stable democracies – where the idea of rule by the people is firmly established. There are orderly transfers of power after elections d. unstable democracies – where thereis not a stable democratic tradition, the per after an election is often dangerous.

2. Rule By Law a. No person is above the law. b. Importance of written law 1. written constitution – the basis by which people are to be governed; the foundation for all other laws; sets limits of power.

2. written laws provide protection against abuses of power by government officials (protects against arbitrary & unreasonable law) c. Focus Question: What should you do if a law is immoral?

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s response: Non-Violent “Direct Action” - moral responsibility to disobeyunjust laws - take responsibility for breaking the law - do not question the right of society to enforce the law (sufferthe consequences)

3. Individual Rights a. emphasis on individual worth b. each person has basic human rights and freedoms c. Government’s role is to protect individual rights 1.) civil rights a. rights of citizens to be treated equally under the law

b.) to have equality of opportunity 2.) civil liberties– protection that the law gives to peoples freedom of thought and action (i.e. speech, press, assemble, religion,…)

3.) majority rules, but the still has the right to express its opinion 4.) each persons liberties are limited by the rights of others (you’re not totally free to do as you please)

Reason • a. decisions are based on reasoned debate (argument) • b. the best solutions are reached through the exchange of information and opinions • c. the average citizen can participate intelligently and responsibly in these debates

III. MIDDLE AGES (MEDIEVAL TIMES) Three Groups Emerge from the Ruins of the Roman Empire 1. Western Europe 2. Byzantine Empire 3. Islamic Empire

Western Europe 1. Fall of Rome has devastating impact a. Barbarian invasions b. trade disrupted c. towns destroyed d. education declines

Two Main Influences – both limit the power of the king. Two institutions become the main civilizing force of Western Europe (replacing Rome) 1. Roman Catholic Church – Church law and the Pope are above the king

2. Feudalism – nobles challenge the power of the kings Definition a.) Social – system of rigid class distinctions and a static, or unchanging, way of life

b.) Political – system of local gov’t and military defense, based on the personal bonds between lords and vassals c.) Economic – system of self-sufficient agricultural manor Feudalism varied in detail according to regional differences

2.) Reasons for the Rise of Feudalism a.) Weakness of Central Government (1.) The central gov’t. could not protect its subjects from foreign invasions and local warfare (2.) Small farmers consequently surrendered their lands to the powerful local noble in exchange for his promise of protection

b.) Land Policy of the Germanic Kings (1.) In return for pledges of military assistance, the Germanic rulers granted land estates to important nobles (2.) Possessing these large estates increased the nobles’ power

3. Feudal Society a.) Rigid Class Distinctions (1.) nobles – land holders, privileged aristocracy, upper class (2.) serfs – the great mass of peasants, the underprivileged lower class (3.) position in feudal society was determined by birth (regardless of ability or hard work)

b.) The Feudal Social Pyramid (1.) King – at the apex of feudal society (2.) powerful lords – few in number, immediately below the king (vassals to the king) (3.) lesser lords – a more numerous group (vassals to the powerful lord) (4.) knights – the lowest and most numerous group of nobles

(5.) serfs – the peasants who constituted the broad base of the feudal pyramid c.) Complicated Vassal to Lord Relationships Feudal Structure Review K PL LL Kn

Magna Carta 1. Established principle of limited monarchy (lists the power of the king) (a.) must get permission from Parliament to raise taxes (b.) eventually leads to a representative body to approve all taxes

2. Nobles have rights that the king can’t violate – eventually all people having rights 3. Even the king must respect the law

Kings Gain Power in later Middle Ages Church loses power 1.) Schism (1054) 2.) Reformation

Feudalism gradually gives way to Nationalism 1.) Crusades >need for strong central government 2.) Trade 3.) Kings combine lands into unified kingdoms 4.) royal courts replace feudal courts 5.) nation-states emerge

Importance of the Individual is Stressed The Renaissance 1. renewed importance to the individual and to worldly accomplishments 2. rejected the Medieval view that life on earth was merely preparation and a test ground for life after death

The Reformation 1. the Christian church evolution Judaism Christianity Islam Shi’ite Sunni Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church Protestant Church Lutheran Calvinism Anglican

2. stressed the importance of a direct relationship between each believer and God 3. Protestants called on believers to read and interpret the Bible for themselves - a sense of inner conviction rather than a reliance on authority

Byzantine Empire 1. Preserves Rome’s political heritage Justinian’s Code – drew upon the laws and opinions of Rome’s greatest legal writers 2. Eastern Orthodox Church a. new branch of Christianity develops b. Schism of 1054 Pope and Patriarch excommunicate each other

Islamic Empire 1. Decisive impact on Mediterranean world a. Islam rivals Greco-Roman culture and Christianity b. Islam conquests split the Mediterranean into rival regions (Christian vs. Muslim) 2. Islamic faith and Arab culture provide the Muslim world with strong bonds which still exist today

THE ENLIGHTENMENT (1720 – 1790) The Scientific Revolution (1500’s & 1600’s) 1. Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo Copernicus’ view challenged Ptolemy’s view that put the earth at the center of the universe. 1.) the earth is not stationary 2.) the earth is not the center Goes against 2000 years of scientific knowledge and the Church 2. Newton

Age of Enlightenment 1. TheRenaissance and Scientific Revolution – ideas from these two eras are brought together a. Secular outlook of life instead of religious b. Look critically at society in an effort to improve it; reform

c. Everything had to be tested by the standard of reason Scientific Method 1.) observation/state a problem 2.) hypothesis 3.) experimentation 4.) conclusion

2. Philosophes – thinkers who say people should apply reason to all aspects of man’s life a. Just like Newton had applied reason to discover physical laws in the field of science, reason should be used to discover the natural laws that govern society

b. 5 Main Ideas of Their Philosophy 1.) Reason – regarded as a divine force. Reason was the absence of intolerance, bigotry, or prejudice in one’s thinking. 2.) Nature – what was natural was also good and reasonable

3.) Happiness – live by nature’s laws would find happiness. 4.) Progress – were the first Europeans to believe in progress for society. Society and humankind could be perfected.

5.) Liberty – envied the liberties that the English people had won in their Glorious Revolution and Bill of Rights. Desired freedom of speech, religion, trade, and personal travel.

Enlightenment Thinkers Chart 1. English Philosophers a. Thomas Hobbes 1.) basic nature of man is evil 2.) people enter a contract where they give up liberty in exchange for security and agree obey the ruler

3.) best govt. is one where the ruler is absolute 4.) once entered, a contract can’t be broken, even if the ruler is a tyrant

b. John Locke 1. basic nature of man is good 2. all men have natural rights (life, liberty, property) 3. govt. is responsible for protecting these rights, it’s power is limited 4. govt. must have the consent of the governed

Unit Two The Rise of Democratic Ideas