Purposes and Origins of Government

What is the
purpose of
Government?

Functions of
Government

What is government, and what are its basic functions?

●Providing Leadership

●Maintaining Order

●Providing Public Services

●National Security

●Providing Economic Security
and Economic Assistance

●Riot police maintain order during
disturbances outside the 2008
Republican National Convention in St.
Paul, Minnesota.

●Abraham Lincoln believed that the
purpose of government is to do for
people what they cannot do for
themselves.

●A public service is a service which is
provided by government to people
living within its jurisdiction, either
directly (through the public sector) or
by financing private provision of
services.

Nation, State,
and Country

What is the difference between a nation and a state or a country?

●Nation- a group of people united by bonds of race, language, custom, tradition, and sometimes,
religion

●State- a political community that occupies a definite territory and
has an organized government

●Country- a political community
that occupies a definite territory
and has an organized government

●Sovereignty- the supreme and
absolute authority within
territorial boundaries

Use your books to open this interactive map.

Origins of the State

Why and how are governments created?

●Evolutionary Theory

●Force Theory

●Divine Right Theory

●Social Contract Theory

What are the major
theories of the
origins of the state?
Which do you find
most convincing and
why?