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Influences on US Democracy - Coggle Diagram
Influences on US Democracy
Governments
Athens
Direct Democracy
Every citizen votes on every issue.
Roman Republic
AKA Representative Democracy
The people elect representatives to govern on their behalf.
Enlightenment Philosophers
Thomas Hobbes
Believed that people are naturally savage (People need a strong king to rule over them.)
Social Contract
The people give up some of their rights in exchange for protection from the government.
John Locke
Natural Rights
Life, liberty, property.
Believed people could overthrow a government that doesn't serve the people.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Popular Sovereignty
The people have the true power in government.
Government serves at the will of the people.
Baron de Montesquieu
Checks and Balances AND Separation of Powers
Branches of government should be separate with power to keep each other from becoming too powerful.
Voltaire
Freedom of religion AND Freedom of speech
Also believed in the separation of church and state.
Documents
Magna Carta
Limited the power of the king and listed the rights of nobles in England (1215).
English Bill of Rights
Limited the power of the king and listed the rights of men in England (1689).
Set up a constitutional monarchy in England.