Part One, American Government and U.S. Constitution

Lesson 17: Principle 16 -The Separation of Powers

Name: _______________________

Part II: The Founders' Basic Principles –	28 Great Ideas that Changed the World

Lesson 17 Time: 29:53 [for Sunday June 22, 2014]

The 5000 Year Leap: 17th Principle: Reading Assignment:
The Separation of Powers (pages 193-202);

Lesson objectives: As a result of this lesson, the student should be able to discuss the following questions/topics:

Which Kind of Government Was Best?

o Monarchy-

-Single powerful ruler

o Aristocracy-

-"Best Families" rule

o Democracy-

-Rule by all the people

These are the three main ones.

1. Who was Polybius? When did he live? How many history books did he write? (pages 193-94)

Polybius

o Greek

o 204-122 B.C.

o taken to Rome

o saw advantages of Roman Republic

o wrote 40 books of history

2. According to Polybius, what were the advantages and disadvantages of a monarchy, an

aristocracy, and a democracy? (194)

Polybius on Politics

o Element of genius in each form of government

o monarchy - efficiency in time of crisis

o aristocracy - protection of property & wealth

o democracy - represents all people

o no one of these is good alone

3. Describe Polybius's suggestion for a "mixed" government. (194-95)

Polybius "Mixed" Constitution

o monarchy = executive

o aristocracy = senate

o democracy = Assembly

o Roman republic fell = no chance to try

o Idea lay hidden in books for 1700 years

4. Who was Baron Charles de Montesquieu? What great work did he produce that proved to be

of immense help to the founders? (195-96)

Baron Charles de Montesquieu

o Best educated scholar in France

o 20 years of research

o Wrote Spirit of Laws

-proved a mixed constitution could work

o most widely quoted next to Bible

5. How did Montesquieu emphasize the need for three branches of government? (196-97)

o America's 3-headed eagle

-legislative - law making

-executive -

-law enforcement (quote)

-judicial - law interpreter (quote)

6. What was the heated debate about the executive branch that took place in the Constitutional

Convention? (197-98)

John Adams – pioneer - separation of powers

o tried to convince Massachusetts of 3-branch government

o became suspected and unpopular (quote)

7. Describe the development of the separation-of-powers doctrine in America. How did John

Adams refer to the science of politics? (198-200)

o defines politics as "divine science"

8. Describe John Adams's struggle against the popular thinking of his time in trying to promote

his ideas on sound government. (200-202)

o wrote constitution of Massachusetts

-1st with three branches

o no monument to John Adams in D.C. (quote)

o predicted 300 million freemen with no king ( now around 280 [lesson]! )

"When the clock strikes midnight and we move from 2013 into 2014 the United States population will have reached a new record of more than 317 million people, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. That will keep us as the third most populous country on the planet, behind only China (1.35 billion) and India (1.23 billion). Overall, the world population will top 7.1 billion at the start of 2014." – U.S. News 12/31/2013