Chapter 2: Personal Growth and Behaviors Lesson 5: Reading for Meaning

Exercise #3 – Reading Comprehension Strategies Practice

Directions: At the end of these directions you will find a reading passage typical of a U.S.
Government textbook. You are to choose one of the following four reading comprehension
strategies and use it to read this passage: DR-TA, Think-Alouds, GIST, or QAR. As you use the
strategy, complete the table at the end of this practice to write down the steps you took, a summary
of each step, and a reflection on the strategy for your reading comprehension.

THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION

Classifying Governments

There are several ways to classify governments. The most used system derives from the Greek
philosopher Aristotle. In this system, governments belong to one of three groups: autocracy,
oligarchy, or democracy.

Autocracy is a system of government in which the power and authority to rule are in the hands of
a single individual. Throughout history, the most frequently occurring form of autocracy is a
monarchy. Monarchs usually acquire their realms by inheritance and their subjects customarily
address them by the title of king or queen. Although some nations still use this system of
government today, many of these heads of state have lost all or a part of their power to rule. In
the following picture, Queen Elizabeth I (1533 – 1603) was one of the strongest rulers in English
history. Her rule ended just prior to the American experience, which began in 1607 when
England founded its first permanent colony at Jamestown, Virginia. Another form of autocracy is
dictatorship. Dictators gain power through their skills and abilities rather than inheritance.

Oligarchy is a system of government in which a small elite group holds power. The source of
power is usually wealth, control of the military, social position, or some combination of these. The
former Soviet Union was a recent example of an oligarchy. A small group of leaders still rules
China. The most prevalent form of oligarchy is aristocracy. Aristocrats also inherit their positions.
They hold governmental and economic power and claim superiority over the “common people.”

Democracy is a system of government in which the people rule. It may take one of two forms,
direct democracy or representative (indirect) democracy. Direct democracy is possible only in a
relatively small society where citizens can meet together regularly to decide key issues and solve
problems. Representative democracy allows for the election of officials who represent the people
in carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the government. Virtually all democracies with
large populations are representative democracies, with the United States and Great Britain as two
of the oldest.

During the 1600s, people from many countries came to the “New World” to establish their home,
obtain political and religious freedom, and make their fortune. As the English populated the
thirteen colonies along the east coast, they established their own independent governments—
each fashioned after the ideas, political experiences, and beliefs they brought with them. These
same factors governed England for centuries.

The English Contribution

As political systems matured, governments incorporated new ideas. Notable philosophers came
on the scene to spur the people in their pursuit for freedom from the one-man rule—the main
political system for centuries.

In 1651, Thomas Hobbes suggested in his book, Leviathan, the idea of a social contract between
individuals. His writing stressed that before governments, men lived in a “state of nature” where
they had complete freedom to do as they pleased, provided they were powerful and resourceful

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Chapter 2: Personal Growth and Behaviors Lesson 5: Reading for Meaning

enough to do so. His social contract theory presented a bleak picture of human life as “nasty,
brutish, and short.” He argued that government must be strong, and even repressive, to keep
people from lapsing into a savage existence. Although denounced in his day, this book had a
continuing influence on western political thought.

James Harrington was a political theorist who published the book Oceana in 1656. He argued
that there were only two types of governments: either a government of men, not of laws, or one of
laws and not of men. If men controlled the government, the result was tyranny because powerful
individuals would rule without restriction. However, in a government controlled by laws,
government officials would be subject to all of society’s rules and they could not tyrannize their
fellow human beings.

John Locke, another English philosopher, published Two Treaties of Civil Government in 1690.
Contradicting Hobbes, Locke maintained that the original state of nature was happy and
characterized by reason and tolerance. He argued that all human beings were born free and
equal to pursue “life, health, liberty, and possessions.” It was the responsibility of the state,
formed by the social contract and guided by natural law, to guarantee those rights. If
governments failed to protect those “natural rights,” then people could change the government.
His writings and ideas were a major influence on political thought during that period. Although the
King did not agree with his ideas, the newly emerging American colonies readily accepted them.
Additionally, the policy Locke set down on checks and balances later became a part of the U.S.
Constitution.

The French Contribution

The spirit of freedom was not just confined to England. Other countries emerged from centuries
of serfdom (a system of hereditary submission of slaves or serfs who lived and worked on the
land of their lords) to place their stamp on the growing movement for freedom.

Baron de Montesquieu, a French political philosopher, published The Spirit of the Laws in 1748
(only 28 years prior to the Declaration of Independence). His ideas involved the separation of
powers among three separate branches of government. Under his plan, the legislative branch
(parliament) would pass the laws, the executive branch (the king) would enforce them, and the
judicial branch would settle disputes that arose as the government enforced them. Although
previous theorists suggested separating the legislative branch from the executive branch,
Montesquieu was the first to suggest an independent judiciary. His ideas were an effort to
prevent the concentration of power in the hands of a few.

Jean Jacques Rousseau, who was born in Switzerland but considered to be a French political
philosopher, took his cue from Locke. Rousseau wrote The Social Contract in 1762, which
contributed to the thought and debate of the times with his views on freedom of the individual and
the shape of government. He believed that all human beings in a state of nature were born free.
Therefore, he proposed that the main duty of government, preferably a direct democracy, was to
compromise the freedom of nature with the necessary order of a civilized, stable society.

America created an environment where democratic reforms and political theories could emerge.
Although there were Spanish and French settlements in North America, the people who lived in
the original 13 colonies that later became the United States were English. Thus, it was English
practices, as well as English and French ideas about government that found their way into the
“New World”—a world that was ideally suited to nurture and develop those practices and ideas.
Consequently, the American leaders who wrote the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution knew well the political ideas of these five individuals.

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Chapter 2: Personal Growth and Behaviors Lesson 5: Reading for Meaning

Strategy you selected:

_____________________________________________________________________________

Predicted purpose of the text selection It's not only giving us infomation abouy the
goverment but also on how people triied to
make the goverment where it's not jusr one
person or group rulling

Step you took to acquire appropriate Lookin through the passege and reading out
information
lound to get different perpectives

Summary of information gathered we gatherd different theories about

goverments and what they were

Step you took to acquire appropriate

information

Summary of information gathered

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Chapter 2: Personal Growth and Behaviors Lesson 5: Reading for Meaning

Step you took to acquire appropriate

information

Summary of information gathered

Step you took to acquire appropriate

information

Reading Summary

Reflection on Strategy Selected

4 Unit 1: LET 1 – The Emerging Leader