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The citizens in a democratic government have many rights that are laid out in the constitution, as well as in Locke's theories. For one, they are allowed to have their own private property. Also, their unalienable rights are supposed to be protected by the government.  Citizens also have the ability to vote for the President, so they know that the person representing them has their interests at heart. They also vote for their representatives in the legislative branch, so that their rights can also be protected. Any citizen has the right to run for office, as long as they meet the requirements for that specific office. Overall, every right given to the people in a democratic government is protecting them and allowing them freedom, which is exactly what Locke's theories explained all along.

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The judicial branch is the final branch of the government. This branch is made up of three types or courts: District Courts, Appeal Courts and the Supreme Court.

District Court: All federal cases start at the district court. They give original jurisdiction over most cases. There are 94 district courts in 50 states and territories.

The Court of Appeals: The court of appeals is the second highest court. In these courts, cases that have already been judged by the district courts are reevaluated . There are 12 circuit courts in the U.S. These courts have no original jurisdiction. They only hear cases that have already been taken.

Supreme Court: The Supreme Court is the highest court of the judicial branch. This is a single court made up of 9 Supreme Justices. This court rehears cases from the District Courts, Th Court of Appeals, and even the state courts. They can give some cases an original jurisdiction, but not all of them.

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Structure of the Court System: Crash Course Government and Politics #19

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The Executive Branch is made up of the president, the vice president, and the presidential cabinet. In addition, there are also executive departments that address certain issues according to their purpose.

The function of the executive branch is to take the laws that the legislative makes, and enforce them. He also has the ability to veto a law that the legislative branch makes

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The legislative branch is one of the three branches in the U.S. government. The legislative branch is bicameral, which means it has two houses.

House of Delegates: The House of Delegates is the lower house in the legislative branch. This house is based on proportion, which means the number of representatives from each state depends on the size of the state.

Senate: The Senate is the upper house of the legislative branch. This house is based on equality, which means that no matter the size of the state, each state has two representatives.

The main job, or function, of the legislative branch is to make laws. All of these things were set up in the constitution.

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Three Branches of Government School House Rock

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The ideas of Locke strongly influenced the documents of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Declaration of Independence:
As an article written to declare its independence from England, the declaration laid out why it was being made, and certain things that would be different in the United States. The preamble of the Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal, they have certain unalienable rights-- life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness-- and that government is instituted  on the consent of the governed. These are all key ideas in Locke's ideology. Furthermore, the declaration states that the governments responsibility is to protect its people, and if it doesn't, the people have a right to change it

The U.S. Constitution: The U.S. constitution sets up the government in the U.S. It takes Locke's ideas, and sets up the government into branches. These branches are the Legislative branch, Executive branch, and the Judicial branch.

Separation of Powers: Locke also mentions a separation of powers, which allows each branch to have regulations on the other. This way, no one branch has power over the other.

Federalism: Federalism is the idea that there are two or more governing bodies for a certain region. In the U.S., it is split between our federal government, and state and local government. This idea comes from checks and balances, so the federal government does not have complete power over the people.

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Natural Law:
Locke believed in something called Natural Law. Natural Law basically stated that there are certain moral truths that applied to all individuals, no matter who they are or where they live. These truths were that a man in the state of nature cannot hurt himself, or others, in person or property.

Natural Rights:
Natural rights addressed a set of privileges  or claims that a person is entitled to, simply because they were born. This differs from natural law. These natural rights include life, health, liberty, or possessions. Government is created to protect these rights.

State of Nature:
The state of nature is a state of equality and freedom in which no one has power over the other, and people are all free to do as they please. However, it is also still a state of license, which means men cannot hurt themselves or others. In the State of Nature, man has the right to punish anyone who does so.

Another part of his theory as that there can be no legitimate government without consent. The people have to be willing to give up their power to punish.

There is a belief in God in the Locke theories to an extent, because man in the State of Nature gets his rights from God.

Finally, the State of Nature has three problems with it:
1. The State of Nature does not have settled known law
2. State of Nature does not have an indifferent judge
3. State of Nature lacks the ability to easily enforce the law.

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How Did John Locke Affect The Government Of The United States?