What is Self-government? - Definition & Explanation

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  • 0:05 Definition of Self-government
  • 0:27 Roots of…
  • 1:42 Belief in…
  • 3:57 Basic Principles of…
  • 5:14 Lesson Summary
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Lesson Transcript
Instructor: Laurel Click


In countries that have self-government, the people direct their own affairs, free from external authority. Learn more about the history and principles of self-government in the United States, and check your understanding of this topic with a quiz.

Definition of Self-government

Self-government is a system in which the citizens of a country (or smaller political unit, such as a state) rule themselves and control their own affairs. Self-governments are free from external government control or outside political authority. Republican governments and democracy in the United States are based on principles of self-government.

Roots of Self-government in Colonial America

Between 1619 and 1776, American colonists had representative colonial governments for making laws. In 1619, the House of Burgesses in Jamestown, Virginia, was established as the first representative assembly. In 1620, the Pilgrims in Massachusetts signed the Mayflower Compact, agreeing to form a government and submit to the will of the majority. This form of direct democracy meant that laws would be subject to the citizens for their approval and consent. These, along with other colonial assemblies, laid the foundation for future self-government in America.

Here's where the problem comes in. Even though there were elected assemblies in the colonies, no English colony was fully democratic or completely self-governing. Following the French and Indian War between Great Britain and France for control of North America, which lasted from 1754 to 1763, Great Britain ended the policy of salutary neglect. This policy had allowed the colonies to govern themselves without much interference. Changes in British policy prompted resistance by the colonists and ultimately led to the American Revolution.

Belief in Self-government Leads to an Independent United States

The American colonists' belief in self-government was influenced by the writings of political activist and theorist Thomas Paine. In his fifty-page pamphlet 'Common Sense,' published in 1776, Paine made the argument for political independence from Britain and a representative self-government and helped draft a constitution for the colonies. Paine felt the monarch had no place in government and that the people themselves were the legitimate authority for government. Thomas Jefferson was also influenced by the ideas of Enlightenment philosopher John Locke, who wrote the book Two Treatises of Civil Government, published in 1689. According to Locke, the main purpose of government should be to protect the people's natural rights.

This sounds good - everyone wants their rights protected. But, what exactly are people's natural rights? To put it simply, natural rights are those you are born with. According to John Locke, these are the rights to life, liberty, and property. He also said that kings should not have absolute power, that is, power without limits.

In the Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote that 'all men are created equal' in their right to enjoy 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' Jefferson goes on to say that government derives its power from the consent of the governed. Basically, this means that governments must be representative of the people and limited in power by the recognition of basic political rights. When the government violates people's natural rights, the people have the additional right to alter or abolish that government. Jefferson urged colonists to part with the monarchy and become a republican self-government, that is, one in which the political authority comes from the people.

Ok, so once independence from Great Britain was declared, what then? Well, to make a long story short, the Revolutionary War was fought, and colonists attempted their first national self-government under the Articles of Confederation of 1781. Later, the Articles were revised under the United States Constitution, drafted in 1787, which further strengthened the power of democratic self-government in the new republic.

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