Chapter 2 Flashcards
Tea Party
movement within the Republican Party
sees expansion of federal power as constitutional overreach
Articles of Confederation
1st try at new American government
sent to states for ratification in 1777
eventually decided that they restricted national government too much and were replaced by the Constitution (after Revolutionary War)
Limited Government
political system where the powers of the government are restricted to prevent tyranny by protecting property and individual rights
Shay’s Rebellion
Uprising of approximately 4,000 men in Massachusetts in 1786 and 87 to protest oppressive laws and gain payment of war debts
Unrest from this prompted calls for new Constitution
Monarchy
form of government where power is held by one person, the monarch, that comes to power through inheritance instead of election
3 key principles for new Constitution
- popular control of government through republican democracy
- rejection of the monarchy
- limitations on government power to protect individual rights and personal property
Republicanism
the belief that a form of government where elected leaders represent the interests of the people is the best form of government
Common Sense
by Thomas Paine
endorsed revolutionary principles in line with the framers’s
“consent of the governed”
the idea that the government gets its legitimacy through regional elections where people living under that government participate to elect their leaders
Natural rights
aka “unalienable rights”
Declaration of Independence defines as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” founders believed that upholding these rights should be the government’s central purpose
Implicit trade
people consenting to be governed if the state protects their rights
Social contract
devised by political philosophers of the 18th century that defined the legitimacy of the state
implicit trade
Hobbes
government necessary, but only a monarchy can avoid warring factions
Locke
more democratic
consent of the governed for legitimacy
Montesquieu
no 2, let alone 3, functions of the government should be controlled by 1 branch, but each branch should be able to check the excesses of the others
Federalists
those at the Constitutional convention that favored a strong national government and system of separated powers
Anti-Federalists
those at the Constitutional convention that favored strong state governments and feared that a strong national government would be a threat to individual rights
Pluralism
The idea that having a variety of parties and interests within a government will strengthen the system, ensuring that no group has total control
Virginia Plan
Plan proposed by large states during the Constitutional convention that based representation in the national legislature on population, also had a variety of proposals to strengthen the national government
New Jersey Plan
Response to the Virginia Plan
Smaller states proposed that each state should get equal representation in the national legislature, regardless of size
Great Compromise
Compromise between large and small states, proposed by Connecticut, where congress has 2 houses: the Senate with 2 legislators per state and the House of Representatives where each state’s representation is based on population
Parliamentary System
System of government where legislative and executive power are closely joined
Legislative (parliament) chooses chief executive (prime minister) who forms a cabinet from members of parliament
“Prerogative powers”
More flexible leadership powers, generally for the executive branch
Madison’s “double protections”**
System of federalism and competing factions (?)
10th Amendment
Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, not prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people
Reserved powers
10th amendment
Viewed as setting outer limits on the reach of national power
National supremacy clause
Part of Article VI, section 2, of the Constitution
States that the constitution, led, and treaties of the United States are the “supreme law of the land”
National laws take precedent over state laws if the two conflict