Exam 1 Flashcards
(44 cards)
Absolute Monarchy
- Classical Conservatism
- A king or queen sets standards, enforces standards, and resolves disputes
- Divine right of kings, they can do whatever they want because god said so
Enlightenment Period
- The Scientific Revolution increased science, astronomy, biology, Galileo, Newton, and math; this info was used to explain the natural world besides god.
The state of nature
Is humans in their natural state without government interference, social rules, etc
Natural Rights
natural rights are rights that humans are born with; natural rights in the state of nature means that you have the right to everything but everyone else also has the same rights.
SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORISTS
Hobbes
- Believes in the state of nature and natural rights; he thinks that humans are inherently bad and selfish. They will MAXIMIZE pleasure and MINIMIZE pain. They CAN NOT BE TRUSTED and the government needs to rule with an iron fist
- Social contract was the iron fist ruling
Locke
Believes in the state of nature and natural rights, he thinks that humans are inherently bad and selfish BUT they have the potential for good
What is the purpose of government?
The purpose of government is to protect and defend the people’s natural rights. It doesn’t give them inherent rights and keeps people from violating others’ rights.
- Natural rights: life, liberty, property, the government protects those rights.
People select a sovereign leader
- One leader is functional, but if they abuse their power, the people have the right to dissolve the contract and start a new one
- Impeach, recall, elections
People give up their right to defend their own liberty
TRUE DEMOCRACY
- Ultimate political authority is vested in the people and is based on majority rule
- so some form of government is going to set standards, enforcing standards, and resolving disputes
- The government authority comes from the people, we allow them to do it as long as they are protecting our rights and if they’re not, we can dissolve the contract
- Their job exists because we allow it to exist - MAJORTIY RULE
- FLAWS
- It is not functional because people would have to vote on every little thing and be educated on it all
- True democracy always causes tyranny of the majority, and will eventually take away the rights of the few
Representative democracy (republic)
- People elect an agent to represent them in making laws and policies
- Based on majority rule WITH minority rights protected
- The agent refines the views of the majority by knocking off the hard edges or watering it down
- The agent pays attention to the minority because they can agitate or run against in the next election - Large Republic prevent tyranny of the majority better than small ones
- Messaging is harder in a large republic
* TO take away the rights of a few, you need to mobilize the majority - It is harder to identity dissenters in a majority
- There’s more diversity in a larger republic
- Messaging is harder in a large republic
Direct Democracy ( California)
- a system of government where the people vote on some issues (props)
- A strong progressive movement pushed direct democracy
- Progressives wanted to restrict the power of corporations, interest groups, political parties, and unions
- wanted to give the power back to the people
- Reduce the power instate legislatures and unions
- Place experts inside the government to institute progressive policies long after the progressives left office
- Decisions for the group and not the individual - All of the above led to the creation of democracy through the progressives
Constitution
- Declaration of Independence dissolved the contract and relationship between the old government and then had the framework of the new government created
- All men are created equal
- Very controversial
- Every human can reason, and his intellect
- Liberty, equality, individualism, self-government, unity
- The constitution was poisoned from the beginning
- The only solution to fix the inherent racism is to remove the entire system and start over
CHAPTER 1
Core Values
- Liberty : individuals should be free to act and think as they choose, provided they do not infringe unreasonably on the freedom and well-being of others
- Individualism - commitment to a personal initiative and self- sufficiency, self- reliance to create the American dream
- Equality - the notion that all individuals are equal in their moral worth and thereby entitled to equal treatment under the law
- Self - government: the people are the ultimate source of governing authority and should have a voice in their governing
Limits and Powers of American Ideals
- Limits: our core values don’t come with guarantees; we had segregation, we don’t help each other out because of individualism
- Powers : we have built the largest collegiate system, we have the most elections, and we are equal and free for the most part
Free Market Systems
- Operates mainly on privater transactions; firms are largely free to make their own production, distribution, and pricing decisions
- Individuals depend largely on themselves for economic security
- Corporate power is the influence of business firms on public policy
- Elitism is the power exercised by well-positioned and highly influential individuals
CHAPTER 2
Protecting Liberty: limited government
How is the government structured to protect liberty? Separation of powers
*Judiciary branch: The Supreme Court; has the power to interpret legal disputes arising under acts of Congress, and may declare acts of Congress unconstitutional
*Executive branch: the white house; the president nominates judges and may pardon those convicted, executes court decisions, and thereby affects their implementation
*Legislative branch: congress; may impeach or remove the president, override presidential veto, investigate presidential action, must approve treaties and executive appointments, enacts the budget and laws within which presidential action occurs
Altering the constitution gives more power to the people
*How did they change the Constitution to give more power to the people
*Who did it? Andrew Jackson?
*What did they do? Amended the constitution
*Marbury v Madison is about judicial review!!
CHAPTER 3
Federalists
*believe in core values and that the government should protect our rights
*They want to get rid of the Articles of Confederation and start over, create a strong central government, with the ability to tax and regulate commerce, more concerned with the majority (people)
- Republic government
#Strong central gov
#Want the ability to tax
#Want the ability to regulate commerce
*Created papers which are articles published in antifederalist areas arguing why the federal/central government is not to be feared and they will not take power away from the states
- The federal gov isn’t interested in the small matters of the states (local issues) but rather wants to deal with foreign affairs (wars, treaties, foreign trade)
- The fed gov will not have the resources to do so (not enough money, people, and time to infringe state power)
-The fed gov will only be more powerful than the states in times of war
Anti-federalists
*Want to keep the Articles of Confederation and just make some minor changes, want strong states, and a list of individual rights
*Responded to federalists with 3 reasons why the gov WILL take power away from states:
- Supremacy clause: declares if there is a federal law and a state law that conflict, federal law wins
- Necessary and proper clause: allows Congress to make laws or act where the constitution doesn’t give it authority to act
*to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing [enumerated] powers
- Taxes // no money = no power: the gov can’t function without money, and taxes allow gov to grow
Enumerated Powers
Enumerated powers (areas in control of the federal gov): right to declare war, borrow money, regulate commerce, regulate immigration, necessary and proper clause → allows the government to act where the constitution doesn’t explicitly give it the power to act
