EXAM 1 - Review Flashcards
Autocracy
A form of government in which a single individual – a king, a queen, or dictator – rules
Oligarchy
A form of government in which a small group – landowners, military officers, or wealthy merchants – controls most of the governing decisions
Constitutional government
A system of rule in which formal and effective limits are placed on the powers of the government
Authoritarian government
A system of rule in which the government recognizes no formal limits but may nevertheless be restrained by the power of other institutions
Totalitarian government
A system of rule in which the government recognizes no formal limits on its power and seeks to absorb or eliminate other social institutions that might challenge it
Political Efficacy
The belief that one can influence government and politics
Government
Institutions and procedures through which a territory and its people are ruled
Representative Democracy (republic)
A system of government in which the populace selects representatives, who play a significant role in governmental decision making
Articles of Confederation
America’s first written constitution; served as the basis for America’s national government until 1789
Confederation
A system of government in which states retain sovereign authority except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government
Annapolis Convention
The continuation of international weakness and domestic economic turmoil led many Americans to consider whether their newly adopted form of government, Articles of Confederation might not already require revision.
In the fall of 1786, many state leaders accepted an invitation from the Virginal legislature for a conference of representatives of all the states to be held in Annapolis, Maryland.
Delegates from only 5 states actually attended, so nothing substantive could be accomplished.
The one positive thing that came out of the Annapolis Convention was a carefully worded resolution calling on Congress to send commissioners to Philadelphia at a later time “to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the Constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the demands of the Union.”
But the resolution did not necessary imply any desire to do more than improve and reform the Articles of Confederation
Shay’s Rebellion
A series of events that highlighted the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation included Shay’s Rebellion.
Shay’s Rebellion was led by Daniel Shays a former army captain who led a mob of farmers in a rebellion against the government of Massachusetts. The purpose of the rebellion was to prevent foreclosures on their debt-ridden land by keeping the county courts of western Massachusetts from sitting until after next election. This event helped bring about the Constitutional Convention as many worried that similar events would happen unless there were changes
Congress did not regain control until several days later. They showed that they were not able to act decisively in a time of crisis. This was the ammo that critics of the Articles need to push the Annapolis resolution to congress
Virginia Plan
A framework for the Constitution, introduced by Edmund Randolph, that called for representation in the national legislature based on the population of each state
New Jersey Plan
A framework for the Constitution, introduced by William Peterson, that called for equal state representation in the national legislature regardless of population
Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)
The agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that gave each state an equal number of senators regardless of its population but linked representation in the House of Representatives to population
Three-Fifths compromise
The agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that stipulated that for the purposes of the apportionment of congressional seats only three-fifths of enslaved people would be counted
Federalist
Those who favored a strong national government and supported the Constitution proposed at the American Constitutional Convention of 1787
Anti-Federalist
Those who favored strong state governments and a weak national government and who were opponents of the Constitution proposed at the American Constitutional Convention of 1787
Federalism
A system of government in which power is divided, by a constitution between a central government and regional governments
Full faith and credit clause
Provision from Article IV, Section 1, of the Constitution requiring that states normally honor the public acts and judicial decisions that take place in another state
Dual federalism
The system of government that prevailed in the United States from 1789 to 1937 in which most fundamental government powers were shared between the federal and state governments
McCulloch v. Maryland
The first time the necessary and proper clause was interpreted was in McCulloch v. Maryland, one of the most famous Supreme Court decisions ever made.
The case represented an ideological division over the powers of the national government and the place of the state in the Union.
McCulloch v. Maryland, Congress enacted legislation to charter the Second Bank of the United States. Two years later, the Maryland legislature imposed a tax on all banks within the state that were not chartered by the state legislature. James McCulloch, an official at the Baltimore branch of the federally chartered Bank of the United States refused to pay the tax.
Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the creation of the Bank of the United States was “necessary and proper” as a means to carry out other powers that the Constitution explicitly granted to Congress, such as the powers to collect taxes, coin money, and regulate commerce. Marshall opinion also rejected Maryland’s efforts to impose taxes on the federal government agencies. “The power to tax, is the power to destroy.”
Cooperative federalism
A type of federalism existing since the New Deal era in which grants-in-aid have been used strategically to encourage states an localities ( without commanding them) to pursue nationality defined goals; also known as intergovernmental cooperation
Regulated federalism
A form of federalism in which Congress imposes legislation on states and localities, requiring them to meet national standards
New Federalism
Attempts by Presidents Nixon and Reagan to return power to the states through block grants
Block grants
Federal grants-in-aid that allow states considerable discretion in how the funds are spent
Mapp v. Ohio
The 1961 case of Mapp v. Ohio illustrates one of the most important of the principles that have grown out of the 4th Amendment – the EXCLUSIONARY RULE, which prohibits evidence obtained during an illegal search from being introduced in a trial.
Acting on a tip that Dolly Mapp was harboring a suspect in a bombing incident, several policemen forcibly entered Mapp’s house without a proper search warrant. No suspect was found, but police discovered a trunk of obscene pictures in Mapp’s basement. Mapp was arrested for possessing the pictures, and was convicted in an Ohio court.
Mapp argued that her Fourth Amendment rights had been violated by the search, and eventually took her appeal to United States Supreme Court. At the time of the case unlawfully seized evidence was banned from federal courts but not state courts. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-3 vote in favor of Mapp. The high court said evidence seizedunlawfully, without a search warrant, could not be used in criminal prosecutions in state courts.
Lemon Test
A rule articulated in Lemon v. Kurtzman that government action toward religion is permissible if it is secular in purpose, neither promotes nor inhibits the practice of religion, and does not lead to “excessive entanglement” with religion
Libel
A written statement made in “reckless disregard of the truth” that is considered damaging to a victim because it is “malicious, scandalous, and defamatory”
Slander
An oral statement made in “reckless disregard of the truth” that is considered damaging to the victim because it is “malicious, scandalous, and defamatory”
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
The precedent setting case involving free exercise clause is West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, which involved the children of a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses who refused to salute and pledge allegiance to the American flag on the grounds that their religious faith did not permit it.
Three years earlier, the Court upheld such a requirement and had permitted schools to expel students for refusing to salute the flag.
But the entry of the United States into a war to defend democracy, coupled with the ugly treatment to which the Jehovah’s Witnesses children had be subjected, induced the Court to reverse itself and to endorse the free exercise of religion even when it may be offensive to the beliefs of the majority
District of Columbia v. Heller
A 5-4 decision the Supreme Court ruled that the Second (2nd) Amendment provides a constitutional right to keep a loaded handgun at home for self defense
Exclusionary rule
The ability of courts to exclude evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment
Gideon v. Wainwright
Provides the right to counsel (6th Amendment)
The Supreme Court ruled in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) that anyone facing imprisonment has the right to an attorney, even if he cannot afford one (public defender). Gideon was in and out of jails for most of his 51 years, Clarence Earl Gideon received a five year sentence for breaking and entering a poolroom in Panama City, FL. While serving time in jail, Gideon became a fairly well qualified “jailhouse layer” make his own appeal on a handwritten petition and eventually won the landmark ruling on the right to counsel in all felony cases
Tenth (10th) Amendment
Gives all powers not specifically given to the United States government in the Constitution, to either the states or to the people.
Jim Crow laws
Laws enacted by southern states following Reconstruction that discriminated against African Americans
Plessy v. Ferguson
The 1986 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson upheld legal segregation and created the “separate but equal” rule, which fostered national segregation. Overt discrimination in public accommodations was common
Brown v. Board of Education
The 1954 Supreme Court decision that struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine as fundamentally unequal; this case eliminated state power to use race as a criterion of discrimination in law and provided the national government with the power to intervene by exercising strict regulatory policies against discriminatory actions
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Is a federal statue that prohibited racial discrimination in public accommodations (hotels, restaurants, theaters), employment and programs receiving federal funding
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Is a federal statue that effectively attacked literacy test and other techniques used to prevent African Americans from voting
Bloody sunday - result
Affirmative action
Government policies or programs that seek to redress past injustices against specified groups by making special efforts to provide members of those groups access to educational and employment opportunities
Public Opinion
Citizens’ attitudes about political issues, leaders, institutions, and events
Political socialization
The induction of individuals into political culture; learning the underlying beliefs and values on which the political system is based
Agenda setting
The power of the media to bring public attention to particular issues and problems
Framing
The power of the media to influence how events and issues are interpreted
Priming
The process of making some criteria more important than others when evaluating a politician, problem, or issue
Equal time rule
The requirement that broadcasters provide candidates for the same political office equal opportunities to communicate their messages to the public
Right of rebuttal
A Federal Communications Commission regulation giving individuals the right to have the opportunity to respond to personal attacks made on a radio or television broadcast
Fairness doctrine
The now defunct requirement that broadcasters provide time for opposing views when they air programs on controversial issues
