final Flashcards
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Linkage institution
Parties, elections,
media, interest
groups
policy making institutions
Legislature,
executive, courts,
bureacracy
pluralist theory
Competition among groups for preferred policies
Groups will work together
Public interest will prevail
elite and class theory
Societies are divided along class lines and an
upper-class elite will rule
Not all groups are equal
Policies benefit those with money / power
hyperpluralism
Groups are so strong that government is weakened
Too many ways for groups to control policy
Confusing / contradictory policies
common law
judge-made law grounded in tradition and previous judicial decisions, instead of written law
bill of rights
the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, which were ratified in 1791, constituting an enumeration of the individual liberties with which the government is forbidden to interfere
social contract theory
the idea that individuals possess free will, and every individual is equally endowed with the God-given right of self-determination and the ability to consent to be governed
natural rights/ unalienable rights
the rights possessed by all humans as a gift from nature, or God, including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
popular sovereignty
the theory that government is created by the people and depends on the people for the authority to rule
enumerated powers
the powers of the national government that are listed in the constitution
the “conservative” revolution
Restored rights the colonists felt they
had lost
Not a major change of lifestyles
economic turmoil
States had different currencies
States had laws that favored debtors
Shay’s Rebellion
A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of
farmers led by Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays
to block foreclosure proceedings.
Articles of Confederation
Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, & independence
Unicameral Congress (w/one vote per state)
No Executive
No Federal Judiciary (courts @ state level)
proportional representation system
an electoral structure in which political parties win the number of parliamentary seats equal to the percentage of the vote the party recieves
balance of power system
a system of international alliances that, in theory, would balance the power of one group of nations against the power of another group and thus discourage war
New Jersey Plan
the proposal presented in response to the Virginia Plan by the less populous states at the Constitutional Convention, which called for a unicameral national legislature in which all states would have an equal voice (equal representation), an executive office composed of several people elected by Congress, and a Supreme Court whose members would be appointed by the executive office.
Virginia Plan
the new governmental structure proposed by the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention, which consisted of a bicameral legislature (Congress, an executive elected by the legislature, and a separate national judiciary; state representation in Congress would be proportional, based on state population; the people would elect members to the lower house, and members of the lower house would elect the members of the upper house
Connecticut Compromise/Great Compromise
the compromise between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan that created a bicameral legislature with one chamber’s representation based on population and the other chamber having two members for each state
bicameral legislature
legislature comprising two parts, called chambers
Three-Fifths Compromise
the negotiated agreement by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention to count each slave as three-fifths of a free man for the purpose of representation and taxes.
habeas corpus
an ancient right that protects an individual in custody from being held without the right to be heard in a court of law
clear and present danger test
established by Shneck v. US. the government may silence speech or expression when there is a clear and present danger that this speech will bring about some harm that the government has the power to prevent
bad tendency test
established by Giltow v. New York. determines that any speech with the likelihood of inciting crime or distributing the public peace can be silenced
clear and probable danger test
a standard established in the 1951 case Dennis v. US whereby the government could suppress speech to avoid grave danger, even if the probability of the dangerous result was relatively remote; replaced by the imminent lawless action (incitement) test in 1969.
imminent lawless action test/incitement test
a standard established in the 1969 Brandenburg v. Ohio case, whereby speech is restricted only if it goes beyond mere advocacy, or words, to create a high likelihood of immediate disorder or lawlessness.
Miranda rights
a criminal procedural rule, established in the 1966 case Miranda v. Arizona, requiring police to inform criminal suspects, on their arrest, of their legal rights, such as the right to remain silent and the right to counsel; these warnings must be read to suspects before interrogation.
separation of powers
the Constitution’s delegation of the authority for the primary governing functions among three branches of government so that no one group of government officials controls all the governing functions.
checks and balances
a system in which each branch of government can monitor and limit the functions of the other branches.
