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AP Government and Politics 2023 > Foundations of American Democracy > Flashcards

Foundations of American Democracy Flashcards

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1
Q

Thomas Hobbes

A
  • Argued if humans were left alone, chaos would ensue
  • Best way to protect life through an absolute monarch
  • Advocated for rule of law
  • Government must protect natural rights
  • Citizens must enter a social contract
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2
Q

Rule of Law

A
  • All citizens are subject to the same laws
  • NO ONE is above the law
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3
Q

Natural Rights

A

Life, Liberty, and Property

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4
Q

Social Contract

A

Sacrifices some freedoms for protections from the federal government

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5
Q

John Locke

A
  • Everyone born with tabula rasa, or a blank slate
  • Believed in empiricism
  • Natural rights were granted by God and governments must respect and protect these rights. If the government didn’t protect these rights, the citizens could revolt
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6
Q

Empiricism

A

Everything someone knows and does is based on experience

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7
Q

Charles de Montesquieu

A
  • Opposed monarchy and believed in democracy
  • Advocated for separation of powers into the three branches of government
  • A system of checks and balances needed to limit power of each branch
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8
Q

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A
  • Humans are naturally pure but are corrupted by society
  • Individuals should act for the greater good (not self-interest)
  • A good government is created by the consent of the people
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9
Q

Representative Democracy

A

Government that gives citizens the opportunity to vote for representatives who will work on their behalf (aka republic)

Participatory/Direct Democracy - people directly vote for laws and representatives. not suitable for large governments and chaotic

Pluralist Democracy - people of similar interests form interest groups to advocate and compete with other groups

Elitist Democracy - discourages participation of average citizens and instead aims participation towards the educated/wealthy

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10
Q

Aristocracy

A

A government in which power is in the hands of a hereditary ruling class or nobility

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11
Q

Republicanism

A

a form of government in which the power is held by the people, either directly or through elected representatives

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12
Q

Popular Sovereignty

A

The power of the government comes from the consent of the people

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13
Q

Declaration of Independence

A
  • Formal declaration of war between Great Britain and the colonies
  • Outlines the wrongs King George III did against the colonies
  • 3 basic ideas: (1) God made all men equal and gave them the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; (2) the main business of government is to protect these rights; (3) if a government tries to withhold these rights, the people are free to revolt and to set up a new government.
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14
Q

Articles of Confederation

A
  • First government for the USA
  • Set precedent for federalism
  • Established the method of how states could enter the Union (Northwest Ordinance)
  • Not meant to be permanent. It was only meant to be used during the war as a sort of “scaffolding”
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15
Q

Federalism

A

system of government in which the national and state government share powers

Confederation - system in which decisions are made by an external member-state legislature

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16
Q

Shay’s Rebellion

A

Many farmers revolted/rebelled after their farms were closed due to their lack of money. The federal government wasn’t able to handle the situation as it had no power to do so and the states struggles to handle it. The rebellion demonstrated the need for a strong central government and the weakness of the articles

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17
Q

Weaknesses of the Articles (Federal)

A
  • Couldn’t draft soldiers or raise army
  • Depended on states for revenue since they weren’t able to tax
  • Couldn’t pay off debts from war
  • Couldn’t control interstate trade
  • No Supreme Court
  • No executive branch (couldn’t ensure states followed laws)
  • No national currency
  • No control over import/export taxes between states
  • Amending it required unanimity
  • 9/13 states needed of approve to pass legislation
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18
Q

Constitutional Convention

A
  • Convention to fix Articles, but they were so hard to fix that they ended up creating an entirely new document, the Constitution
  • Most agreed that government should have more power, but feared corruption
  • Created Electoral College

Major Plans:
Virginia Plan - Virginia is a big state so wanted a government in which each state is represented proportionally to its population. president elected by PEOPLE
New Jersey Plan - NJ is a small state so wanted each state to be represented equally. president elected by ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Great Compromise - Combined VI and NJ plans to create a bicameral legislature. House would be based on population and Senate would be based on equal representation of 2
3/5s Compromise - enslaved people would count as 3/5 of a person when creating seats in the house

Constitution:
- Created an executive (president) who would enforce the law and check the legislature through vetos (which could again be checked through 2/3 supermajority in both houses)
- Created Supreme Court

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19
Q

Federalists

A

supported ratification of Constitution. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote Federalist Papers

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20
Q

Anti-Federalists

A

opposed strong national governments and constitution since it would create a kind. It made sense that they were hesitant since they had just come out of a revolutionary war against a king.

Believed that a Bill of Rights was necessary to protect the rights of citizens. Only agreed to Constitution once the Federalist agreed hat Bill of Rights would be added after ratification

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21
Q

Brutus 1

A

Summary - national government would have too much power, standing army could diminish liberty, and representatives wouldn’t truly represent the people. A free republic cannot exist in the large US. Free republic comes from the people, not representatives of the people.

22
Q

Federalist 10

A

Addressed dangers of factions as people feared that minority factions would be undermined. argued that a large republic would allow factions to be diluted and that no faction had too much power

23
Q

Federalist 51

A

Argued that the separation of powers and checks and balances would guarantee that no faction would dominate and allow for efficiency as each branch would have their specified responsibilities

24
Q

Federalist 70

A

There should be a single executive as it would allow him to act quickly and be able to hold single-hand accountability for his actions

25
Q

Federalist 78

A

Argued in favor of the judiciary and that they must determine constitutionality of congressional acts as a check on congress

26
Q

Constitution

A
  • Article 1: Legislative Branch
  • Article 2: Executive Branch
  • Article 3: Judicial Branch
  • Article 4: Relations among states
  • Article 5: How to amend
  • Article 6: Public debts, supremacy of national law, oaths
  • Article 7: Ratification of Constitution
    Bill of Rights
27
Q

Necessary and Proper Clause

A

Allows congress the implied power to make all laws that are necessary and proper (aka elastic clause)

28
Q

Executive Orders

A

not mentioned in Constitution but have the same force as laws (a method of enforcement) and can bypass Congress in policy making

29
Q

Executive Agreements

A

not mentioned in constitution. agreements between the heads of countries and are SIMILAR to treaties

30
Q

Custom and Usage

A

A usage is a repetition of acts whereas custom is the law or general rule that arises from such repetition

31
Q

Marbury v. Madison

A

Marbury was appointed by former president Adams but his letter of commission was not delivered since Jefferson (who just became new president) stopped them from going out. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional but the enforcement of it was out of its jurisdiction.

Created judicial review, the power of the Supreme Court to declare the constitutionality of actions/laws

32
Q

McCulloch v. Maryland

A

Ruled that the states didn’t have the power to tax the national bank that was situated in the state of Maryland. Using the supremacy clause, it was ruled that federal laws are above state laws.

33
Q

Supremacy Clause

A

the constitution and laws of the US are the supreme law of the land, overriding state laws.

34
Q

United States v. Lopez

A

Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 banned the possession of handguns on school property. The court held that the commerce close didn’t extend to the regulation of firearms

35
Q

Commerce Clause

A

gives Congress the power to regulate commerce between states (interstate) and with foreign nations (international)

36
Q

Delegated/Enumerated Powers

A

powers that ONLY apply to the federal government

  • printing money
  • regulating trade between states and countries
  • making treating & conducting foreign policy
  • declaring war
  • establishing post office
  • establishing lower courts
  • establishing rules of naturalization (becoming citizen)
  • establishing copyright and patent laws
  • raising armed forces
  • making necessary and proper laws
37
Q

Reserved Powers

A

powers exclusively delegated to states

  • issuing licenses
  • regulating intrastate (in the state) commerce/business
  • conducting elections
  • establishing local governments
  • maintaining a justice system
  • education
  • maintaining militia
  • providing public health, safety, and welfare programs
38
Q

10th Amendment

A

powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states.

39
Q

Concurrent Powers

A

powers shared by federal and state

  • taxes
  • building roads
  • operating/establishing courts of law
  • chartering banks/corporations
  • eminent domain
  • paying debts and borrowing money
40
Q

Federal Government not allowed to…

A
  • suspend write of habeas corpus (protection against illegal imprisonment)
  • pass ex post facto laws (laws that apply to actions committed before the law was created)
  • issue bills of attainder (declare individual guilty without trial)
  • export taxes
  • use money from treasury without the passage and approval of appropriations bill
  • grant titles of nobility
41
Q

State Government not allowed to…

A
  • create treaties with foreign nations
  • declare war
  • maintain standing army
  • print money
  • pass ex post facto laws (laws that apply to actions committed before the law was created)
  • issue bills of attainder (declare individual guilty without trial)
  • grant titles of nobility
  • impose import/export duties
42
Q

Categorical Grants

A

grants of money with strings (strings describe how the money may be spent). favored by those who favor federal power

43
Q

Block Grants

A

permit the states to use the money where they see fit (but can be manipulated by making states do something in order to get the money)

44
Q

Separation of Powers

A

borrowed idea from Montesquieu, delegating different responsibilities/powers to each branch

45
Q

Legislative Checks

A

On Judicial - create amendments to overrule decisions, impeach justices, reject appointments

On Executive - reject appointments, reject treatises, withhold funding for presidential initiatives, impeach president, override veto

46
Q

Executive Checks

A

On Legislative - veto bills, adjourn congress

On Judicial - appoint judges

47
Q

Judicial Checks

A

On Executive - declaring executive actions unconstitutional

On Legislative - declaring laws unconstitutional

48
Q

Checks and Balances

A

different branches of government can limit others from becoming too dominant

49
Q

Veto

A

reject legislation (can be overrides with 2/3 supermajority in both houses)

50
Q

Amendment

A

addition to the document

51
Q

Amendment Ratification Methods

A
  1. Proposed amendment wins 2/3 majority in both houses. Then 3/4 of state legislatures approve of amendment.
  2. Constitutional convention called by 2/3 of state legislatures. 3/4 of special state ratifying conventions approve
52
Q

Line-Item Veto

A

Ability to veto parts of a bill. UNCONSTITUTIONAL for president but governors can use it

AP Government and Politics 2023 (9 decks)

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