Midterm 1

Question 1

Basic idea of Democracy

Answer 1

• Rule by the people
• self-government by the many
• citizen involvement
• system of representation
• rule of law
• equality
• freedom, liberty, and rights
• education

Question 2

What is popular sovereignty?

Answer 2

• People are the ultimate source of government authority and that what the government does is determined by what the people want.
• Policies reflect the wishes of the people.
• Leaders are selected in competitive elections
• elections are free and fair
• People participate in the political process
• High quality information is available
• the majority rules

Question 3

Democracy in Athens

Answer 3

Athens of the fifth century is usually cited as the purest form of democracy that ever existed. There, all public policies were decided upon in periodic assemblies of Athenian citizens.

• democracy meant rule by the common people exercised directly in open assemblies.
• They believed that democracy implied face-to-face deliberation and decision making about the public business.

“civic virtue”

Question 4

What is political equality?

Answer 4

the idea that each person, being of equal intrinsic value as other human beings, carries the same weight in voting and other political decision making.

Question 5

What is majority tyranny?

Answer 5

the majority violated the citizenship rights of the minority.

Question 6

What is representative democracy?

Answer 6

A system in which the people select others to act on their behalf.

Question 7

How are free elections conducted?

Answer 7

7

Question 8

How was the issue of slavery dealt with at the Constitutional Convention with regards to the apportionment of seats in the house?

Answer 8

Count three-fifths of a states slave population in the calculation of how may representatives a state was entitled to in the House of Representatives.

Question 9

What government plan existed before the Constitiuion?

Answer 9

9

Question 10

What is the Supremacy Clause?

Answer 10

The constitution is the supreme law of the land.

article 5 section 2

Question 11

Which philosopher from the Enlightenment greatly influenced the colonists?

Answer 11

John Locke

or Thomas Paine

Question 12

Article 1, Section 8 establishes what?

Answer 12

Congress shall have the power.
To coin money
-Neseccary and proper
-enumerates what kinds of laws congress has the power to pass.

Question 13

Checks against majority tyranny in the Constitution

Answer 13

13

Question 14

Presidential signing statements(What do they do?)

Answer 14

A document sometimes issued by the president in connection with the signing of a bill from congress that sets out the presidents understanding of the new law and how executive branch officials should carry it out.

Question 15

Under the Articles of Confederation, who had the most power?

Answer 15

the states had the most power.

Question 16

What is Republicanism?

Answer 16

A political doctrine advocating limited government based on popular consent, protected against majority tyranny.

Question 17

Checks and Balances

Answer 17

The constitutional principle that each of the separate branches of government has the power to hinder the actions of the other branches a s a way to prevent tyranny.

Question 18

What is a Unitary System

Answer 18

A system in which a central government has complete power over its constituent units or states.

Question 19

10th amendment

Answer 19

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

• rights reserved for the people.
• reservation clause

Question 20

What are Concurrent powers?

Answer 20

powers under the constitution that are shared by the federal government and the states.

Question 21

Know Federal system of government

Answer 21

• Federalism is a system under which significant government powers are divided between the central government and smaller units, such as states or provinces.
• helps fragment government power.
• size and diversity is good for america.
• power is expressly given to the states, as well to the national government.
• the states have important roles in shaping, and choosing officials ofr the national government itself.

Question 22

Know Confederation System

Answer 22

The Constituent states get together for certain common purposes but retain ultimate individual authority and can veto major central government actions.

Question 23

Enumerated powers of the national government as outlined in the Constitution

Answer 23

23

Question 24

McCullough Vs. Maryland?

Answer 24

asserted national supremacy

• The case involved action by the state of Maryland to impose a tax on the Bank of the United States .
• states could tax

Question 25

What are reserved powers?

Answer 25

25

Question 26

Dual/Marble Cake Federalism

Answer 26

an interpretation of federalism in which the states and the national government have separate jurisdictions and responsibilities.
-distinctive, non overlapping areas of responsibility for the national and the state governments.

Question 27

Number of randomly selected citizens needed for national public opinion polls.

Answer 27

27

Question 28

Know political socializations/agents of

Answer 28

political socialization
-the process by which individuals come to have certain core beliefs and political attitudes.
agents of socialization
-those institutions and individuals that shape the core beliefs and attitudes of people/

Question 29

Why is public opinion so important in democracy?

Answer 29

For the people to rule, they must have their voice heard by those in government. and we require evidence that those in government are responsive to the voice of the people/

Question 30

What is random sampling

Answer 30

the selection of survey respondents by chance, with equal probability of being selected to ensure their representatives of the whole population.

Question 31

Results of what polling Americans about politics have revealed.

Answer 31

31

Question 32

Problems with wording when it comes to polling questions.

Answer 32

778

Question 33

What is political ideology?

Answer 33

system of interrelated and coherently organized political beliefs and attitudes.