Quiz 1 (Chapters 1 - 5) Flashcards
a government’s ability to respond effectively to change, to make decisions efficiently and responsibly, and to manage conflict
capacity
the attitudes, values, and beliefs that people hold toward government
political culture
open marketplace in which people participate because of essentially private motivations
individualistic political culture
an effort to establish a good and just society, citizens expected to be active in public affairs
moralistic political culture
politics functions to maintain the existing order, and political participation is confined to social elites
traditionalistic political culture
based on detailed provisions and procedures, locking in rigid procedures and policies that typically favor strong political or economic interests
positive law tradition
most common form of formal constitutional change
legislative proposal
18 states permit their citizens to initiate and ratify changes in the constitution and thus bypass the legislature
initiative
if the legislature is circumvented altogether and propositions are placed directly on the general-election ballot by citizens
direct initative
if a legislature participates by voting on the citizen proposal
indirect initative
established to examine the existing document and to recommend changes to the legislature or to the voters, can be whole document or partial
constitutional commission
used by most countries, all government authority is derived from central authority who can create / abolish local governments as it sees fit
unitary system
central government is weak and local governments are powerful
confederation
in between other 2 systems, has minimum of 2 governmental levels which derives powers directly from the people and can act directly on the people within its jurisdiction without permission from other authority
federal system
reserved powers for the states
10th Amendment
national government’s Constitutional powers are to be interpreted narrowly, and potential unconstitutional efforts by the federal government to extend its authority should be met with resistance by the states → this theory became the foundation for states’ rights arguments
compact theory of federalism
provides that the national laws and the Constitution are the supreme laws of the land
national supremacy clause
in McCulloch v Maryland, John Marshall ruled that Congress had the implied power to establish the bank and that Maryland had no right to tax it
necessary and proper clause
also ruled by Marshall, defined commerce broadly and held that Congress’s power to regulate commerce applied not only to traffic across state boundaries but, in some cases, also to traffic of goods, merchandise, and people within a state
commerce clause
former slaves became citizens, made the due process and equal protection provisions of the Bill of Rights applicable to the states
14th Amendment
grants Congress the power to tax the income of individuals and corporations, moved the center of financial power from the states to Washington, D.C → through the income tax, the national government raises trillions of dollars + a portion of this money is sent to the states and localities through grants-in-aid
16th Amendment
says national laws take precedence over state laws
federal preemption
both the national and state governments are sovereign and that they are equal within their respective spheres of authority as set forth in the Constitution (1787 - 1932)
dual federalism
