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Polis 102 > Test 1 > Flashcards

Test 1 Flashcards

1
Q

____________The governing body of a nation, state, or community

A

Government:

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2
Q

_______________ A type of government in which all or most citizens participate directly

A

Direct (participatory) democracy:

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3
Q

___________A type of government in which elected officials make decisions for the people they were elected to represent

A

Indirect (representative) democracy:

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4
Q

_______________The activity by which an issue is agitated or settled

A

Politics:

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5
Q

_______ The meeting that produced the new constitution whereby the articles of the constitution were revised.

A

Constitutional Convention (in Philadelphia, 1787):

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6
Q

_____________ A 1787 rebellion lead by Daniel Shay in which ex-revolutionary war soldiers attempted to prevent foreclosures of forms as a result of high interest and tax rates.

A

Shay’s Rebellion:

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7
Q

______________ The plan to have a popularly elected house based on state population and a state selected senate with two members for each state.

A

“Great Compromise”:

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8
Q

__________ A government in which elected representatives make the decision.

A

Republic:

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9
Q

_______________ A body of people representing the states who formally cast presidential votes. Either a house or a senate member holds each Electoral College vote.

A

Electoral College:

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10
Q

______________ The power of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional.

A

Judicial review (judicial interpretation):

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11
Q

_____________ Government authority shared by national government and the state governments (the constituent units)

A

Federalism (federal system):

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12
Q

_____________ Power given to the national government alone.

A

Enumerated powers:

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13
Q

______________The sharing of constitutional authority by multiple branches of government to limit each other’s power.

A

Separation of powers:

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14
Q

____________ The constitution ordained power that one branch of government has over another in order to limit each other’s power.

A

Checks and balances:

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15
Q

___________ Described by James Madison; a group with a distinct political interest.

A

Faction:

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16
Q

_______________supporter of the constitution. In favor of a strong central government.

A

Federalist:

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17
Q

_____________ non-supporter of the constitution. In favor of stronger state government and more individual power.

A

Anti-Federalist:

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18
Q

____________: 85 letters written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. They outlined Federalism and were intended to promote the ratification of the constitution.

A

Federalist Papers:

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19
Q

_____________: The first 10 amendments to the constitution. They outlined the unalienable rights of the people.

A

Bill of Rights

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20
Q

__________ An American statesman and founding father of federalism.

A

James Madison:

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21
Q
  1. What was the Declaration of Independence? According to the authors, the liberties the colonists fought to protect were “ordained” by whom? What were the “self-evident” truths expressed in the Declaration?
A

Declared colonist’s independence and liberties that were not based on the generosity of King or on the language of statues but on a higher law. Embodying “natural rights that were ordained by God- born to men and cannot be taken away. “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. Those among are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

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22
Q

What was the basic structure and powers of the national government under the Articles of Confederation? (name 6)

A
  • Congress could borrow money from people
  • Congress could settle disputes between states on states petition
  • Congress could enter treaties and alliances
  • Congress could establish and control armed force, declare war, and make peace.
  • Congress could create postal system, admiralty courts, create government departments, and regulate Indian affairs.
  • Congress could regulate coinage and set standards for weights and measures
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23
Q

What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

A

Congress could not regulate commerce
• Congress could not directly tax people
• Congress could not compel states to pay their share of government costs
• Congress lacked the power to enforce its laws
• Congress could not enforce foreign treaties and the states entered into treaties independent of Congress
• Congress could not directly draft soldiers
• Approval from 9 of the 13 states needed to enact legislation
• Amendments to the Articles required consent of all 13 states
• No permanent executive branch
• No permanent Judicial branch
• Congress could not issue paper money a single currency.

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24
Q
  1. Is the U.S. Constitution the oldest written national constitution today? What impact did John Locke’s philosophy have upon the principles behind the Constitution?
A

Locke argued, all men cherish and seek to protect their life, liberty, and property. But in a state of nature—that is, a society without a government—the strong can use their liberty to deprive the weak of their own liberty. He argued that people would not agree to be ruled by a government that threatens their liberty; therefore, the government to which they freely choose to submit themselves must be a limited government designed to protect liberty. Lock’s philosophy focused on a government that was strong enough to preserve order but not too strong so as preserve individual liberty.

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25
Q
  1. How was the issue of slavery, counting the slave population, and the slave trade dealt with at the Convention (in the original Constitution)?
A

In determining the representation each state was to have in the house 3/5 of all other persons (slaves) are to be added to the whole number of free persons

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26
Q
  1. Know the process for amending the U.S. Constitution (Article V)
A

Proposing the Amendment:
• The amendment must be proposed and approved by 2/3 of the votes in Congress.
• The amendment must be proposed and approved at a constitutional convention. (This has never actually happened)
Ratifying the Amendment:
• ¾ of congress must ratify the amendment within a times span of 7 years.

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27
Q

_____________ powers given to the national government alone.

A

Enumerated powers:

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28
Q

_____________held that though the national government was supreme in its sphere, the states were equally supreme in theirs, and that these two spheres of action should and could be kept separate.

A

Dual federalism:

29
Q

____________where the national and state governments share responsibilities in most policy areas.

A

Cooperative federalism:

30
Q

________________: A grant used for a specific purpose defined by federal law: to build an airport or a college dormitory, for example, or to make welfare payments to low-income mothers. Such grants usually require that the state or locality put up money to “match” some part of the federal grant

A

Categorical Grants:

31
Q

____________grant devoted to some general purpose and with fewer restrictions on its use.

A

Block Grants:

32
Q

_______________Terms set by the national government that states must meet whether or not they accept federal grants.

A

Mandates:

33
Q

_____________ The transfer of power from the national government to state and local governments.

A

Devolution:

34
Q
  1. Do “local governments” have a specifically protected existence and authority under the U.S. Constitution?
A

Federalism refers to a political system that comprises local units of government, as well as a national government, that can make final decisions with respect to at least some governmental activities and whose existence is specifically protected. The special protection that local government enjoy in a federal system comes in part from the constitution of the country and also from the habits of the citizens and the actually distribution of political power in society.

35
Q
  1. What is the importance of the McCulloch v. Maryland case in 1819 to the federal government in terms of the “necessary and proper clause” and the national supremacy principle (supremacy clause” (Article VI) found in the U.S. Constitution?
A

Necessary and Proper clause permits congress to exercise powers not specifically give to it via the constitution. In McCulloch v. Maryland, congress created a national bank when it is essential to a power that congress already had (in this case managing currency). The state cannot challenge federal powers (the supremacy principle) the federal government was given its power from the people and federal government is supreme in the exercise of these powers given to it.

36
Q
  1. What impact did the Civil War have upon the nature of federalism in the U.S.?
A

Nullification is the doctrine that a state can declare a federal law null and void because the state views that it violates the constitution. This doctrine of nullification was settled by the Civil War. The northern victory determined once and for all that the federal union cannot be dissolved and states cannot declare acts of congress unconstitutional.

37
Q

_____________ First 10 amendments of the constitution

A

Bill of Rights:

38
Q

________________The process whereby the court has applied most, but not all, parts of the bill of rights to the states.

A

Selective incorporation:

39
Q

____________ The national censorship of a publication

A

Prior restraint:

40
Q

_________ An act that conveys a political message

A

Symbolic speech:

41
Q

______ The first amendment of the constitution requires that no law can prevent free exercise of religion.

A

Free exercise clause:

42
Q

_______________First amendment prohibited laws that respecting an establishment of religion.

A

Establishment clause:

43
Q

_______________: was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools

A

Engel v. Vitale

44
Q

______________ Improperly gathered evidence cannot be introduced in a criminal trial.

A

Exclusionary rule:

45
Q

_____________ This prohibits unwarranted search and seizure of a person’s home.

A

Fourth Amendment:

46
Q

___________The right to remain silent in a court of law.

A

Fifth Amendment:

47
Q

________________ The Supreme Court ruled that detained criminal suspects, prior to police questioning, must be informed of their constitutional right to an attorney and against self-incrimination.

A

Miranda v. Arizona (1966):

48
Q

__________________: is used to bring a prisoner or other detainee (e.g. institutionalized mental patient) before the court to determine if the person’s imprisonment or detention is lawful. It proceeds as a civil action against the State agent (usually a warden) who holds the defendant in custody.

A

Writ of habeas corpus and detainees from the war on terror (see “Bush” case of 2008):

49
Q
  1. How have many of the Amendments in the Bill of Rights been “incorporated” (applied) to the States? (Know how the “due process” clause in the 14th Amendment relates to this “incorporation doctrine”)

Name 4

A

The entire bill of rights in now applied to the states except for the following:
• The third amendment the right not to have soldiers forcibly quartered in private homes
• The fifth amendment the right to be indicted by a grand jury before being tried for a serious crime
• The seventh amendment, the right to a jury trial in civil cases
• The eighth amendment, the ban on excessive bail and fines.

50
Q
  1. What is the most recent Amendment to be incorporated and applied to the states?
A

The second amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, in 2010 in the case McDonald v. Chicago.

51
Q
  1. What forms of speech do not have automatic full constitutional protection?
    Clear and present danger test, laws should not punish speech unless there was a clear and president danger of producing harmful actions. Justice Holmes said not even the constitution protects a person who has falsely shouted fire in a theater and caused panic. Four forms of speaking and writing are not automatically granted constitutional protection:
    (List 4)
A
  • Libel: is a written statement that defames the character of another person.
  • Obscenity: obscene materials.
  • Symbolic Speech: an act that conveys a political message such as burning a draft card
  • Commercial and Youthful speech: the right of children and corporations to speak and publish with exceptions
52
Q

____________is a written statement that defames the character of another person.

A

Libel:

53
Q

___________obscene materials.

A

Obscenity:

54
Q

________________an act that conveys a political message such as burning a draft card

A

Symbolic Speech:

55
Q

________________: the right of children and corporations to speak and publish with exceptions

A

Commercial and Youthful speech

56
Q
  1. Since the Engel case, has the U.S. Supreme Court been consistently willing to uphold the “wall of separation” principle? Has the U.S. Supreme Court held that the free exercise of religion is an absolute (unrestricted) right?
A

Wall of separation is a court ruling that government cannot be involved with religion. The Engel case in 1962 concluded that there might not be a prayer even a non-denominational one in public schools. Since 1947 the court has applied to the law of separation as theory to strike down as unconstitutional most efforts to have any officially conducted prayers in public schools, even if it is non-sectarian or voluntary.

57
Q

______________A standard of equal treatment that must be observed by the government

A

Equal protection clause:

58
Q

_____________ This amendment protected the rights of women. This amendment states that the rights of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the US on account of sex.

A

Nineteenth Amendment:

59
Q

______________Abolished slavery or involuntary servitude.

A

13th Amendment:

60
Q

________________gives citizenship rights and equal protection laws to African Americans

A

14th Amendment:

61
Q

_____________gives the right to vote to African American men

A

15th Amendment:

62
Q

_______________ is a landmark civil rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

A

Obergefell v. Hodges:

63
Q

______________is the doctrine that was established in the 1896 court case Plessy v. Ferguson that African American could constitutionally be kept in separate but equal facilities.

A

Separate but equal doctrine

64
Q

___________is the doctrine that was established in the 1954 court case Brown v. Board of Education that in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal had no place. Plessy v. Ferguson was overruled.

A

Separate is inherently unequal

65
Q
  1. Which was the most far-reaching civil rights law passed in the 1950s-60s?
A

The 1964 civil rights law was the most far reaching of all laws passed. It dealt with voting, employment, schooling, and public accommodations.

66
Q

Is the “right to privacy” specifically mentioned in the Constitution (review Amendments 1-14)? What constitutional rationale did the U.S. Supreme Court use in Roe v. Wade (1973) to find that a woman had a fundamental right to an abortion in the first to trimesters of her pregnancy?

A

Privacy is not mentioned in the constitution however; the court argued that it could be inferred from penumbres (shadows) cast off by other amendments. Roe v. Wade the court decided that “a right to privacy” is broad enough to encompass a women’s decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy.

67
Q

In Roe, did the Court find that states could prohibit all abortions in the last trimester?

A
  • 1st Trimester: women have an absolute right to abort
  • 2nd Trimester: states may regulate abortions only to protect a mothers health
  • 3rd Trimester: states might ban abortions
68
Q

. Affirmative action–Since the “Bakke” decision of 1978, has the U.S. Supreme Court permitted any hiring or admission programs which use race as the only factor to redress discrimination?

A

In Bakke decision in 1978, the court said the medical school at UC Davis could not use an explicit numerical quota in admitting minority students but could take race into account.
Very complicated but basically no.

Polis 102 (9 decks)

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