Unit 1 Flashcards
Ideals of Democracy
limited government, natural rights, popular sovereignty, republicanism, social contract
Limited Government
A principle of constitutional government; a government whose powers are defined and limited by a constitution.
Natural Rights
the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property
Popular Sovereignty
Governments right to rule comes from the people
Republicanism
Elected leaders represent the interests of the people
Social Contract
People allow government to rule over them to protect their rights
Participatory Democracy
citizens vote directly for laws and other maters instead of voting for people to represent their interests.
Pluralist Democracy
Groups organize to try to exert influence on political decision making.
Elitist Democracy
Limited participation by a few, well-educated and informed states people.
Federalist Papers
A collection of 85 articles written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison under the name “Publius” to defend the Constitution in detail.
Federalist No. 10
An essay composed by James Madison which argues that liberty is safest in a large republic because many interests (factions) exist. Such diversity makes tyranny by the majority more difficult since ruling coalitions will always be unstable. (A filter/the more factions the more they will cancel each other out)
Brutus No. 1
An Anti-Federalist essay which argued against a strong central government based on the belief that it would not be able to meet the needs of all US citizens.
Problems with the Articles of Independence
No judicial or executive branch
No army
Congress could not tax or regulate trade
Each state had only one vote regardless of size
All 13 state required to approve amendments
Shay’s Rebellion
A 1787 rebellion led by Daniel Shay in which ex-Revolutionary War soldiers attempted to prevent foreclosures of farms as a result of high interest rates and taxes
Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)
1787
*Called for a bicameral legislative system in which the House of Representatives would be based on population and the Senate would have equal representation in Congress
*Combined pieces of the New Jersey Plan, the Virginia Plan, and other proposals
*Included the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of apportioning representation and called for direct taxation on the states
New Jersey Plan
- Small state
- Equal representation for each state
Virginia Plan
- Large state
- Representation based on population
Bicameral Legislature
Two house legislature
Electoral College
A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president
Amendment Process
The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.
Constitutional Convention
Meeting in 1787 of the elected representatives of the thirteen original states to write the Constitution of the United States.
Federalist No. 51
An essay written by James Madison that explained how the structure of the new government under the Constitution would provide the necessary checks and balances to keep the government from becoming too powerful (1788).
Argument between Federal vs. State power
It gave power to both the Federal Government and the state governments. States argued that the would not have any power however federal government argued that without rules then the country would be unorganized.
Separation of Powers
dividing the powers of government among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches
