Unit 1 Flashcards
Public Good
Everyone participates in supplying (tax dollars) and which anyone can freely consume, as much as they desire
Private Good
Things people buy and consume themselves in a marketplace that supplies these goods according to the demand for them
Transaction Cost
The costs of doing business reflected in time and effort required to compare preferences and negotiate compromises in making collective decisions
Collective Action
An action taken by a group of like-minded individuals to achieve a common goal
Prisoner’s Dilemma
Whether to confess or let someone else get those benefits
Free Rider Program
Someone tags along without contributing
Tragedy of the Commons
Selfishly depleting natural resources
Representative Government
A political system in which citizens select government officials who, acting as their agents, deliberate and commit the citizenry to a course of collective action
Parliamentary System
A form of government in which the chief executive is chosen by the majority party or by a coalition of parties in the legislatures
The Articles of Confederation
The first Constitution, forming the basis of the first national government
The Declaration of Indpendence
The document drafted by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, declaring the independence of the thirteen colonies from Great Britain
Commerce Clause
Congress can regulate trade
Necessary and Proper Clause
Grants Congress the authority to make all laws that are “necessary and proper” and to execute those laws
“Take Care” Clause
Instructs the president to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed”
Supremacy Clause
Declares that national laws are the “supreme” law of the land and therefore take precedence over any laws adopted by states and localities
Slave Trade Clause
International slave trade banned in 1808 (present slaves can still reproduce)
Equal Protection Clause
All people in similar situations must be treated equally by the law
Establishment Clause
Separation of church and state
Free Exercise Clause
Freedom of religion
The Great Compromise
- Split control between large and small populations (two-chamber legislature, lower = population, upper = equal)
- Ended unanimous agreement requirement
- Commerce clause
- Necessary and proper clause
Separation of Powers
A fundamental principle of government that divides power among branches to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful
Checks and Balances
A group of rules put in place to establish a genuine separation of powers based between government branches, allowing each branch to have a limited control over the branches’ activities
Checks and Balances (Judicial Branch)
Can declare laws unconstitutional (president & Congress)
Checks and Balances (Executive Branch)
- Nominates justices (Supreme Court)
- Veto legislation (Congress)
Checks and Balances (Legislative Branch)
President
* Passes Legislation
* Controls the federal government
* Override presidential veto
* Impeach/remove president
* Ratifies treaties
* Confirms judicial nominees
Supreme Court
* Impeach judges
* Set the size and jurisdiction of court
* Determine salaries and budgets
* Confirms all judges
Home Rule
Power given by a state to locality to enact legislation and manage its own affairs locally
John Locke (1632-1704)
- Wrote on political theory and design of government
- Popular sovereignty
- Stressed individual rights and limiting government scope
Popular Sovereignty
Citizen’s delegation of authority to their agents in government, with the ability to rescind that authority
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
- Established the foundations of modern mechanics and physics
- Framers were inspired to seek comparable laws governing social relations
Charles, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
- Legislative, executive, and judicial branches (separation of powers)
- Limited government, in nature of authority and size of the political unit
David Hume (1711-1776)
- Treated politics as a competition among contesting interests
- People are self-interested
Electoral College
- State legislatures appoint electors
- Electors meet and vote for two people
- Sends votes to the President of the Senate (VP)
- VP counts vote
- Majority-vote winner -> President, 2nd place -> VP, No majority -> House picks (each state gets one vote)
Executive Branch
President
* Making treaties with the Senate’s approval
* Signing and vetoing bills
* Representing the US in talks with other countries
* Enforcing laws passed by Congress
* Acting as Commander-in-Chief during war
Legislative Branch
House of Representatives and Senate
* Confirming or rejecting presidential appointments
* Regulating interstate and foreign commerce
* Having investigative powers
Judicial Branch
Supreme Court
* Deciding the meaning of laws
* Applying laws to real situations
* Deciding if a law violates the Constitution
* Resolving other cases involving federal laws
Federalism
A political system in which national and regional governments share powers and are considered independent equals
Dual Federalism (1789-1933)
- Separate jurisdictions and responsibilities
- Compact theory
- The idea of nullification became increasingly popular
Compact Theory
States had final say in how the Constitution should be interpreted
Cooperative Federalism (1933-1964)
- Using the federal government to identify a problem
- Set up the basic outline of a program to address the problem and make money available to fund that program
- Turning over much of the responsibility for implementing and running the program to the states and localities
FDR New Deal
Centralized Federalism (1964-1980)
A system in which increased the federal government’s involvement in policy areas previously left to state and local governments
New Federalism (1980-2002)
The belief that states should receive more power and authority and less money from the federal government
Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton
Ad Hoc Federalism (2002-)
The process of choosing a state-centered or nation-centered view of federalism on the basis of political or partisan convenience
Crosscutting Requirements
Constraints apply to all federal grants
Crossover Sanctions
Federal requirements mandating that grant recipients pass and enforce certain laws or regulations as a condition of receiving funds
LBJ’s Great Society
- Centralized federalism
- Categorical grants
Categorical Grants
Grants for states and localities that meet certain regulations
Civil Rights
Protections by government, which the government secures on behalf of its citizens
Missouri Compromise
- Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the balance
- Slavery could not extend North of Missouri’s southern border
Wilmot’s Proviso
Suggested banning slavery in recently acquired territories (did not pass Senate)
Plessy vs Ferguson
Supreme Court ruled separate but equal services, treatment, etc. are fair
Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka
Separate cannot be equal (specifically in schools)
13th Amendment
Slavery banned in the US
14th Amendment
- Naturalization
- Bill of Rights apply to your state
- Due process and equal protection clause
15th Amendment
Ability to vote cannot be denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude
Jim Crow Laws
Laws adopted throughout the south to disenfranchise Black citizens and physically separate African Americans and white (institutionalized segregation, systematic exclusion)
White Primary
Excluded African Americans from voting in primary elections
Poll Taxes
Costs levied on all registered voters, which typically had to be paid months before the election
Literacy Tests
Local white registrars would require prospective black voters to read and interpret arcane passages of the state’s Constitution
Grandfather Clause
Prevented poor and illiterate whites from being disenfranchised by exempting them from registration requirements if their grandfathers had voted before the Civil War
De Facto Segregation
Segregation not due to state mandates
De Jure Segregation
Segregation due to state law
FDR’s Party Realignment
- Republicans in charge during the Great Depression
- It took nearly three decades to cement the relationship between Black voters and mostly liberal Democratic politicians
Civil Liberties
Protections from the government, which the government may not take away from a citizen
Political Speech
- Given a high level of protection
- Limited in times of war/unrest
Clear and Present Danger Test
Rights can be violated if the abridgment of rights is required to prevent someone from harming themselves or others
Clear and Probable Danger Test
Requires the courts to ask whether the gravity of the “evil,” discounted by its probability, justifies such invasion of free speech as is necessary to avoid the danger
Brandenberg
The government cannot for it “advocacy of the use of force or of law violation” unless the urgency is “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action”
Obscene Speech
Publicly offensive acts or language, usually of a sexual nature, with no redeeming social value
* Not protected by the First Amendment
Freedom of the Press
Independent press is indispensable to a representative democracy
* Provides information about the performance of officeholders
* Enables politicians to communicate broadly with constituents
* Allows constituents to keep an eye on each other
Freedom of Religion
- “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”
- “Congress shall make no law…prohibiting the free exercise thereof”
