Unit 1 Essential Content Flashcards
How does the Declaration of Independence provide the philosophical inspiration for American democracy?
It emphasizes natural rights, popular sovereignty, and the social contract. Natural rights are rights that all people have that they receive by virtue of being human and the social contract states that the purpose of government is to protect these rights, and popular sovereignty is the idea that people are the source of any governmental power.
What features of the original Constitution attempt to protect individual liberty?
Writ of habeas corpus prevents indefinite detention of suspected criminals because they must be brought to a judge and either charged or released. Congress is not allowed to pass bills of attainder, which are basically laws that declare a person guilty without a trial, nor can Congress pass an ex post facto law, meaning that if a new law says something is now illegal you can’t be punished because you did that action before the law was passed. For example, if Congress passes a law tomorrow saying that it’s illegal to use the AP Gov Ultimate Review Packet because it’s just too good, you can’t be arrested because you used the AP Gov Ultimate Review packet today.
Identify features of the original Constitution that attempt to promote safety and order.
Congress cantax,raise an army and navy, conduct foreign policy, regulate interstate commerce, coin money, and punish counterfeiters. Each of these strengthen Congress—some in areas like providing for the common defense—while other of these powers can help maintain uniform policy in the nation by only having a single currency and not allowing states to have their own conflicting trade policies or the ability to erect tariffs against other states. The full faith and credit clause requires states to recognize the legal rulings of other states; the privileges and immunities clause makes it illegal for states to discriminate against residents of other states, and the Constitution requires states to have extradition policies, wherein they will return fugitive or suspected criminals to their original state if they catch them.
What were the primary goals of the anti-federalists?
Maintain state sovereignty, obtain a federal Bill of Rights to limit the federal government and protect individual freedoms, prevent Congress from having the power to tax, and ensuring that the federal Supreme Court couldn’t overrule state courts. They successfully obtained a promise that a Bill of Rights would be created upon ratification of the Constitution, however, they failed on their other three goals. The Constitution set up a system of shared sovereignty, in which the federal is sovereign in some matters while the states are sovereign in others. Congress, of course, can tax, and the Supreme Court through judicial review can strike down state laws and overrule state courts.
What warnings in Brutus No. 1 regarding the power of the federal government may be relevant today?
The author warned that the necessary and proper clause would greatly expand congressional power and that because of that clause the power of Congress wasn’t sufficiently limited. He also warned that the federal government would become more powerful relative to the states, and he stated the power to tax could become tyrannical.
How is participatory democracy visible in constitutional amendments?
The U.S. has become more democratic throughthe15th, 17th, 19th, and 26h amendments, which expanded suffrage to African-Americans (15th), women (19th), 18-year-olds (26th), and allowed the direction election of Senators (17th).
Provide examples of participatory democracy in some state government policies
Some states allow initiatives and referendums. An initiative is a bill written by a citizen that gets placed on the ballot for the citizens of a state to vote on, while a referendum is written by a member of the state government, but its passage is also determined by a vote of the state’s residents. These are both examples of participatory democracy because citizens can directly vote on particular policies.
Identify key powers the federal government lacked under the Articles of Confederation and gained under the Constitution.
Power to tax, regulate interstate commerce, the federal government now has an executive and judicial branch, and the supremacy clause ensures that laws of the federal government are superior to state laws when the two conflict.
Identify issues left unresolved by the original Constitution.
Slavery was allowed to continue and the slave trade was allowed to continue for 20 years, after which it could be banned (it was).The proper balance between states and the federal government as well as the balance between individual rights and governmental power both continue to be debated today.
Identify advantages of establishing a stronger central government.
It can act more quickly and better respond to emergencies and crises, can make unified policy for entire country, federal courts can settle disputes between states, a single currency makes interstate commerce more efficient, no tariffs between states to restrict trade. Federalist No. 10 argues that in a larger republic the power of factions will be diminished, the rights of minorities will be better protected, and we will also have better leadership because we are more likely to found talented and public-minded people in a larger republic than in a small one.
What are advantages of maintaining states’ rights?
States can make policies specific to their own needs; citizens have more control over local policies; states can make policy in absence of national consensus; states can serve as laboratories of democracy, meaning that a state can test out a new policy while other states and the federal government observe the results and can then choose to implement similar policy if successful.
How do separation of powers and federalism protect the rights of the individuals?
Both ensure that no one person, branch, or level of government has too much power. Separation of powers does so by creating 3 branches of the federal government, each with their own powers: Legislative-make laws, Executive-enforce laws, and Judicial-interpret laws. Federalism is the division of power between national, state, and local governments, leaving some policymaking powers to each level.
Why is federalism said to reflect a dynamic relationship?
The balance of power between states and the federal government has changed over time, from dual to cooperative federalism and over time federal government has generally gained more power at expense of the states. Supreme Court cases like McCulloch v. Maryland(1819) expanded federal power over the states while U.S. v. Lopez(1995) restricted federal power and used the 10thAmendment to reassert the reserved powers clause of the 10thAmendment.
Identify advantages of federalism in the creation of public policy.
Allows the federal government to make unified policy when necessary or to protect minority rights when states may be violating them. (Think of civil rights legislation.) Also allows states to make policies specific to their needs and to serve as laboratories of democracy when there isn’t a national consensus on an issue
Identify how the tremendous increase in federal grants to states has shifted the U.S to cooperative federalism.
The federal government provides categorical grants to states that include conditions of aid/incentives, things states must do to receive the money. In order to get the money, states must follow the policies the federal government outlines, increasing federal power over policy areas that are reserved to the states. This leads to a blurring of the lines between what is state and what is federal as the two levels of government share the costs, administration, and regulation of many policies once reserved to the states.
