Unit 1 flashcards
1st Constitution of the U.S. 1781-1788**
(weaknesses-no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade)**
Articles of Confederation
What were the problems of the Articles of Confederation?
**It did not give the national government enough power
* * **Power to tax
* * No power to regulate trade
* * No executive or judicial branch
A principle of constituational government; a government whose powers are defined and limited by a constitution
Limited Government
A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules
Social Contract
A government in which the people rule by their own consent
Popular Sovereignty
Philosophy of limited government with elected representatives serving at the will of the people.** The government is based on consent of the governed**
Republicanism
A system of democracy in which all members of a group or community participate collectively in making major decisions
Participatory democracy
A political system in which the priviledged classes qcquire the power to decide by a competition for the people’s votes and have substantial freedom between elections to rule as they see fit.
Elite Democracy
A theory og government that holds that open, multiple, and competing groups an check the asserted power by any one group.
Pluralism
a theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened
Hyperpluralism
A formal document charging a public official with misconduct in office
Impeachment
The compromise reached the constitutional Convention that established two houses of Congress: the House of REpresentatives, in which representation is based on a state’s share of the U.S. population, and the Senate, in which each state has 2 representative
Connecticut Compromise
Constitution’s requirement that each state accept the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state
Full Faith and Credit Clause
An essay composed by James Madison which argues that liberty is safest in a large republic because many intrests (factions) exist. Such diversity makes tyranny by the majority more difficult since ruling coalitions will always be unstable
federalist no.10
written to discourage ratification of the Constitution, the document examines the major complaints of the Constitution which are: 1.) too much power to national government via implied 2.) specter of the standing army 3.) presidency is too powerful 4.) lack of Bill of Rights 5.) national government rules over too large a nation 6.) courts are too powerful
Brutus I
article I = legislative
article II= executive
article III= judicial,
IV=States/Federalism,
V=Amendments Process,
VI=Supremacy,
VII=Ratification
Articles of the Constitution
Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law
Separation of Powers
A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power
Checks and Balances
Impeachment Process
- House passes articles of impeachment by majority
- Senate tries and 2/3 must convict
exclusive powers
Those powers that can be exercised by the National Government alone
concurrent powers
`powers shared by the national and state governments
Reserved Power
Powers not specifically granted to the federal government or denied to the states belong to the states and the people
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
10th Amendment
Powers given to the national government alone
enumerated powers
powers that congress has that are not stated explicitly in the constitution
implied powers
The powers of the national government in foreign affairs that the Supreme Court has declared do not depend on constitutional grants but rather grow out of the very existence of the national government.
inherent powers
delegated powers
Powers specifically given to the federal government by the US Constitution, for example, the authority to print money.
A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments
Federalism
terms set by the national government that states must meet if they are to receive certain federal funds
conditions of aid
federal grants-in-aid that allow states considerable discretion in how the funds are spent
block grants
Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or “categories,” of state and local spending. They come with strings attached, such as nondiscrimination provisions.
categorical grants
Supreme Court ruling (1819) confirming the supremacy of national over state government - Also upheld the idea of implied powers.
McCulloch v. Maryland
1995 - The Commerce Clause of the Constitution does not give Congress the power to prohibit mere possession of a gun near a school, because gun possession by itself is not an economic activity that affects interstate commerce even indirectly.
United States v. Lopez
prevents a state from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner.
Privileges and Immunities Clause
