Unit 1 Origins of Government Flashcards
State
A body of people living in a defined area/territory, organized politically, with the power to make and enforce laws.
Country
It means geography, where something is located
Nation
The people that live in that area
Nation-state
The people who live in an area also make up the states as well
Concensus
Population
The number of people who live there
Territory
Basically what they own, what are the boundaries
Soverignty
It means absolute and supreme authority within the boundaries; the ability to govern themselves
Government
Institution through which the state maintains social order, provides public services, and enforces decisions on all people living within the state
Social Contract Theory
A contract between the people and their government, the people give up power, and state protects its people, if one group fails the contract it can be broken
Citizen
A person or member of a state who has rights and responsibilities
Aristotle
A Greek philosopher who came up with the three types of government
Evolutionary Theory
First theory on how the state originated. The oldest theory and easiest theory. Passes down from family to family; patriarchy.
Force Theory
The second theory of how the state originated. You are forced to follow the government or state in charge.
Diving Right Theory
The third theory of how the state originated. A deity chooses people to rule.
John Locke
Enlightenment thinkers whose ideas about the social Contract Theory were used by America to break from England. He wrote the Two Treatises of Government
Purposes of Government
- They will maintain social order; they maintain it through creating laws and creating police
- They will provide public services; they provide education, healthcare, and roads
- They will provide national security; they maintain a military
- They will make economic decisions for the whole
What do you need to be considered a state?
- Population
- Territory
- Sovereignty
- Government
Unitary System
A system of government that gives all key power to the national or central government. (all power located at the national government) EX: Early Great Britain and France.
Federal System
Government that divides the powers between the national and state governments (power is shared and divided between national and local governments) EX: US, Canada, and Russia
Confederacy
A loose union of states. (power located at the local area) (weakest and worst government)
Constitution
A plan or document that creates the rules and laws of a government
Constitutional Government
When the constitution is followed and limited the government
Preamble
An introduction to determine the goals of the government
Constitutional law
People who interpret, apply and limit the government
Politics
People or groups who influence the government
Autocracy
Any system of government in which the power and authority to rule are in the hands of a single individual. (ruled by one person) (monarchy and dictatorship)
Totalitarian Dictators
One person rules the government
Monarchy
Where a king or queen will rule
Absolute Monarchy
When a king or queen rules completely
Constitutional Monarchy
Where a monarch rules mostly as a ceremonial leader
Oligarchy
Rule by few or by a small group
Democracy
Rule by the people
Direct Democracy
When the people vote on all issues and decisions. (cannot happen in large settings)
Representative Democracy
When people use their power to elect representatives, who will vote for us, and if we don’t like the way they vote then we vote differently in the next election. (what we have)
Parliamentary Democracy
A system of government in which executive and legislative function both reside in an elected assembly called parliament.
(The legislative and executive branches are both under parliament and the country is run by a prime minister. In this system you have multiple different parties. They are elected into parliament and the parliament will elect the prime minister who answers to their party.) I elect parliament and parliament elects prime minister.
Presidential Government
The executive and legislative branches are different and the people directly vote for the president.
Republic
The executive and legislative branches are different and the people directly vote for the president.
Characteristics of Democracy
- individual liberty in a democracy people are free
- majority rule minority right majorities normally get what they want without hurting the rights of minorities
- free elections voters must be free to choose who they want
- political parties a group of individuals with broad common interests who organize to nominate candidates for office, win elections, conduct government, and determine public policy
Political Parties
a group of individuals with broad common interests who organize to nominate candidates for office, win elections, conduct government, and determine public policy
Free Enterprise
Individuals control their own economic decisions
Civil Society
Groups or organizations that are separate from the government
Social consensus
Most people in that society have similar common beliefs
Economics
The study of how humans try to satisfy unlimited wants with limited resources
Capitalism/Free Enterprise System
A system that allows free choice and individual incentives.
Adam Smith
Father of capitalism. He wrote Wealth of Nations
Free Market
Buyers and sellers were free to make unlimited economic decisions
Mixed-Market Economy
(the US is not purely capitalist) Capitalism mixed with government inference
Laissez-Faire
Government keeps its hands off the economy
Scarcity
The principle of how do we match the limited supply and keep the desired demand
Factors of Economy
Capital
The resources a person has that is valuable in an economy
Profit
Money earned that is in the positive
Socialism
The government owns the basic means of production, determines how to use it, distributes the capital, and provides social service
Democratic Socialism
Where people have basic human rights but little control of production or economy
Where does the American system of government come from?
The American system of government comes from our English heritage.
What was already in the English colonies?
Already in the English colonies each one had a governor, a legislature, a court system, and most had a constitution
Stamp Act
1765, the first direct tax on the American Colonies themselves
The intolerable acts
1774 a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party and it will close the Boston Harbor (Boston was the most important harbor at this time not NY)
Embargo
After the Boston Tea Party, Americans officially ban trade with Britain
Battle of Lexington and Concord
First battle of the American Revolution which leads to the shot heard around the world.
What principles was the Declaration of Independence founded on?
Founded on the principles of human liberty and consent of the governed
Cede
The term cede means to yield or to give (individual states ceded their claims to the central government
Ordinances
This is a big fancy term that means laws
Limited government
A system in which the power of government is limited or not absolute/complete
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta is the first document I England to limit government
Petition of Rights
In 1628, it will limit the king by collecting taxes to imprison individuals and house troops in private homes
English Bill of Rights
1688, will clearly limit the government on what they can and cannot do
Representative Government
When people elect individuals to represent them
Separation of Powers
When you divide power amongst the different branches of government
Mayflower Compact
1620, first example of colonial self government
Great Fundamentals
1636, gave us the first basic system of laws
Fundamentals Orders of Connecticut
1639, the first formal constitution
Virginia House of Burgesses
1619, first legislative body in America
Montesquieu/Spirit of Laws
He comes up with the idea of separating powers
Boston Massacre
1770 citizens of Boston revolt against the British, British soldiers will fire into the crowd killing five. It ends the Americans’ faults. Crispus Attucks is one of the victims who died and he was black.
Committees of correspondece
Created by Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty as a way to communicate within the colonies
Boston Tea Party
March of 1773, American colonists and the Sons of Liberty dress as Indians, get on a ship and proceed to dump tea into the Boston Harbor
First Continental Congress
1774 representing the colonies to help rebuild relations with England
Second Continental Congress
1775 through 1783. During the American Revolution. The president is John Hancock (one of the wealthiest men in the colony because he is smuggling stuff from England to America.) The Declaration committee that will create the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson.
Who lead the Continental army
George Washington
Who chose Thomas Jefferson to write the Constitution?
John Adams picked Thomas Jefferson because of his ability to write.
Who were on the Declaration Committee?
- Thomas Jefferson
- John Adams
- Benjamin Franklin
- Robert R. Livingston
- Roger Sherman
Thomas Paine/Common Sense
He writes a pamphlet called Common Sense, this pamphlet will change America from uniting with England to breaking away.
Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776. John Hancock is the first to sign and signed the largest.
Articles of Confederation
The government of the United States from 1781-1787. The legislative branch will run the nation.
Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
- Congress cannot collect taxes
- Congress couldn’t regulate trade
- Congress couldn’t force people to obey laws
- in order to approve a law, 9 out of 13 states are needed or approve
- in order to amend the articles, all states had to approve
- there was no executive branch
- there is no national court system
Ratify
A governmental political term that means approve
Unicameral
one house or one chamber
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Allows territories to be developed for statehood on equal basis without told states (allows new territories to become states.)
Daniel Shay/Shay’s Rebellion
After the war, the government owes $40 million to veterans. The government couldn’t collect taxes so they couldn’t pay them, the veterans got frustrated. Farmers and veterans shut down government places to keep their land from being foreclosed on.
James Madison
He is considered the father of the constitution, not because he wrote it but because his ideas were used.
Gouverneur Morris
He is the one who physically wrote the constitution.
George Washington
He is the one who presides over the meetings and the president.
Connecticut Compromise
It will create a bicameral legislature (a two chamber legislature) known as the House of Representatives and the Senate. House of Representatives is for the bigger states (based on population) and the Senate is for little states (two people from each states regardless of size)
Virginia Plan
which was created by Madison. It will benefit larger states and becomes the basis for the Constitution
New Jersey Plan
which had the main goal of keeping a confederacy.
3/5 Compromise
3 out of every 5 slaves would be counted for both representation and taxes.
Federalist
They favor the Constitution, big business, and cities, a strong central government, and no bill of rights.
Anti-Federalist
They opposed the Constitution, they’re farmers, and states. They oppose the Constitution for two reasons: 1. It was done in secret, 2. It did not have a Bill of rights
The Federalist Papers
Written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamiliton. It is the background document on how our country runs
Commerce Compromise
Congress regulates interstate commerce and foreign commerce.
Slave Trade Compromise
Slave trade is allowed until 1808.
Electoral College/Presidential Comprimise
Delegates will compromise on 4-year no term limits.
When was the Constitution signed?
The Constitution was finalized and signed September 17, 1787
