Unit 1 Review Flashcards
limited government
A government that has limits or restrictions placed on it, the Constitution
Natural RIghts
Rights you’re born with and everyone has, life liberty and property or the pursuit of happiness
Popular Sovereignty
The government gets its power to rule from the people
Social contract
Citizens give up some freedoms and rights, in return for protection from the government
Republicanism
Elected representatives represent the people
Participatory Democracy
Widespread or broad participation, people have the chance to influence the government; initiatives, referendums, town hall meetings, recalls
Pluralist Democracy
Non-governmental groups that compete for influence in the government; interest groups
Elite Democracy
A more filtered and select group of people that can influence the government; electoral college, senate
Faction
A group of people that are united by a common interest and they work together in pursuit of that passion, they believe other factions opinions don’t matter, trample them to get what they want
Federalist
People who wanted the ratification of the constitution, wanted a stronger central government, opposed to the bill of rights,
Antifederalist
People who didn’t support the ratification of the Constitution, wanted the Articles of Confederation because they didn’t want a strong central government but instead a state government, they wanted the bill of rights
Separation of Powers
Three branches of the government keep everything in control, and separate powers
Checks and Balances
Ways that each branch can check each other to keep everyone in control
Articles of Confederation
The first plan of government in the U.S, loose alliance, purposely weak bc of the experience under British rule, ineffective, no federal taxes or military, no court system, no way to regulate commerce, no common currency
Shay’s Rebellion
In Massachusetts, Daniel Shay, Farmers had to fight and then couldn’t pay their debts from the farm, 100s stole weapons and blockaded courts so they couldn’t take away their farms, showed why they need to have a national army because no states would send their militias
Great Compromise
Compromise between the Virginia plan and New Jersey plan, Virginia wanted a bicameral legislature based off population, New Jersey wanted a unicameral legislature with fair representation, compromise was a bicameral legislature, one house on population, one house equal
Electoral College
Some delegates wanted Congress to pick the president, some thought people needed a say, so Electoral College was the compromise
3/5 Compromise
Northern states thought slaves shouldn’t be counted in the populations, Southern states thought they should, so each slave is counted as 3/5 of a person
Amendment process
Proposal: 2/3 of both houses or 2/3 of state legislatures call a convention
Ratification: 3/4 of state legislatures vote for it or 3/4 of the conventions
Federalism
The dynamic distribution of the state and federal government
Reserved powers
exclusive state powers
Delegated powers
exclusive federal powers
concurrent powers
powers shared between the federal and state governments, taxation
Federal Revenue sharing
money collected through taxes is dispersed back to the states
Mandates
The federal government tells the states they have to do something, can be funded or unfunded,
Categorial Grants
The federal government gives money to the states and it has to be used for a specific category, like playground equipment
Block Grants
Money from the federal government to the states to be used for more broad purposes, still a certain category but more broad like education
10th Amendment
The federal government is limited to what is in the Constitution and everything else is given to the states
14th Amendment
Defines citizenship, anyone born or naturalized in the United States is a citizen of the United States and the state that they reside in, no states can deny them privileges and immunities
Commerce Clause
Gives Congress the power to control commerce interstate commerce, allows Congress to expand its powers
Necessary and Proper Clause
Congress has the power to enact any law to carry out their enumerated powers, gives Congress more power
Enumerated vs. Implied Powers
Enumerated is directly states in the Constitution, implied powers are from grey areas (commerce clause and necessary and proper clause)
McCulloch v. Maryland
Decided Congress has the power to create a national bank and Maryland can’t tax the bank because of the supremacy clause
U.S. v. Lopez
Decided Congres couldn’t have the GFSZA because it was too much of a stretch of the commerce clause
