U.S. GOVERNMENT Flashcards
Evolutionary State Theory
The state evolved from the family, with the head of the state with equivalent of the family’s patriarch or matriarch
Force State Theory
One person or group of people brought everyone in an area under their control, forming the first government
Divine Right
certain people were chosen by the prevailing deity to be the rulers of the nation, which is itself created by deity or deities
Social Contract
There is no natural order.
People allow themselves to be governed to maintain social order
People have the right to seek new leaders
Aristotle and Plato
Political science would lead to order in politics and a socially just society
Thomas Aquinas
Individuals should have certain rights and duties and these rights and duties should determine the type and extent of governments in rule
Thomas Hobbes
Leviathian (1651)
believed individual lives were focues solely on a quest for power, state must work to control this urge
John Locke
“Two Treatises of Civil Government” (1690)
Tabula rasa theory- people are born with minds that are a blank slate– experience molds individual minds, not innante knowledge
Montesquie and Rousseau
“Social Contract” (1762) “Declaration of the Rights of Man” , “The Citizen” (1789)
Believed government policies and ideas should change to alleviate existing problems (liberalism)
Individual freedom and community welfare are of equal importance
Man’s innate goodness lead to natural harmony
Reason develops with the rise of civilized society
Individual citizens carry certain obligations to the existing government
Jeremy Bentham and Hume
Politics should have its main goal maintaining “the greatest happiness of the greatest number”
John Stuart Mill
believed in progressive policies such as women’s suffrage, emancipation and the development of labor organizaitons and farming coops
Liberal
Government work to increase equality
Assist those in need of help
Focus on enforced social justice and free education
Conservative
Government should be limited in most cases
Should allow its citizens to help one another and solve their own problems rather than enforcing solutions
Business should not be overrugulated (free market)
Moderate
Incorporates some liberal and some conservative values,
Libertarian
Government role should be limited to protecting the life and liberty of citizens
No involvement in any citizen’s life unless citizen is encroaching upon the rights of another
Principles of Government in the Constitution
Federalism Popular Sovereignty Separation of Powers Judicial Review Checks and balances Limited Government
Federalism
power of the government not belong entirely to national government
split between state and national gov
Popular sovereignty
Government determined by the people, gains authority/power from the people
Separation of Powers
Divided into 3 branches (exec, legis, judic)
Each branch has it’s own enumerated powers
Judicial Review
Courts at all levels of government can declare laws invalid
Supreme Court serving as the final judicial authority on decisions
Checks and Balances
No branch can action without input from another
Limited Government
government powers are limited and certain individual rights are defiend as inviolable by the government
Powers delegated to the national government by the US Constitution
Expressed Powers
Implied Powers
Inherent Powers
Expressed Powers
Powers directly defined in the constitution
Power to declare war, regulate commerce, make money and collect taxes
Implied Powers
Powers the national government must have in order to carry out the expressed powers
Inherent Powers
powers inherent ot any government.
Qualifications of a US Citizen
anyone born in the US, to US Citizens or has gone through naturalization is a citizen
Rights of a citizen
Certain rights are defined by the US government
Bill of Rights that include freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and a variety of otehr rights
Duties of a US Citizen
Paying taxes
Loyalty to the government
Support and defend the consitution
Serve in the armed forces (as required by law)
Obeying laws set by various levels of government
Responsibilities of a US citizen
Voting in elections
Respecting one another’s rights and not infringing upon them
Staying informed about various politcal and naitonal issues
Respecting one another’s beliefs
Bill of Rights
First ten amendments of the US Constitutions
Prevent government from infringing upon certain freedoms
seen as natural rights
First Amendment
Grants freedom of relgion, speech, press and assembly