We the People Essential Study Guide Exam 1 Flashcards
Government
describe the formal institutions through which a territory and its people are ruled
Three-Fifths Compromise
Said that slavery cannot be abolished until 20 years after the ratification.
Each slave counts as 3/5 of a person…
North doesn’t want them counted, and south does because of House Seats.
Compromise gave south about half of the house seats
Concurrent powers
powers that are shared by both the federal government and state governments. This includes the power to tax, build roads, and create lower courts.
Virginia Plan
James Madison’s Virginia Plan outlined a strong national government with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.
The plan called for a legislature divided into two bodies (the Senate and the House of Representatives) with proportional representation.
New Jersey Plan
One house of Congress (a unicameral legislature).
Each state has equal representation, regardless of population.
National government with three branches: legislative, executive and judiciary.
Congress has power to tax and regulate interstate commerce.
The Great Compromise
took ideals from Virginia and new jersey plan, and provided for a bicameral congress
1. House of Representatives which is Based on Population
2. The Senate which is Based on equal number
Popular Sovereignty
Principle of democracy in which political authority rests ultimately in the hands of the people.
Politics
refers to conflicts and struggles over the leadership, structure, and policies of governments.
New Deal
designed to ease depression hardship, national authority prevails declaring it unconstitutional
Shays’s Rebellion
an armed uprising in Western Massachusetts and Worcester in response to a debt crisis among the citizenry and in opposition to the state government’s increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades. The fight took place mostly in and around Springfield during 1786 and 1787.
Cooperative federalism (2nd)
national state and local levels work together to solve problems
Dual Federalism (1st)
precise separation of national and state power, describes the nature of federalism for the first 150 years of the American republic
The differences between unitary, federal, and confederal systems
In a federal system, a national government and the state governments share power.
In a unitary system, all power lies with the national government,
whereas in a confederation, the vast majority of power rests with the states.
John Locke
Locke’s theory of government postulates that societies in their original condition comprised only individuals, without government.
Individuals in this “state of nature” possessed certain inherent rights and liberties which existed independently of government. (NATURAL RIGHTS)
Unfunded Mandates
federal laws, regulations, or rules that impose demands on the states without including the funding required to comply
Categorical Grants
federal grants given to state and local governments to encourage their cooperation in implementing specific purposes and programs.
These grants give less flexibility to state governments than block grants.
Block Grants
federal grants given to state and local governments to encourage their cooperation in implementing specific purposes and programs. These grants give less flexibility to state governments than block grants.
Devolution
the transfer or delegation of power from a central government to a subnational, local authority.
New Federalism
Federal authorities gradually shift power back to the states.
Who were the antifederalists
Those who opposed the ratification of the Constitution in favor of small localized government
Many Anti-Federalists preferred a weak central government because they equated a strong government with British tyranny.
John Hancock, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, George Mason, and Mercy Otis Warren.
What were the Federalist Papers?
Who wrote them?
The Federalist Papers were written and published to urge New Yorkers to ratify the proposed United States Constitution, which was drafted in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787.
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin, and John Jay
Articles of Confederation
The United States first written constitution. Primarily concerned with limiting the powers of the federal government.
What were the important compromises from the Constitutional Convention?
The major debates were over representation in Congress, the powers of the president, how to elect the president (Electoral College), slave trade, and a bill of rights.
the Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise, and the Electoral College.
How did John Marshall’s Supreme Court impact American federalism?
They strengthened the Court’s position as a coequal with the legislative and executive branches of government, and they established the Court’s power of judicial review in the political system.
Political Culture
Political culture is the set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments, which give order and meaning to a political process and which provide the underlying assumptions and rules that govern behavior in the political system”.
Why is the Constitution’s “Necessary and Proper Clause” also called the “Elastic
Clause?
It is called the Elastic Clause because its enables Congress to stretch, or expand, its power of Congress to include situations the founding fathers did not anticipate.
Prior to the adoption of the Constitution, the powers of the Continental Congress were limited to those expressly delegated in the Articles of Confederation.
Nullification
the constitutional theory that individual states can invalidate federal laws or judicial decisions they deem unconstitutional
John C. Calhoun
Calhoun was the Senate’s most prominent states’ rights advocate, and his doctrine of nullification professed that individual states had a right to reject federal policies that they deemed unconstitutional.
Preemption
a legal doctrine that allows a higher level of government to limit or even. eliminate the power of a lower level of government to regulate a specific issue.
Under the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, federal law takes precedence over state and. local law.
Political Tolerance
Political tolerance is the willingness to extend basic rights and civil liberties to persons and groups whose viewpoints differ from one’s own. It is a central tenet of a liberal democracy.
The difference between “expressed powers” and “implied powers?
Expressed powers are those powers directly granted to the federal government found in the Constitution.
implied powers are those powers that can be reasonable assumed through the expressed powers
Inherent powers are the powers granted to the national government, because it is a nation in a world of nations.
What two divisions among the delegates at the Constitutional Convention were responsible for most disagreements ?
One of the major compromises in the Constitutional Convention was between the small states and big states. The small states wanted each state to have the same number of representatives in Congress. The big states wanted representation based on population.
Home Rule
is granted by state constitution or state statute and allocates some autonomy to a local government, if the local government accepts certain conditions. Home Rule implies that each level of government has a separate realm of authority.
Political Powers
the influence over a government’s leadership organization, or policies
Pluralism
The pattern of struggles among interests.
Groups and organized interests also participate in politics.
Their political activities include providing funds for candidates, lobbying, and trying to influence public opinion.
Southern Manifesto
In 1956, 19 Senators and 77 members of the House of Representatives signed the “Southern Manifesto,” a resolution condemning the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The resolution called the decision “a clear abuse of judicial power” and encouraged states to resist implementing its mandates
What impact did Congress’s revision of immigration law in the 1960s have?
The act put an end to long-standing national-origin quotas that favored those from northern and western Europe.
It ended an immigration-admissions policy based on race and ethnicity, and gave rise to large-scale immigration, both legal and unauthorized.
- Direct Democracy
- Representative Democracy
- System of rule that permits citizens to vote directly on laws and politics.
- System of government in which the populace selects representatives, who play a significant role in governmental decision making.
What are the 3 core values in American politics?
Liberty, Equality, and Democracy.
Types of Government:
- Totalitarian
- Constitutional
- Authoritarian
- Government recognizes no formal limits on its power and seeks to absorb or eliminate other social institutions that might challenge it.
(Ex) : Nazi Germany under Adolph Hitler and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. - System of rule in which formal and effective limits are placed on the powers are placed on the powers of the government.
(Ex) : United States, France and the United Kingdom - Government only imposes few real limits but is never the less kept in check by other political and social institutions that it cannot control—such as self-governing territories, organized religions, business organizations, or labor union,
(Ex): Latin America, Asia , Eastern Europe and Africa.
Who wanted majority rule with minority rights?
James Madison
the democratic principle that a government follows the preferences of the majority of voters but protects the interests of the minority
Political Efficacy
Belief that ordinary citizens can affect what government does, that they can take action to make government listen to them
Political Efficacy Decline
The feeling that you cannot affect the government decisions can lead to a self-perpetuating cycle of apathy, declining in political participation, and withdrawal from political life.
Citizenship
Membership in a political community that provides legal rights and carries participation responsibilities.
Citizens also have responsibilities such as upholding the Constitution; obeying federal state, and local laws . paying taxes. serving on juries when called, and being informed about issues.
Obergefell v Hodges
Required that all states offer marriage licenses to two people of the same sex.
Windsor v United States
Granted same-sex couples guarantee to equal treatment under law.
Police Power
State ability to develop and enforce criminal codes, administer health and safety rules, regulate marriage and divorce laws, and regulate individual livelihoods.
The Supremacy Clause
Holds that in a conflict between federal and state laws, the former will override the latter.
Reserved Powers
powers granted to the states under the 10th amendment, this protects states’ rights and interests
Judicial Review
Allows the court to determine the constitutionality of laws
