POLS 1101: Exam 1
86 Cards in this Set
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Self-Government
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goal of Democracy
average people have control of the institutions of the government
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Mob Rule
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Government by a mob or mass of people with no formal authority whatsoever
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Natural Rights
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the right to life, liberty, and property that the government cannot take away
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Direct Democracy
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form of democracy in which political power is exercised directly by citizens
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Representative Democracy
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Constitution created this
form of government in which citizens elect public officials to make political decision and formulate laws on their behalf
some call it a republic
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Faction
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any group that places its own interests above the interests of society
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Rule of Law
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legal system with known rules that are enforced equally against all people
helped prevent majority from trampling minority rights
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Constitutional System
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system of government in which people set up and agree on the basic rules and procedures that will govern them
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It allows and limits access to power at the same time
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How is the Constitution a gatekeeper?
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Framers helped write the Constitution while Founders worked to develop independence
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Difference between Framers and Founders
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Legislative Checks
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Checks by:
can impeach the President
advises the Executive decisions
can override vetoes
can impeach judges as well as advise them
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Executive Checks
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Checks by:
can propose or veto legislation
can appoint judges for judicial
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Judicial Checks
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Checks by:
can declare whether anything is unconstitutional or not
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Separation of Powers
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government structure in which authority is divided among branches with each holding separate responsibilities
important because it keeps each branch from having too much power
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Federalism
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system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between national and state governments
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13th- prohibits slavery 15th- right to vote regardless of race 19th- guarantees women the right to vote 24th- prevents poll taxes
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4 amendments that open gateways to participation
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Jeffersonian wanted more power in people/State while Hamiltonian wanted more power in government
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Differences between Jeffersonian view and Hamiltonian view
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Political Culture
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set of beliefs common to a group of people; Americans favorite individualism
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Capitalism- businesses and industries are privately owned Socialism- industries are government controlled
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Difference between Capitalism and Socialism
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Egalitarianism
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belief in human equality that disdains inherited titles of nobility and even inherited wealth
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Public Policy
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intentional actions of government designed to achieve some goal
ex: laws that regulate the economy, tax rates, etc
difficult to develop due to our government designed to constrain power, and citizens divided into factions and prizing individualism
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Responsiveness; Equality
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idea that government should implement laws and policies that reflect the wishes of the public and any changes in those wishes _____
idea that all individuals are equal and so much be under equal treatment under the law _____
these are important in evaluating our government because it me…
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Public good: provided by government and everyone benefits Private good: provided by government and slect people benefit
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Difference between public good and private good
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Trustees make judgement on what they believe is best for the people while delegates do exactly what people wish
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Difference between representative acting as trustees and delegates
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Political Equality
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idea that holds people should have equal amounts of influence in the political system
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10th Amendment
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All rights not explicitly given to Congress are given to states
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17th Amendment
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Senators are directly elected by citizens of their respective states
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Supremacy Clause
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Federal laws override State laws
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Politics
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Arises from the need to choose among alternatives when differences make it impossible for all people to get what they want
Choices are at the heart of this; breeds conflict because of interests, values, and ideas about how to allocate resources
alternative of this is generally mob rule
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Preferences
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drive decisions
can originate from religion, family, society, etc
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Participation
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creates stabliity
as this rises, so does transaction costs
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Transaction Costs
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costs like time, money, effort associated with communication and compromise
requires a majority or supermajority to pass legislation
inversely related with the other type of cost
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Conformity Costs
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...
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3/4 of States
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What is needed to ratify a constitutional amendment?
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2/3 of each house of Congress
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What is needed to propose a bill?
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Sugar Act of 1764
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this act significantly reduced trade with French colonies by taxing molasses imported to the colonies
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Stamp Act of 1765
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this act taxed any paper
important because it was first time government showed authority over colonies
origin of "no taxation without representation"
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1765 Stamp Act Congress
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first time Colonies got together, and tried to decided what they could do together
lot of discord, some did not agree. a lot left and went back to Britain
led to Boston Massacre
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2nd Continental Congress 1775
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convened to respond to the violence that erupted and the presence of 16,000 British troops in Boston
stayed in session to act as the sitting government while violence persisted
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Declaration of Independence 1776
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12 out of 13 colonies (NY abstained and later approved) voted for independence
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Articles of Confederation
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first constitution of the United States
in force from 1781 to 1788 when the present Constitution of the United States became effective
created a loose confederation of independent states that gave limited powers to a central government
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5 Major Failures of Articles of Confederation
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1. no power to tax
2. no authority to regulate commerce
3. nobody to enforce government
4. no judicial system to resolve disputes among the states
5. no strong central government
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Shay's Rebellion
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argues that there was too much freedom and not enough order and led to Constitutional Convention
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Annapolis Convention
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issued invitation to all 13 states to meet in Philadelphia in 1787 to consider revising Articles of Confederation
led to Constitutional Convention
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David Gurney
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Haynes' favorite political pundit
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Constitutional Convention 1787
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55 delegates
most amended the Articles; few (Madison) wanted to scrap the Articles- prequel to the Virginia Plan
came together to draft a new Constitution
9/13 states had to approve the Constitution
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Virginia Plan
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introduced by Randolph
shifted focus from revision to change
proposed bicameral legislature- members of lower chambers apportioned among the states by population, lower chambers elect members of upper chamber
if states failed legal obligation, national government could use military for…
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New Jersey Plan
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introduced by Patterson
strengthened the Articles, allowing Congress to tax imports
national executive would be chosen by legislature, and judiciary would be chosen by executive (equal representation of states in Congress)
failed to propose organization of INDEPENDENT executive and jud…
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Connecticut Compromise
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the lower chamber would be proportional to population while upper chamber would be equal representation
most agreed on Virginia Plan but not all of it
Concluded that National Law is supreme over State Law
Chose not to include Bill of Rights
9/13 states had to approve Constitution
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3/5 Compromise
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States argues that slave should be counted when deciding the amount of representation in each state based on population
For every 5 slaves, 3 of them would be used in the tally for population
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Electoral College
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Each state is given a certain number of electors that elect the President for them
They can choose who the people prefer, but don't always have to, just their representatives in the vote for President
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Enumerated powers
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listed in Article 1, Section 8
necessary and proper clause
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Implied Powers
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also known as the elastic clause
whatever is necessary to carry out things
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Judicial Review
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Supreme Court has final say on whether a law is constitutional or not
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Federalist 10
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promised that the government would be made up of people you know
democracy does not allow minorities to dominate
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Federalist 51
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separation of powers
checks and balances
they could defend the integrity of their offices
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How amendments are passed via State
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proposed by 2/3 of state general assembly
ratified by putting into in general elections; majority vote
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How amendments are passed via National
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proposed by 2/3 of both chambers or 2/3 States constitutional convention (has never happened)
ratified by 3/4 of states' legislature approval or 3/4 of states via state convention
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Federalist Papers
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series of essays written arguing for the ratification of the Constitution
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Bill of Rights
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first ten amendments of the Constitution
important because Congress cannot overtake the inalienable rights of the people
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Confederate Government
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big government but has small powers
the units who bind together hold the power; they delegate very limited power to the central government
very few governments in the world have this type
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Unitarian Government
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most of the power belongs to the central government
establishes national policies and distributes to local units, and the local units carry them out
most governments in the world have this type
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Federalism
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hybrid arrangement that mixes elements of a confederation with a unitary system
two types- dual and shared
dual- 2 layers where people do their own thing
shared- cooperate with each other
U.S. has this type of government
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10th amendment
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amendment that states that the powers not listed for the national government are reserved to the states or the people
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Concurrent Powers
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powers held by both the national and the state government such as taxing, borrowing/spending money, and making/enforcing laws
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Guarantee Clause
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guarantees that the states will have a republican form of government
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Due Process Clause
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prevents the government from denying citizens the due process of law
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Equal Protection Clause
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Prevents the states from denying any person the equal protection of the law
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Preemption
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requires that the states' standards meet national standards
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Sovereign Immunity
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doctrine holding that states cannot be sued without their permission
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Commerce Clause
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gives the national government the ability to regulate commerce between the states
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Full Faith and Credit Clause
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requires states to accept civil proceedings from other states
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Privileges and Immunities Clause
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states treat people from other states equally to its own residents
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Nation-centered Federalism
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Constitution and federal government derive from the people, not from the states
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State-centered Federalism
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States created the Constitution and the federal government
supported States Rights
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McCulloch v. Maryland
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Supreme Court decision upholding the right of Congress to create a bank
decided that creating a bank was an implied power that fell within the scope of authority granted by the necessary and proper clause
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Gibbons v. Ogden
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Supreme Court decision giving broad latitude to congress under the commerce clause
court's commerce between states did not begin or end at the boundaries, but necessarily included commercial activities interior to each state
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Dred Scott v. Sandford
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Supreme Court decisions prohibiting Congress from regulating slavery in the territories
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Dual Federalism
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doctrine holding that national and states hold almost completely separate functions
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Cooperative Federalism
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the national has some powers, and the states have some powers; this is what we consider our government today
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Categorial grants, general revenue sharing, and block grants
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How did Nixon try to shift the power back to the states
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Devolution
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shifting of power from the national to the states
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Recall
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if citizens gather enough petition signatures, an opportunity to hold a special vote to remove state of local elected officials before their terms expire
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Initiative
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process that allows citizens who collect the required number of petition signatures to place proposed laws directly on the allots for the state's citizens to vote on
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Referendum
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process that allows legislatures to put certain issues on the ballot for citizens approval and requires legislatures to seek citizen approval by the legislature
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Article 1, Section 8
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extended authority of the national legislature
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POLS 1101: Exam 1