Term
| Which two philosophers are most strongly associated with the concept of Natural Law? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| This is the theory that government is a "necessary evil", and that society needs to be governed to prevent chaos. |
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Term
| What is "Popular Consent"? |
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Definition
| This is the idea that people give their consent to be governed. Even though officials are elected, the power always ultimately rests with the people. |
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Term
| What is the "Social Contract Theory"? |
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Definition
| John Locke said that the people should not only be loyal to their ruler, but the ruler should be loyal to the people as well.
If the people are unhappy with the way that they're being governed, that leader will be overthrown..
The Declaration of Independence was heavily based on this theory. |
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Term
| Who are the two philosophers responsible for the notion of Popular Consent? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is "Direct Democracy"? |
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Definition
| This is a form of democracy in which everyone takes part on every level in every decision. |
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Term
| What is an "Indirect Democracy"? |
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Definition
| Also known as a representitive democracy- elected officials make the decisions. |
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Term
| What are three benefits of capitalism? |
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Definition
- Free market
- Ownership of private property
- No barriers to competition
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Term
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Definition
| This allows for rotating groups to make decisions. This means that many different groups of people can get involved, and who gets involved changes depending on the issue. |
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Term
| What's wrong with political labels? |
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Definition
| Political labels are often inaccurate and tend to pigeonhole people. |
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Term
| Is the American population, on average, younger or older? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the fastest growing racial group in the American population? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is "Political Ideology"? |
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Definition
| Your individual set of values and beliefs about the purpose, scope and role of government. These are the things that you think the government should and should not do. |
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Term
| What is "Political Culture"? |
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Definition
| Society's attitudes towards the political system and its various parts. |
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Term
| Describe the Liberal viewpoint. |
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Definition
| Liberals want more government, more social programs, and more group rights. |
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Term
| Describe the Conservative viewpoint. |
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Definition
| Conservatives want less government, less programs, and more individual rights. |
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Term
| What does it mean to be Moderate? |
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Definition
This means that you're somewhere in between being a liberal and a conservative.
70% of Americans consider themselves to be moderate. |
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Term
| Why was the Stamp Act Congress significant? |
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Definition
| This was the first official meeting of the thirteen colonies to discuss the problems with the crown. |
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Term
| Declaration of Independence |
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Definition
| Thomas Jefferson penned The Declaration of Independence. He contributed the most, and he contributed all of the ideas that he got from the Social Contract Theory. |
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Term
| What are some problems of the Articles of Confederation? |
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Definition
- A weak national government
- Virtually nonexistent executive branch
- No judiciary
- No power to tax
- No power to defend the states
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Term
| What were the Articles of Confederation? |
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Definition
| The Confederacy was a loose league or friendship of states. |
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Term
| Why do we have checks and balances? |
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Definition
| They give oversight to all of the different branches so that no one branch is too powerful. |
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Term
| What is the Separation of Powers? |
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Definition
| The government is split into three separate branches that oversee each other. |
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Term
| What are the three branches of government? |
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Definition
| Legislative, Executive, and Judicial |
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Term
| What does the legislative branch do? |
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Definition
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Term
| What does the executive branch do? |
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Definition
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Term
| What does the judicial branch do? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| The division or sharing of power between the state and federal government. |
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Term
| What is the Elastic Clause? |
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Definition
| Also known as the Necessary and Proper Clause.
Implied powers of the legislative branch. This means that the constitution can be stretched to mean whatever they need it to mean to do what is necessary and proper. |
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Term
| Why were the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution? |
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Definition
The Anti-Feds did not want to sign the constitution because they didn't think that there were enough individual and state rights.
The Bill of Rights ensured that they would never endure another brutal dictatorship. |
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Term
| What do the first ten amendments address? |
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Definition
The Federalist Papers.
They addressed the Anti-Federalists' concerns regarding creating a central government by writing in the Bill of Rights. |
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Term
| What is the process (two stages) for amending the Constitution? |
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Definition
| The first stage is proposal, the second stage is ratification. |
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Term
| What is required to propose an amendment to the Constitution? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is required in order to ratify a change to the Constitution? |
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Definition
| 3/4ths vote of the state legislatures. |
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Term
| State and national governments under the US Constitution are accountable to whom? |
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Definition
| The people – people retain their power at all times in the American democracy. |
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Term
| What is the Supremacy Clause? |
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Definition
| National law is supreme over state laws; National law is the law of the land. |
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Term
| What is the Full Faith and Credit Clause? |
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Definition
| If it's a legally binding contract in one state, it must be upheld and followed in all states. |
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Term
| What are the national enumerated powers? |
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Definition
| Enumerated means specified. These are the powers that the national government was specifically given. |
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Term
| Name three of the national government's enumerated powers. |
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Definition
- Coining money
- Declaring war
- Making treaties
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Term
| What are Concurrent Powers in government? |
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Definition
| These are powers that are shared between the state government and the national government. |
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Term
| Name three Concurrent Powers. |
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Definition
- Taxing
- Borrowing money
- Establish courts
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Term
McCulloch v. Maryland
What is its significance to “national power”? |
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Definition
| This case clarified the necessary and proper clause and determined that National Law is supreme. (also Gibbons vs. Ogden) |
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Term
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Definition
| This is a form of federalism in which the states have more power than the national government. |
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Term
| What are the Denied Powers? |
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Definition
| These are powers that are denied to both the state and national governments. |
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Term
| What two powers are the Denied Powers? |
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Definition
Ex post facto laws – No one can pass a law that makes an act punishable as a crime if the action was legal at the time it was committed.
Bill of Attainder – to declare an action illegal and inflict punishment without the benefit of a trial is prohibited. A legislative body may not exercise a judicial function by ascertaining guilt and pronouncing sentence. |
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Term
| The New Deal Years – how did this change the nature of federalism? |
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Definition
Supreme Court during this period first ruled certain aspects of the New Deal went beyond the authority of Congress to regulate commerce.
When faced with the threat of "court packing" by FDR (increasing the number of justices from 9 to 13) the court began to uphold laws that increased national power. |
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Term
| What is Marble Cake Federalism"? |
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Definition
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Term
| What was the effect of Cooperative Federalism? |
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Definition
| Increased power for the national government. |
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Term
| What is “The Carrot and Stick nature of Federalism”? |
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Definition
Congress forcing states to adopt certain laws in order to receive federal funds.
It's like holding a carrot in front of a horse to lead him somewhere. The national government dangles money in front of the states to get what they want. |
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Term
| What were "unfunded mandates"? |
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Definition
| This is when the national government would withold funds to a state unless they would comply with national rules and regulations. |
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Term
| What was the Unfunded Mandates Bill? |
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Definition
States felt that it was unfair for them to be mandated without being paid.
This bill, passed in 1995, requires that the Federal government pays state governments for anything that they make
them do. |
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Term
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Definition
This is a Federal grant with very few strings attached.
Money is given for broad catagorical purposes. |
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Term
| What are Categorical Grants? |
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Definition
These are grants with lots of strings attatched.
They're grants awarded for very specific individual purposes. |
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