Unit Test
What was the goal of the Federalists in ratifying the Constitution?
Wanted to limit the power of states
What event, that occurred before the Constitutional Convention, spurred, or helped spark the Founding Fathers to address the weakness of the Articles of Confederation?
Shay's Rebellion
Describe Federalism in your own words.
- A system of government where a written constitution divides power between a central government & several regional government - Sharing power between state & federal government
What is the different between divine right theory or social contract theory?
- Divine: God created the state & gave those of royal birth "divine right" - Social Contract: before the government, the strong took what they wanted
What are some examples that illustrate how the Articles of Confederation was flawed?
- Gave the states too much power - No central government - Government couldn't tax its citizens
Elite Democracy (ex.)
- Limits the citizens' role to choosing among competing leaders -More educated than the general public & more decisive - But goes against ideas of democracy - prefers elite interests over peoples; the Roman Empire
Describe the allocation of powers to the national and state governments in the Constitution.
- Reserves all powers not given to the federal government to the states(police powers, public health, etc.) - Anything not spelled out automatically goes to the states
How were laws passed by the National gov't during the Articles of Confederation?
- States passed 9/13 vote to pass a law and 13/13 vote to change Articles of Confederation - No executive or judicial branch
What is sovereignty?
- Supreme & absolute power within its territory - can decide its own foreign & domestic policies
Plural Democracy (ex.)
-Many different parties with competing interests - good ideas surface - no one ground domination - slow decisions(gridlock) - bad ideas surface; interest groups - NRA, -NOW
Popular Sovereignty (ex.)
A belief that ultimate power resides in the people; we the people of the United States
Checks and Balances (ex.)
A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power; president can veto bills from congress but a 2/3 vote from congress can override the veto.
Social Contract (ex.)
An agreement between the people and their government signifying their consent to be governed; provide for the common defense
Separation of Powers (ex.)
Different powers are given to different branches of the government which act independently; legislative branch, executive, judicial
How did the Connecticut Compromise broker a solution between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan?
It combined them, 2 houses: House of Representatives & Senate
What is the significance of the necessary and proper clause?
It gives congress the power to make all laws "necessary & proper" for carrying out its express powers (Elastic Clause - stretches government's power)
Analyze: "In a pure democracy the people are the sovereign, and their will is declared by themselves; for this purpose they must all come together to deliberate, and decide. This kind of government cannot be exercised, therefore, over a country of any considerable extent; it must be confined to a single city, or at least limited to such bounds as that the people can conveniently assemble, be able to debate, understand the subject submitted to them, and declare their opinion concerning it." - Brutus No. 1, 1787
Local and state governments are better equipped to deal with issues affecting people's daily lives; A large centralized government is unable to protect individual interests and liberties
What does the Full Privileges and Immunities clause prohibit states from doing?
Makes unreasonable distinctions between its residents & the residents of another state (States can make reasonable distinctions however)
Limited Government (ex.)
The idea that certain restrictions should be placed on government to protect the natural rights of citizens; Do ordain & establish this constitution for the United States of America
Summarize the main ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence
The main purpose of the government is to protect our natural rights
Analyze: "To what expedient, then, shall we finally resort, for maintaining in practice the necessary partition of power among the several departments, as laid down in the Constitution? The only answer that can be given is, that as all these exterior provisions are found to be inadequate, the defect must be supplied, by so contriving the interior
The structure of the government itself should limit its powers
Republicanism (ex.)
The system by which interests of people are elected through elected leaders; voting for elected leaders
What are the basic powers that every government holds?
legislative branch making law (congress), the executive applying and enforcing the law (executive), and the judiciary interpreting the law (judicial)
What are the characteristics of a state?
people, territory, sovereignty, & government
What is the difference between a state and a State (like Pennsylvania, New York, etc)
state is a body of people living in a defined territory within a government
What was the biggest contribution of the Anti-Federalist?
their opposition to ratifying the Constitution were a powerful force in the origin of the Bill of Rights to protect Amercians' civil liberties.