American pols final study guide

federalist 51

in the separated branches, to ensure independence, one branch cannot have control over who gets elected into another branch. "if men were angels, no government would be necessary." Consequently, the great problem in framing a government is that the government must be able to control the people, but equally important, must be forced to control itself. Dividing power helps to check its growth in any one direction, but power cannot be divided absolutely equally. In the republican form of government, the legislative branch tends to be the most powerful. That is why the framers divided the Congress into two branches, the House of Representatives and the Senate, and provided for a different method of election in each branch. Further safeguards against legislative tyranny may be necessary.

federalist 55

madison defends the size of the house of representatives. Madison argues that the House is big enough to guard against such cabals and small enough to avoid the inefficiencies and confusion of a multitude. Madison points to the fact that the size of state legislatures vary greatly to suggest that the exact size of the House need not be restricted to a precise number. Madison also introduces the notion that republican government ultimately depends on the virtue of the people. Without virtue, "nothing less than the chains of despotism can restrain them from destroying and devouring one another."

Push Poll and Priming Effect

push polling is trying to illicit a response by giving specific criteria to get a response about a politician. priming effect- priming people for a specific response.

partisanship

strong allegiance to one's own political party, often leading to unwillingness to compromise with members of the opposing party

judicial review

the power of a court to refuse to enforce a law or a government regulation that in the opinion of the judges conflicts with the us constitution or, in a state court, the state constitution

executive privilege

the power to keep executive communication confidential, especially if they relate to national security

Hamilton, Madison & Jay, The Federalist Papers, No . 10, 48, 51, 55, 68, 78

10- madison describes factions and how dangerous they are to american society. must remove their causes and control their effects. federalist 48- the necessity of checks and balances on each branch. separation of powers does not mean truly separate. federalist 51- in the separated branches, to ensure independence, one branch cannot have control over who gets elected into another branch. "if men were angels, no government would be necessary." federalist 55- madison defends the size of the house of representatives. Madison argues that the House is big enough to guard against such cabals and small enough to avoid the inefficiencies and confusion of a multitude. federalist 68- Hamilton defends the process for selecting the president. He argues that the system of an electoral college ensures that "the sense of the people" will play a key role in selecting the president, while, at the same time, affording "as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder." It was believed that electing the president directly, without the intermediate step of the electors, might lead to instability. Hamilton argues that electors will be protected from bias since they do not hold any other political office and are separated from electors from other states. Hamilton believed that this system would best ensure that the president was a man of great virtue and ability. federalist 78- Hamilton begins by telling the readers that this paper will discuss the importance of an independent judicial branch and the meaning of judicial review. The Constitution proposes the federal judges hold their office for life, subject to good behavior. Hamilton laughs at anyone who questions that life tenure is the most valuable advance in the theory of representative government. Permanency in office frees judges from political pressures and prevents invasions on judicial power by the president and Congress.

Amendments 13th 14th 15th

13th- bans slavery 14th- no higher or lower ranking of citizenship, equal protection and due process for all citizens 15th- no racial qualifications for voting.

Amendments and their meanings for the "Zone of Privacy"

1st amendment - right to free association 3rd amendment - right to not quartering soldiers (the government cannot randomly seize your stuff) 4th amendment- warrants are necessary for searches. 5th amendment - the right to not self incriminate 9th amendment - the constitution is not exaughstive in its definition of rights. 14th amendment - Due Process

Right to privacy as pieced together in griswald v connecticut

1st amendment- right to free association 3rd amendment- right to not quartering soldiers. The army cant take your stuff for military purposes. 4th amendment- warrants are necessary. No warrantless searches. 5th amendment- self incrimination- a right to privacy. 9th amendment- the bill of rights is not exaughstive in its definition of rights. Other rights exist and are not disparaged by the constitution. 14th amendment- due process. How does it apply to the states? All these contribute to douglas' "zone of privacy" "Penumbra rights"- shadows that rights on each other to create this zone/

Three-Fifths Compromise

3/5 of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives

2nd Inaugural Address (1865)

4 years after the war, Lincoln reflects on the judgement of god caused by the sin of slavery. Lincoln apologizes for slavery and asks that the North and South reconcile after the conflict ends, no matter who wins.

Civil Rights Cases of 1833

5 cases, supreme court decided there can be no discrimination if it involves state action. private associations, however, can discriminate. this emboldened the south to discriminate in all things.

Segregation Laws

Attempts to keep freed slaves and colored people away from public accommodations, especially education.

Federalism

A constitutional arrangement in which power is distributed between a central government and a subdivisional governments, called states in the US. The national and subdivisional governments both exercise direct authority over individuals

Referendum

A procedure for submitting to popular vote measures passed by the legislature or proposed amendments to a state constitution

Recall

A procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term

Plessy v Ferguson (1896)

A test case, plessy was chosen because he was 1/8th african american. He was chosen to make thinking about segregation more difficult. he sat in a whites only train in louisana, and when he was asked to leave the car, he didn't, and was arrested under louisiana laws. after losing in federal court, he appealed to the supreme court. Segregation laws (jim crow) Civil amendments (equal protection) "Separate but equal" - same amenmities. But separating the races is necessary socially. "Separate" -> socially, racism. "But" -> inferiority. "equal" -> politically

Cooper Union Address (1860)

About how slavery should not exist in the territories. Slavery is wrong and we cannot give into the south. A 3 part speech in NY by Lincoln to refute Stephen Douglas' arguments about the Founding Fathers - Douglas asserted the Founding Fathers did not believe the National government could regulate slavery in the territories.

Thomas Jefferson, "Declaration of Independence" in The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson (New York: Modern Library, 1998), p. 17 - 29

All men are created equal and there are certain unalienable rights that governments should never violate. These rights include the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When a government fails to protect those rights, it is not only the right, but also the duty of the people to overthrow that government. In its place, the people should establish a government that is designed to protect those rights. Governments are rarely overthrown, and should not be overthrown for trivial reasons. In this case, a long history of abuses has led the colonists to overthrow a tyrannical government. The new nation will be called the United States of America and will have no further connections with Great Britain. The new government will reserve the right to levy war, make peace, make alliances with foreign nations, conduct trade, and do anything else that nations do.

"Jim Crow" Laws

Attempts at circumventing civil war amendments and their protections, especially the 15th amendment. They did this by "pole taxes" -> you have to pay a tax to vote, and "literacy test" to be able to vote you had to pass a very hard literacy test. "Grandfather Clause" -> if your grandfather was enslaved, you could not vote.

Brown v Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America: Vol. I, Part 2, chapters 7 and 9 Vol. II, Part 2, chapters 2, 4, and 5 Vol. II, Part 4, chapters 3, 6, 7, and 8

Chapter 7: The Omnipotence of the Majority in the United States and Its Effects - the instability of the government can increase the larger the majority is. Chapter 9: Causes Tending to Maintain a Democratic Republic in the United States: laws, mores and landscape. Chapter 2: Of Individualism in Democracies In times of equality people tend to be individualistic, disposing each citizen to isolate himself and limit his interests to a small circle of relatives and friends. This individualism is dangerous to society because it eventually merges into egoism, which "sterilizes the seed of every virtue." Chapter 4: How the Americans Combat the Effects of Individualism by Free Institutions Because despots have every interest in keeping people isolated, the individualism resulting from equality makes despotism a great danger to democracy. Chapter 5: On the Use Which the Americans Make of Associations in Civil Life Americans are continually forming associations of every type. Since citizens in democratic societies are independent and weak, they need to form associations in order to have some influence Chapter 3: How Both the Feelings and the Thoughts of Democratic Nations Are in Accord in Concentrating Political Power Individualism makes democratic peoples inclined to allow the state to look after common needs. In addition, materialism makes them afraid of economic disturbances. Love of equality breeds itself, because the more equal conditions become, the more shocking the slightest dissimilarity is. Central government is perfect for making things equal and uniform. Democracies are therefore tending in that direction. Chapter 6: What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear Democracies are in danger of a milder despotism in times past, in which leaders are not tyrants but more like schoolmasters. This type of despotism would "degrade men rather than torment them." Chapter 7: Continuation of the Preceding Chapters Times of equality are most conducive to despotism. There is no possibility of reconstructing aristocracy. Chapter 8: General Survey of the Subject The general influence of growing equality on mankind is remarkable. Never in the past have conditions been more equal. There are fewer grand and heroic virtues or individuals, but life in general is more comfortable and mores are more humane and gentle. Everything tends toward the middle. The growth of equality is inevitable, but people do have the power to shape the effects of that equality for better or worse.

Civil Rights and Liberties

Civil Rights- positive acts of government designed to protect persons against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government or individuals. Civil Liberties - those liberties usually spelled out in a bill of rights or a constitution that guarantee the protection of persons, opinions, and property frome the arditrary interference of government officials.

How do you get a bill passed?

Congress proposes a bill to administration. Health and Human Services administers health, medicare, and medicaid. The HHS has to administer rules. They intercept bills and administer rules on that bill, then implement the bill. Rules and laws are made under the interpretations of bills.

Congressional Review

Congress reviews new federal regulations and can nullify them through joint approval. They get 60 days from the issuance of a rule to decide. They've cancelled 14 different regulations in this window of 60 days. It is a check on congress' powers.

Gettysburg Address (1863)

Delivered by Lincoln at the dedication of Soldiers National Cemetery - the cemetery for union soldiers killed at the battle of Gettysburg during the civil war) "Four score and seven years ago..." "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this."

Palko v Connecticut

Double Jeaopardy (you cant be tried for the same crime twice; you can't be retried for the same case after youve been found not guilty on one case) Palko had killed a couple police officers. He was at first convicted of a lesser charge of 2nd degree murder. Connecticut appealed the conviction, and a retrial was held and he was found guilty of 1st degree murder and sentenced to death. Palko's liars said this was a violation of double jeopardy, but connecticut as a state had no laws on double jeopardy. So how did they make the 14th amendment due process clause enforce itself on connecticut? It made it up to the supreme court, and the supreme court ruled there are fundamental rights and liberties that must be protected and states cannot abridge. "The very essence of the scheme of ordered liberty". However, the court upheld this conviction in this case. Penumbra rights. Penumbra is the implied rights provided in the U.S. constitution, or in a rule. Substantive Due process: the idea that due process protections extend beyond due process to substantive rights. 14th amendment goes with due process. Palko did not get saved, but for future rulings all states must not do double jeopardy. How do you pass constitutional amendments?? ⅔ of congress have to propose it and 3/4ths of the state legislatures have to ratify it. Federal floor -> search and seizure. States have to raise themselves to the "federal floor": the minimum standard for things such as search and seizure. But if some states have stronger protections on such things like lawful search and seizure, they are welcome to have a higher standard. Double jeopardy is in the fifth amendment

Civil Rights Act of 1875

Equal access to public accomodations (hotels, restaurants)... but then places would discriminate anyway

Federalist Papers

Essays promoting ratification of the constitution

Griswald v Connecticut

Griswald was involved with planned parenthood and all for women's rights. She wanted to set up a PP to educate women about reproduction in the 60s. Illegal in connecticut. Against state law. Griswald tries to lobby the legislature. This law is stupid and old. She gets no support from the legislature. Griswald decides to set up an office anyway. The state arrests her. 9th amendment. The court before the griswald court never applied the 9th amendment- what's proteted and what's not. In lochner, a majority read into the 14th amendment for liberty of contract. Lochner embodies the original sin of finding un-enumerated rights within the constitution. 14th amendment- substantive due process applied to the states for a standard The court had used the first, third fourth, and fifth amendment towards privacy rights. They went further to say the 9th amendment the bill of rights is not exaughstive; there are other rights.

Cabinet

Group of individuals that help the president make decisions. Heads of department agencies. State, Justice, Treasury and Defense are the big 4.

federalist 78

Hamilton begins by telling the readers that this paper will discuss the importance of an independent judicial branch and the meaning of judicial review. The Constitution proposes the federal judges hold their office for life, subject to good behavior. Hamilton laughs at anyone who questions that life tenure is the most valuable advance in the theory of representative government. Permanency in office frees judges from political pressures and prevents invasions on judicial power by the president and congress.

federalist 68

Hamilton defends the process for selecting the president. He argues that the system of an electoral college ensures that "the sense of the people" will play a key role in selecting the president, while, at the same time, affording "as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder." It was believed that electing the president directly, without the intermediate step of the electors, might lead to instability. Hamilton argues that electors will be protected from bias since they do not hold any other political office and are separated from electors from other states. Hamilton believed that this system would best ensure that the president was a man of great virtue and ability.

Election of 1876 - Hayes v Tildon

Hayes was a republican for civil rights and freed slaves rights. Election was a tie. If Hayes was elected, thenorth would end the period of militarily occupying the south to oversee the democratic affairs.

Barron v Baltimore (1833)

In Barron v. Baltimore (1833), the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution's Bill of Rights restricts only the powers of the federal government and not those of the state governments. The case began with a lawsuit filed by John Barron against the city of Baltimore, claiming that the city had deprived him of his property in violation of the Fifth Amendment, which provides that the government may not take private property without just compensation. He alleged that the city ruined his busy wharf in Baltimore Harbor by depositing around the wharf sand and earth cleared from a road construction project that made the waters around the wharf too shallow to dock most vessels. The state court found that the city had unconstitutionally deprived Barron of private property and awarded him $4,500 in damages, to be paid by the city in compensation. An appellate court then reversed this award. Barron appealed to the Supreme Court, which reviewed the case in 1833. The Supreme Court, in a decision written by Chief Justice John Marshall, ruled that Barron had no claim against the state under the Bill of Rights because the Bill of Rights does not apply to the states. The Court asserted that the Constitution was created "by the people of the United States" to apply only to the government that the Constitution had created -- the federal government -- and "not for the government of the individual states." The separate states had drafted constitutions only to apply to themselves, limiting the actions of only state governments. Thus, "the Fifth Amendment must be understood as restricting the power of the general government, not as applicable to the states." The Court argued that the validity of this conclusion is bolstered by the fact that the Constitution nowhere states that the Bill of Rights also limits the actions of state governments, Thus, the state of Maryland, through the actions of the city of Baltimore, did not infringe on the Constitution. With no federal claim, the Supreme Court thus lacked jurisdiction (or power) to hear Barron's case and dismissed it.

John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, chapters 2, 4, 5, and 19

In Chapter 2, Locke explains the state of nature as a state of equality in which no one has power over another, and all are free to do as they please. He notes, however, that this liberty does not equal license to abuse others, and that natural law exists even in the state of nature. Each individual in the state of nature has the power to execute natural laws, which are universal. Locke then posits that proof of this natural law lies in the fact that, even though a person cannot reasonably be under the power of a foreign king, if a person commits a crime in a foreign country they can still be punished. Locke states that natural law simply demands that punishment fit the crime--a person in the state of nature can redress any crime to discourage the offender from repeating it. Locke concludes by noting that all people are in a state of nature until a special compact or agreement between them (which he promises to describe later) makes them members of a political society. Locke starts Chapter 4 by defining natural liberty as a person's right to be ruled solely by the laws of nature, and social liberty as the right to be under no legislative power other than that founded by the consent of the commonwealth, functioning for the commonwealth's benefit. Property: we have a natural right to property and acquisition, as long as we do not over-take. In Chapter 19, Locke finally arrives at the question of forming a new government. When the state ceases to function for the people, it is dissolved, and may be replaced. This occurs when the legislative is changed or usurped by a tyrannical executive power, when the legislative or executive breaches its trust, or when the executive ignores its own duties and renders the law meaningless, reducing society to chaos.

federalist 48

In the proposed government, however, it is the legislative branch that is most likely to abuse power. More power, both unrefined and unlimited, has been granted to it than to the other two branches. In addition, the legislative branch controls the money and has the greatest influence in the determination of salaries paid to government employees. Such a situation invites corruption. Presidential power, on the other hand, is simpler in nature, and the Constitution clearly defines and limits it. The same is true of judicial power. Any attempt by these two branches to infringe upon the Congress would be quickly detected and blocked.

Obergefell v Hodges

Justice kennedy writes the majority opinion of the court, and argues there is a right to marriage (page 5 right before section 4). "It is a fundamental right, inherent in the liberty of the person under due process." Equal Protection Clause. This case includes 14 same sex couples who were denied the right to marry. On appeal from state courts. DOMA - Defense of Marriage Act. Passed in 1996 in reaction to states like massachusets who denied rights. The majority opposition was on religious grounds. Marriage is a sacrament. Civil union It was decided DOMA was unconstitutional. US v Windsor (2013) What does justice roberts say about using substantive due process in his dissent? They talk a lot about the democratic process and how the court should be careful and defferential to the democratic process.

Antifederalists

Opponents of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government generally

Patronage Politics versus Today

Patronage politics were all about money. Now ideology is the driving factor in politics.

Due Process (procedural/substantive)

Procedural due process: allows everyone a fair and equal trial. Adequate representation/jury of peers, etc. does nothing to actually protect a right violated by the state.

Penumbral Rights

Rights that are created in the shadow of other rights.

Federalists

Supporters of ratification of the constitution of the Constitution and of a strong central government

Plurality

The candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election, not necessarily more than half

Dredd Scott Case

The case before the court was that of Dred Scott v. Sanford. Dred Scott, a slave who had lived in the free state of Illinois and the free territory of Wisconsin before moving back to the slave state of Missouri, had appealed to the Supreme Court in hopes of being granted his freedom. Sandford, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, ruled (7-2) that a slave (Dred Scott) who had resided in a free state and territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; In Dred Scott v. Sandford (argued 1856 -- decided 1857), the Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that Congress lacked power to ban slavery in the U.S. territories. Finally, the Court declared that the rights of slaveowners were constitutionally protected by the Fifth Amendment because slaves were categorized as property.

Connecticut Compromise

The compromise agreement by states at the constitutional convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators

Electoral College

The electoral system used in electing the president and vice president, in which voters vote for electors pledged to cast their ballots for a particular party's candidates

New Jersey Plan

The proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by William Patterson with a single-house legislature in which each state would be represented equally

Political Parties

Thomas jefferson had a very different vision for america's agricultural resources: they need to be utilized by farmers. Self sufficiency in our economy. Jefferson organized the first political party in the US to defeat the federalists. When washington steps down, adams is elected. 1st party system Federalists (adams and hamilton) v democrat- republicans (jefferson) (madison later joins this side, leaving the federallists)

Federalist 10

To Madison, there are only two ways to control a faction: to remove its causes and to control its effects. The first is impossible. There are only two ways to remove the causes of a faction: destroy liberty or give every citizen the same opinions, passions, and interests. Destroying liberty is a "cure worse then the disease itself," and the second is impracticable. The causes of factions are thus part of the nature of man and we must deal with their effects and accept their existence. The government created by the Constitution controls the damage caused by such factions.

Terry Moe and William Howell, "Unilateral Action and Presidential Power: A Theory," Presidential Studies Quarterly vol. 29, no. 4 (December 2003)

To advance their policy agenda, presidents have two options. They can submit proposals to Congress and hope that its members faithfully shepherd bills into laws; or they can exercise their unilateral powers--issuing such directives as executive orders, executive agreements, proclamations, national security directives, or memoranda--and thereby create policies that assume the weight of law without the formal endorsement of a sitting Congress. given the ambiguity of Article II powers and the massive corpus of law that presidents can draw upon, as well as the well-documented travails of the legislative process, the appeal of unilateral powers is readily apparent.

Civil War Amendments

Wanted to establish equal rights and civil liberties without fear of discrimination that the government cannot inhibit. They fundamentally change the constitution. Upheld Lincoln's promise that the civil war was worth something.

Lochner v New York (1905)

What was oliver wendel holm's opinion about peckham's decision? He hates it. The judge is called to do something more than gut instinct. He is supposed to judge if constitues that come before the court conflict with the constitution. Not be engaged with their own prejudices. The judges of new york found that the proposal conflicted with their economic prejudices. Or offedned their economic theory. The job of a judge is not the province of a court to inquire. The court is not concerned with wisdom or policy legislation. Judges are not jurists. They interpret the constitution. Page 280, part of the dissent. The court had been in the business of umpiring economic regulation. After this era lochner becomes a forbidden fruit of judicial interpretation. Where does it say in the consittution that the government doesnt have the right to regulate the health welfare and safety of their citizen? "Police powers" - health, safety, welfare... Enumerated powers. Enumerated powers of congress, article 1 section 8. Enumerated rights. Congress cant just determine what's necessary and proper- there has to be something related to the current powers that makes sense to carry new powers into another area. What are the limitations on our interpretive powers on saying the constitution protects these rights but not those rights?

Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1806)

William Marbury, who was supposed to be an appointed judge before Jefferson took office, but did not get his commission before Adams left office. Marbury sued Madison to give him his commission. He specifically asked for a "Writ of Mandamus" to make the court make Madison hand over Marbury's Commission. This was the first court case for real judicial review. This was a big dilemma, because if the court ordered Jefferson to give it to Marbury, he might refuse, making the court permanently powerless. Though Marbury was entitled to it, the Court was unable to grant it because Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 conflicted with Article III Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution and was therefore null and void.

Caucus

alternative to primaries where you have groups of voters. Caucus system advantages candidates who belong to certain parties which have certain restrictions. Ex. Iowa, first to say who they like because it will have the most influence on who will be president.

Baron v Baltimore (1833)

bill of rights applies to federal governments and not state governments. ergo, bill of rights can do nothing to prevent things such as segregation.