AP US Gov and Politics Unit 1 Study Guide

Virginia Plan

"Large state" proposal for the new constitution, calling for proportional representation in both houses of a bicameral Congress. The plan favored larger states and thus prompted smaller states to come back with their own plan for apportioning representation.

3/5 Compromise

-each slave would count for 3/5 of a person for taxation and representation purposes

Examples of checks and balances

1) legislature drafts bills - Executive can veto - judicial can decide if law is constitutional 2) executive appoint supreme court judges and legislature needs to approve 3) if executive branch vetoes - legislature can override 2/3; 4) executive can pick cabinet but legislature needs to approve them

Popular Sovereignty

A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.

Federalist Papers

A collection of 85 articles written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison under the name "Publius" to defend the Constitution in detail.

Identify a common constitutional principle used to make a ruling in both McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and Arizona v. United States (2012).

A common constitutional principle used to make a ruling in both McCulloch v. Maryland and Arizona v. United States was the supremacy clause. The supremacy clause establishes that federal laws generally take precedence over state laws.

New Jersey Plan

A constitutional proposal that would have given each state one vote in a new congress.

Republic

A form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws.

Ant-Federalists

A group of people who opposed the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. Ex: Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, George Mason

Confederation

A joining of several groups for a common purpose.

Develop an argument that explains which of the three models of representative democracy—participatory, pluralist, or elite—best achieves the founders' intent for American democracy in terms of ensuring a stable government run by the people. Use at least one piece of evidence from one of the following foundational documents: o Brutus 1 o Federalist 10 o The United States Constitution

A pluralist government closely achieves the Founding Fathers' intent of ensuring a stable government for the people. The Founding Fathers wanted interest groups to play a part in political decisions. A pluralist government prevents a specific interest group from dominating and creating a bias policy. In Federalist 10, a document written by James Madison, argues that a strong representative government would control the effects of the factions. To explain that a representative government is more effective against factionalism, Madison states, "Under such a regulation, it may well happen that the public voice pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good, than if pronounced by the people themselves convened for the purpose." In an elite form of government you are just creating tyranny because the elite would just get richer and the poor would get poorer. In a participatory government every citizen would be contributing to governmental actions, so that would be too many citizens for a participatory government to be practical.

The framers of the Constitution intended to establish

A representative democracy

Federalism

A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments

layer cake federalism/dual federalism

A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies.

marble cake federalism (cooperative federalism)

A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government. They may also share costs, administration, and even blame for programs that work poorly.

Checks and Balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power

Federalists

A term used to describe supporters of the Constitution during ratification debates in state legislatures. Ex: Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison.

What best describes the Social Contract Theory?

Agreement that the government promises to protect people's rights.

Explain an action that Congress could take to respond to the Arizona v. United States decision if it disagreed with the decision.

An action that Congress could take to respond to the Arizona v. The United States decision if it disagreed with the decision was made a national law so there is not a problem with the Supremacy Clause.

Consent by the Governed

An agreement made by the people to establish a government and abide by its laws.

Supremacy Clause

Article VI of the Constitution, which makes the Constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits.

Anti-Federalist Papers

Collective name given to the work of the people who didn't support the Constitution

Great Compromise

Compromise made by Constitutional Convention in which states would have equal representation in one house of the legislature and representation based on population in the other house

Which of the following powers allows both the federal and state governments to make policies involving taxation?

Concurrent powers

What is NOT an example of the legislative branch checking the powers of the executive branch

Congress passing a law declaring presidential action unconstitutional.

What was the most important effect of replacing the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution?

Creation of a strong national government

Why did Ant-Federalists oppose the Constitution?

Feared the new national government would be too powerful, given the absence of the Bill of Rights

block grants

Federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs in areas such as community development and social services

categorial grants

Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or "categories," of state and local spending. They come with strings attached, such as nondiscrimination provisions.

Factions

Groups such as parties or interest groups, which according to James Madison arose from the unequal distribution of property or wealth and had the potential to cause instability in government.

What procedures results in the removal of the President from office?

House votes for impeachment. The senate reaches a guilty verdict.

Explain how the facts of McCulloch v. Maryland and the facts of Arizona v. United States led to a similar holding in both cases.

In McCulloch v. Maryland it was decided that states did not have the power to tax the Federal bank. In Arizona v. United States it was decided that the states did not have the power to regulate and enforce immigration law. Both these cases deal with how the states tried to take power given to the federal government constitutionally.

Explain why informal methods are used more often than the formal amendment process.

Informal methods are used more often than formal amendment processes because it is difficult to get 2 ⁄ 3 of the House of Representatives and Senate to agree or get 2 ⁄ 3 of the states to agree on a Constitutional Convention. This is very hard to get and which is why there are only 27 amendments over the past 200 years.

Why is the Connecticut Compromise significant?

It proposed Senate with equal representation, and representation in the House based on population

Purpose of Brutus 1

It tries to convince that the Constitution does not defend the rights of the people and should not be ratified.

Best example of a categorical grant

Money given to states for special education programs

Draw a conclusion about that similarity or difference in public education spending by state or region illustrated in the map.

New York spends the most money on public education in the Northeast because they have a large population which means more taxes. Taxes are used to fund public education, so the more money they have the more the government will spend on public education.

Describe a similarity or difference in public education spending by state or region, as illustrated in the map.

New York spends the most money on public education in the Northeast. New York spends about $16,000 or more.

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

One vote for each State, regardless of size. Congress powerless to lay and collect taxes or duties. Congress powerless to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. No executive to enforce acts of Congress. No national court system. Amendment only with consent of all States. A 9/13 majority required to pass laws. Articles only a "firm league of friendship."

____________ says that all interests are and should be free to compete for influence in govenrment, resulting in healthy democratic compromise

Pluralism

"Goverments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." This quote from the Declaration of Independence referes to which ideal of democracy?

Popular Sovereignty

reserved powers

Powers not specifically granted to the federal government or denied to the states. Belong to the states and the people.

implied powers

Powers not specifically mentioned in the constitution but are implied.

Purpose of limited government

Powers of government are restricted by the Constitution

delegated powers

Powers specifically given to the federal government by the US Constitution, for example, the authority to print money.

inherent powers

Powers that over and beyond those explicitly spelled out in the Constitution or which can reasonably be implied from express grants. It

Identify two formal methods for adding amendments to the Constitution.

Proposal and Ratification are the two steps to add amendments to the Constitution. Two formal methods for adding amendments to the Constitution is one a 2 ⁄ 3 majority vote in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The second method is a Constitutional convention to be called by 2/3 of state legislatures. For the ratification is by 3⁄4 of state legislatures or 38 out of 50 states have to agree.

Explain how public education spending as shown in the map demonstrates the principle of federalism.

Public education funds are funded by taxes. The state and local governments are ones that deal with public education in the United States. If the state governments receive less money from taxes then the local governments are going to receive less money from the states. And as I said before the state governments are the ones that deal with public education, so there will not be enough money for public education.

Shay's Rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

The debates between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists primarily centered around which issue?

Scope of power of the central government

Declaration of Independence

Signed in 1776 by US revolutionaries; it declared the United States as a free state from Great Britain.

Which has been used most to expand the power of the national government?

The Commerce Clause

The clause in the Constitution that states that federal law will prevail in the event of a conflict between federal and state law is known as

The Supremacy Clause

Social Contract Theory

The belief that people are free and equal by natural right, and that this in turn requires that all people give their consent to be governed; espoused by John Locke and influential in the writing of the declaration of independence.

Elastic Clause (Necessary and Proper Clause)

The clause in Article I, Section 8, that grants Congress the power to do whatever is necessary to execute its specifically delegated powers.

Commerce Clause

The clause in the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1) that gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce and restricts states from impairing interstate commerce

United States v. Lopez

The issue was Alphonso Lopez was arrested for carrying a weapon into his high school. He was charged under the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, a congressional law that banned people from bringing guns into school zones. The ruling was that the Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1990 was unconsitutional. It was because it exceeded the Congress's authority under the commerce clause of the Constitution.

McCulloch v. Maryland

The issue was if the federal government had the power to set up a federal bank and if the states had the power to tax the Federal government. The ruling was the federal government had the power to set up a federal bank and the states did not have the power to tax the Federal government. Making the bank was an implied power under the elastic clause which granted Congress the authority to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution" the work of the Federal Government.

Identify the most common level of education spending by states in the Southeast.

The most common level of education spending by states in the Southeast is $8,000 to $9,999.

Which of the following is considered a failure of the Articles of Confederation?

The national government lacked the power to raised revenue.

Pluralism

The theory of American democracy emphasizing that the policy-making process is open to the participation of all groups with shred interests, with no single group dominating. Pluralists believe that the public interest prevails.

Purpose of Federalist 10

To try to convince people that republicanism is the best form of government.

bicameral legislature

Two house legislature

Describe two informal methods that have been used to change the meaning of the Constitution. Provide one specific example for each informal method you described.

Two informal methods that have been used to change the meaning of the Constitution is judicial interpretations. This means another way of saying judicial review is the ability of the court to declare a Legislative or Executive Act in violation of the Constitution. This was used in Marbury vs. Madison because it gave the power of federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional. Another informal method is the use of technology in government related activities. An example of this is when the government send an emergency test alert to all the phones in America.

Constitutional Amendment

a formal change or addition to the U.S. Constitution

Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise

an agreement during the Constitutional Convention protecting slave holders; denied Congress the power to tax the export of goods from any State, and, for 20 years, the power to act on the slave trade.

Mandates

an official order to do something

The legislative process at the national level reflects the intent of the framers of the Constitution to create a legislature that would

be cautious and deliberate

electrol college

group of voters selected by the state's voters to vote for president and vice president

What was the importance of Shay's Rebellion?

indicated that a strong, constitutionally designed national government was needed to protect property and maintain order

In Federalist 10, James Madison argues that factions in a republic are

natural but controllable by institutions

Formal Amendment Process

proposed by 2/3 vote in each house of congress, ratified by 3/4 of state legislation

neccessary and proper clause

the "implied powers" clause located in Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution. It states that aside from the enumerated powers given to the federal government, it also has the power to pass any law that can be traced back to those powers "delegated" in the Constitution.

In The Federalist Papers, James Madison argues that political liberty is best protected by

the fragmentation of political power in a large republic.