Government Chapters 1 and 2 Test Study Guide

Articles of confederation

A weak constitution that governed America during the Revolutionary War.

Charter

A written grant of authority from the king

Divine right

Accepted in the western world from the 15th century through the eighteenth century. It held that god created the state and that god had given those of royal birth a "________ ______" to rule.

What is public policy?

All of the things the government decides to do: education, transportation, healthcare

Public policies

All of those things a government decides to do. Taxation, defense, education, crime, healthcare, transportation, enviro, civil rights, and working conditions

Free enterprise system

American economic system. It is an economic system characterized by the private ownership of capital goods

Petition of right

Document that limited the Kings power in several ways including that the king could no longer in prison or punish any person but by the lawful judgment of his peers or the law of the land

Limited government

Government has certain restrictions in what it may do and every individual has certain rights that government cannot take away

Representative government

Government should serve the will of the people

What are the characteristics of a sovereign state?

It has supreme and absolute power w/in its own territory and is not responsible to any other authority

Sovereign

It has supreme and absolute power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign and domestic policies

How can the federalist be called a "campaign document"

It was written to convince voters to support something, in this case the Constitution

Who is the father of the constitution?

James Madison

Federal government

One in which the powers of govt are divided between central government and several local governments

Unicameral

One-house legislature

Proprietary

Organized by a proprietor (a person to whom the king had made a grant of land)

What is meant by promote general welfare?

Support the well being of the public

Federalist

Supporters of the Constitution

Democracy

Supreme authority rests within the people

Majority rule

That a majority will be right more often than it will be wrong, and that the majority will also be right more often than one person or small group

Where is political power concentrated in a federal government?

central and local governments

What was the commerce and slave trade compromise?

congress was forbidden to tax exports and couldn't act on the slave trade for at least 20 years

What are the basic concepts of american government?

democracy, worth of the individual, equality of all persons, majority rule exceeds minority rights, necessity of compromise individual freedom

What are examples of equality of opportunity?

education, health care, social welfare

Citizen

one who holds both rights and responsibilities in a state

What are the characteristics of a state?

population, territory, sovereignty, govt (organized

Delegates

representatives

Where does sovereignty lie in a democracy compared to that of a dictatorship?

with the people instead of with the government

What were the characteristics of the government established under the articles of confederation?

1 vote in Congress per state, non congressional power to levy taxes or regulate trade, non national court system, no executive, created only a firm league of friendship

What is the necessity of compromise?

1) democracy put the individual 1st and insists that each individual is equal 2)few public questions have only 2 sides

What were the first and last states to ratify the us constitution?

1=delaware last= rhode island

What was the purpose of Mount Vernon and Annapolis convention?

7 states called for the power of fed. govt. to include the regulation of commerce and trade

How many states were needed to ratify the constitution?

9/13

State

A body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically, and with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority.

Unitary government

A centralized government. All powers held by the govt belong to a single, central agency. The central government creates local units of government for its own convenience those local governments have only those powers that the central government has chosen to give them.

New Jersey plan

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

Popular sovereignty

A government that exists only with the consent of the governed

Autocracy

A govt in which a single person holds unlimited political power

Confederation

A joining of several groups for a common purpose

Albany plan of union

Ben Franklin's plan for the creation of an annual converse of delegates from each of the 13 colonies

Commerce and slave trade compromise

Congress was forbidden the power to tax the export of goods from any state

What was the Connecticut Compromise?

Congress would be made up of the House and the Senate

Describe the federalists, their purpose, who wrote them and why?

Essays supporting the Constitution written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay to support the constitution and its ratification

Presidential government

Features a seperation of powers between the executive and legeslative branches of the government

Ratification

Formal approval

Who is the father of our nation?

George Washington

What distinguishes the Presidential form of government from the Parliamentary form of government?

In a presidential government the legislative and executive branch are separate while in a parliamentary government they are one power.

Oligarchy

Is a govt in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite

Who were the philosophes and what were their beliefs?

John Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Herrington. They believed in unbridled freedom (the believed purpose of govt is found in the preamble)

Connecticut compromise

Legislative branch-2 houses-one based on population, one based on equal representation

Which state is the oldest and still in force today?

Massachusettes

What influenced the framers in developing the constitution?

Montesquieu, Rousseau's social contract, Locke's two treaties of government, and studies of ancient Greece and Rome

What were the critical states and why was each critical to the adoption of the us. constitution?

New York, Virginia. They were large states that were influential and represented the rest of the country

What ideas can be found in the declaration of independence?

People have certain natural rights, consent of the governed and people should rule instead of being ruled

Dictatorship

Powers held by a single person or small group

English bill of rights

Prohibiting a standing army in peacetime except with consent of the Parliament

Due process of law

Protection against the arbitrary taking of life liberty or property

What single issue contributed the most toward the realization that the nation needed a stronger central govenment?

Shay's rebellion and economic issues

Constitution

The body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of a govt.

Framers

The delegates who attended the Philadelphia convention

Parliamentary government

The executive branch is made up of the prime minister or premiere, and that officials cabinet

Magna Carta

The great charter that included fundamental rights

Government

The institution through witch a society makes and enforces its public policies.

Executive power

The power to execute,enforce, and administer laws

Judicial power

The power to interpret laws, to determine thei meaning and to settle disputes that arise within the society.

Legislative power

The power to make laws and to frame public policies

What must a government's majority guarantee?

They must always listen to a minority argument

Who is the father of the social contract theory?

Thomas Hobbs

Who is the father of the declaration of independence?

Thomas Jefferson

What did the delegates at Philadelphia agree to?

To draft the constitution

Bicameral

Two house legislature

Why is it ironic that virginia was one of the last states to ratify the constitution?

Washington, Jefferson, and even Madison the father of the constitution, were all from Virginia

What are the main points of the social contract theory?

a population in a given place gave up as much power to a gov't as needed to promote the well being of all. The state exists only to serve the well being of its people

What was the Three-Fifths Compromise?

agreed all free persons would be counted in population as well as 3/5ths of all other people (slaves)

Describe the framers of the constitution.

agreed to draft a new document in secret, were young, landed well educated, many had served in the govt

Confederation

an alliance of independent states

Describe the relationship between the states during the articles of confederation?

bickering, and economic chaos

What was the Virginia plan and what is its significance to the U.S. constitution?

called for a strong national government with 3 separate branches and representation based on state size and contribution. House is now based on population

What was the new jersey plan and what is its significance to the U.S. constitution?

favored small states, calling for equal representation for each state in congress. Senate is based on equal rep.

How did the framers of the constitution reconcile the need for an effective central govt. with respect for state govt.?

federalism

Where did the federalist and anti-federalists differ on the view of the us. constitution?

federalists say the govt is too weak and made it unnecessary for a bill of rights anti-feds fear that a strong government would lead to a tyranny and that the bill of rights was necessary to protect individual from government

What are the purposes spelled out in the preamble of the constitution?

form perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,provide for the common defense, promote general welfare, secure the blessings of liberty

What are the characteristics of a unitary government.

has all powers held by a single central agency (ex. great Britain) and local governments created for its own convenience.

Where is political power concentrated in a unitary government?

in the central government

What are the broad facts about the bill of rights?

insisted upon by anti-federalists guarantees basic rights

What problems plagued the u.s govt. after the revolutionary war?

it was too weak to handle problems of the nation

Why has the constitution endured for more than 200 years?

living document

Where is political power concentrated in a confederation?

local governments only

What was Shay's rebellion?

shay led a group of farmers in order to stop the courts from taking farms or sending debtors to prison. It led to writings of US constitution

3/5 compromise

slaves would count as 3/5 of a person

What theory underlines modern democracies?

social contract theory (don't believe in divine right)

What basic characteristic of a state do the 50 individual states lack?

sovereignty

What is the dominate political unit in the world today?

state

Division of powers

that divison cannot be changed by either the local or national level acting alone

Compromise

the process of blending and adjusting competing views and interests

Anti-federalist

those who opposed ratification of the Constitution

Virginia plan

was a proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch.