Gov Unit 1
Shays's Rebellion
1786, a popular uprising against the government of massachusetts, led by Daniel Shays, a grassroots popular uprising against a state government, the conditions that caused it and the popular anger it fuelded were also present in other states, provided ammunition to those who tried to replace the structure of government under the Articles, many participant were veterans of the Revolutionary War, citizens could not pay the debts that had been incurred during the war, state governments raised taxes and demanded hard money
Annapolis Convention
1786, meant to lead to significant changes int he fundamental structure of the government of the United States, participation at the convention was weak
Marbury v. Madison
1803, Judiciary act of 1801, court says Congress can't change the original jursidiction with a law, Judiciary Act of 1793, if you want to change the constitution you have to propsoe an amendment, congress can't write a law to change the constitution, grants the power of judicial review for the supreme court (not in the constitution), increases the supreme court's power, adds a way that the court can have original jurisdiction
McCulloch v. Maryland
1819, Congress has the power to create a bank, congress has power that is necessary and proper to carry out expressed powers, implied powers, court is clarifying implied powers and telling us how the necessary and proper clause works, states do not have power to tax something created by the national government (supremacy clause)
Gibbons v. Ogden
1824, national government/congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce, anything between states is open for regulation (supremacy and commerce clauses)
Wickard v. Fillburn
1942, interstate commerce consumes intrastate commerce,
US v. Lopez
1995, uses aggregate rule from Fillburn as precedent, ruled for Lopez, laws must specifically reference commerce when connecting to commerce clause, first time since 1940 that supreme court limits Congress' power: doesn't have the power under the commerce clause the way they wrote it, reqriting the law doesn't dismiss Lopez- Congress cannot use the commerce clause to regulate something that is not economic activity
US v. Morrison
2000, civil suit, Congress lacked the authority to pass the Violence Against Women's Act uder the commerce clause, using Lopez as precent, gender motivated crimes are not economic activity, if you can label anything economic activity the power of Congress and it destroys federalism because nothing is left for the states, Constitution requires a distinction between what is national and what is local and law enforcement is a local/state function, Congress may not regulate nonviolent local criminal crime based on interstate commerce
Gonzales v. US
2004, based on Fillburn rather than Lopez because the law includes economic language in it so Congress has the power to regulate this activity, Supremacy Clause, if they're applying the aggregate rule you don't have to show data you can use rational though for the conclusion
Compromise on Importation
Congress could not restrict the slave trade until 1808, slaves who had successfull escaped would have to be returned to their owners regardless of individual states
US Constitution
Preamble: sovereignty comes from the people, created a more perfect Union, Article 1: creates a bicameral legislature, establishes requirements for serving in the House of Representatives and Senate, lists expressed powers of Congress and allows for implied powers, Article 2: creates the presidency, establishes requirements for office, lists expressed powers of the executive, Article 3: creates a Supreme Court and provides that Congress may create lower federal courts, Article 4: sets forth the relationship betweens states, Article 5: establishes the process for amending the Constitution, Article 6: establishes that the Constitution, federal laws,a nd treaties are the supreme law of the land, Article 7: describes how the Constitution will be ratified
Grand Committee
a committee at the Constitutional Convention that worked out the compromise on representation, created the Great Compromise
Constitutional Republic
a democratic system with elected representatives in which the Constitution is the supreme law, Americans elect representatives to make most of the laws and policies in the nation, rather than voting on them directly which would be unqiedly in a nation of more than 300 million people, limits are placed on the power of government to prevent it from infringing on people's rights, the Constitution is the supreme law of the nation
Checks and Balances
a design of government in which each branch has powers that can prevent the other branches from making policy, founding fathers feared too much concentration of power in a single executive
Separation of Powers
a design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its own, branches are not meant to preside over their own spheres, separated institutions sharing powers
Dual Federalism
a form of American federalism in which the states and the nation operate independently in their own areas of public policy, a distinct though not complete separation between the federal and state governments as if both operate side by side with relatively interaction between the two
Cooperative Federalism
a form of American federalism in which the states and the national government work together to shape public policy, the two types do not generally play the same roles, became more combined with the Great Depression and continue to grow closer in function, overlap between the states and national governments' functions, the federal government is setting up the program and providing the funding and set the standards for the program and the states administer/run the program, sometimes people distrust the states, some policies work better on the national level
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union
a governing document that created a union of thirteen sovereign states in which the states, not the national government, were supreme, citizens did not always trust the motives of the governments of other states, they also did not trust any government that would rule over them from far away, smaller states demanded equal representation in government, created a univamerical congress in which each state only received one vote, made states and not the national governmetn sovereign, was intentionally weak and state legislatures had most of the power, government could not force states to carry out its policies, lacked taxationpower, did not have the power to regulate interstate commerce and states placed trade restrictions on one another which made it difficult to cultivate a national economy, no independent judicial branch, judiciary existed to resolve differences between states but had no way of enforcing its decisionArticle 1: names the union as the Union as the United States of America, Article 2: provides that states retain sovereignty not delegated to the national government, Article 3: creates a league of friendshi for defense and security, Article 4: protects equal treatment and freedom of movement for citizens, Article 5: allocates one vote for Congress in each state, Article 6: gives the national government the power to declare war, Article 7: gives the states the power to assign military ranks, Article 8: expenditures by the US will be paid with funds raised by state legislatures, Article 9: gives congress the power to declare war and peace, appoint tribunals for crimes on the seas, regulate the post office, appoint a president, and request requisitions from the states, nine states are required to consent to declare war, Article 10: allows a committee of the states to exercise the powers of Congress when congrss is not in session, Article 11: provides that Canada may join the union, Article 12: provides that the Confederation accepts the war debt, Article 13: provides that amendments require approval of all state legislatures
Faction
a group of self-interested people who use the government to get what they want, trampling on the rights of others in the process, Madison believed factions would present the most dangerous challenge to a republic, the danger to the republic was not only that people would act accordingly to their self-interest, they might work together with others who had the same motives, trampling the rights of others in the process
Constitutional Convention
a meeting attended by state delegates in 1787 to fix the Articles of Confederation, all participants were men, most were educated, one-third owned slaves, not all were weathy but they were all members of the elite, the two big issues were representation and power, goal of creating stronger fiscal policy and military state, representation of states in the national government and the powers of the national government, founding fathers created a limited government, power was distributed between different branches of government and between the national government and the states, preventing one branch or level of government from becoming too powerful and taking away the rights of citizens, there are few individual rights protected in the original constitution
Virginia Plan
a plan of government calling for a three branch government with a bicamerial legislature, where more populous states would have more representation in Congress, devised by James Madison, created a three-branch government with a bicameral legislature, members of the lower house would be elected directly by the people, the upper house would consist of representatives nominated by state legislatures chosen by members of the lower house, more populous states would have more members in both houses, delegates from smaller states rejected the idea of representation by population because they believed their voices would be drowned out
New Jersey Plan
a plan of government that provided for a unicameral legislature with equal votes for each states, presented by smaller states, legislature would get new powers, mostly over taxation and eocnomy, though it would still depend on the states for some revenue, equal representation was essential to states' sovereignty
Federalist Papers
a series of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay published between 1787 and 1788 that lay out the theory behind the Constitution, intended to influence the ratification dedbate especially in the contested state of New York, example of political propaganda
Republicanism
a system in which the government's authority comes from the people, not direct democracy, citizens can choose representatives to assert their interests in the national policymaking process, representatives are held accountable in free and fair elections that take place at frequent and regular intervals
Democracy
a system of government where power is held by the people, Thomas Jefferson drew upon ideas about liberty and government that were widely known in the colonies and Great Britain, based on principles from Greece and Rome
Federal System
a system where power is divided between the national and state governments, each level of government retains some exclusive powers and has soe powers denied to it, constitutional protections for each level againstt encroachment on tis powers by the other levels
Unitary System
a system where the central government has all of the power over subnational governments, the national government may delegate certain powers to subnational governments but it has the authority to take back any powers it delegates, most countries have a unitary system, strong central governments are often hesitant to disperse power
Confederal System
a system where the subnational governments have most of the power, subnational governments have more power than the national government, national governments are heavily dependent upon the states to carry out and pay for public policies
Pluralist Theory
a theory of democracy that emphasizes the role of groups in the policymaking process, one of the best ways to influence the political process is by joining a group of like-minded citizens, thousands of groups are competing the political therefore it is impossible for one of them to win all of the time, influence political process by contacting government officials, donating to campaigns, and filing lawsuits, groups weak in one resource may still have other resources, policymaking is complex and results from bargaining and compromise
Elitist Theory
a theory of democracy that the elites have disproportionate amount of influence in the policymaking process, a small minority with most of the economic power controls government and politics and elected officials are too heavily influenced by wealthy interest groups, some groups have more money and more influence than others, groups representing big business have much more sway than small public interest groups, concerned with the growing income gap in America
Participatory Democracy
a theory that widespread political participation is essential for democratic government, widespread participation in politics is key, drives our system
Bicameral
a two-house legislature, the number of members from each state in the House of Representative would be chosen according to state populations, the people would directly elect these representaties, two senators would be chosen from each state by their state legislatures in the upper chamber (Senate), led smaller states to have less opposition to a strong national government
Brutus No. 1
an Antifederalist Paper arguing that the country was too large to be governed as a republic and that the Constitution gave too much power to the national government, Antifederalists feared a radical increase in national power not only in the proposed Constitution but how the government might evolve over time, worried that representation of the people's interests could not be maintained as the country grew in size, population, and powers, they feared that once representatives were elected they would not relinquish power, being some distance away from their congressional district would alienate the representative from their constituents' wishes, the country is too large to be governed as a republic, representatives will not voluntarily give up power
Great (Connecticut) Compromise
an agreement for a plan of government that drew upon both the Virginia and New Jersey Plans; it settled issues of state representation by calling for a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives approtioned proportionately and a Senate apportioned equally, passed by a vote of 5-4, created a bicameral national legislature
Three-Fifths Compromise
an agreement reached by delegates at the Constitutional Conention that a slave would count as three-fifths of a person in calculating a state's representation, slavery not generally debated in terms of morality or of liberty but rather in term of states' representations, no intention of seeing slavery outlawed or heavily regulated, not settled according to high ideals but on practical, political considerations, purposefully did not say slave, slaves could not vote but their numbers would boost the influence of the slave states, slave holding states would be allotted more members of Congress and as a result in the Electoral College, postponed the inevitable conflict over slavery, slave owners threatened to leave the convention unless slavery was protected, the question of slavery was temporarily handled but fundamentally unsettled
Federalist No. 51
an essay in which Madison argues that separation of powers and federalism will prevent tyranny, the government must control the governed and must contorl itself, checks and balances will prevent one branch from becoming too powerful and taking away liberty
Federalist No. 10
an essay in which Madison argues that the dangers of faction can be mitigated by a large republic and republican government, describes the problem of faction and explains how the Constitution provides a solution, Madison identifies inequality of wealth as the main cause of factions asserting that those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society, liberty is to faction what air is to fire, suppress liberties and factions cannot survive, a nation cannot avoid the problem of faction only try to check its dangers, if a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied y the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote, it may clog the administration, it may convulse the society, but it will be unable to execute and masks its violence under the forms of the Constitution, as each representative will be chosen by a greater number of citizens in the large than in the small republic, it will be more difficult for unworty canidates to practice with success the vicious arts by which elections are too often carried, the influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame wihtin their particular states but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other states, factions are self interested rgoups that would harm the community, factions are sown into the nature of humankind, to abolish factions would abolish liberty, factions should be set against each other to prevent any one faction from becoming too powerful, a large republic protects against the dangers of faction, republican government is a remedy for the dangers of faction
Devolution
associated with the Republican party beginning in the 1980s-1990s, more power should be going to the states, not support unfunded mandates and supported unfunded grants because they give the states more control
Implied Powers
authority of the federal government that goes beyond its expressed powers, powers of the federal government that go beyond the expressed powers under the necessary and proper clause, paved the way for dramatic expansion in Congress' implied power over national policy in the centuries following ratification, powers not granted specifically to the national government but considered necessary to carry out the enumerated powers, not specifically granted to the federal government, authority is not a necessary part of its power, Constitution denies certain powers to the natonal government
Enumerated (Expressed) Powers
authority specifically granted to a branch of the government in the Constitution, commerce clause has enabled congress to become involved in large areas of the American economy even within the states, the specific powers given directly to congress, congress was granted more power than the unicameral legislature under the Articles of Confederation especially with regard to issues of money and the economy, powers explicitly granted to the national govenment through the Constitution, include exclusive powers
Unfunded Mandates
congress sets a mandate but does not provide the funding for the states to carry it out
Supremacy Clause
consitutional provision declaring that the Constitution and all national laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land, the federal courts emerged as superior to state courts and laws, establishes the Constitution and the laws of the federal government passed under its authority as the highest laws of the land, the states must abide by the laws passed by COngress even if state constitutional provisions conflict with thm
Fifteenth Amendment
constitutional amendment that gave African American males the right to vote, passed to limit the ability of states to discriminate against their citizens, following the civil war the supreme court did not strongly support African American civil rights, affirmed a vision of federalism that recognized state authority, even if that authority was used to restrict the rights of citizens based only on their racial identity
Thirteenth Amendment
constitutional amendment that outlaws slavery
Fourteenth Amendment
constitutional amendment that provides that persons born in the US are citizens and prohibits states from denying persons due process or equal protection under law
Full Faith and Credit Clause
constitutional clause requiring states to recognize the public acts, records, and civil court preceedings from another state, limited
Privileges and Immunities Clause
constitutional clause that prevents states from discriminating against people from out of state, as a general rule, the more fundamental the right, the more it is protected from discrimination under the privileges and immunities clause
Apellate Jurisdiction
court hears the case after the trial, trial has already happened and the court is hearing an appeal
Declaration of Independence
five parts; preamble: the british government was no longer legitimate, statement of human rights: defined natural rights as life liberty pursuit of happiness, charges against human rights, charges aganist the king and parliament: list of grievances against the King of England, citizens not being represented in government, justice was obstructued, standing armies threatened colonists, unfair taxes imposed, longest part of the declaration, statement of separation: separates the colonies from Great Britain and with a pledge by the signers to each other to protext their lives fortunes and sacred honor
Original Jurisdiction
given to Supreme Court under the Constitution, the Supreme Court is the first to hear the case, which court has the trial
Commerce Clause
grants Congress the Authority to regulate interstate business and commercial activity, influences modern federalism, by using this clause along wiht the necessary and proper and supremacy claues Congress has claimed aithoritty to define nearly any productive activity as commerce
Aggregate Rule
if you take an economic activity that an individual is doing, but if everyone starts doing it then it will impact interstate commerce, in the aggregate the activity would affect interstate commerce, there are virtually no activities that will not affect interstate commerce in the aggregate, greatly expands Congress' power, changed what interstate commerce menas, informal way of changing the constitution, now no limit on Congress' interstate commerce power
Civil Society Groups
independent associations outside the government's control, those who believe in the theory of participatory democracy emphasize the importance of citizen involvement, ex. the same number of americans are going bowling but fewer are joining bowling leagues, less exposure to diverse thinking groups
Necessary and Proper (Elastic) Clause
language in Article 1, Section 8, granting Congress powers necessary to carry out its enumerated powers, giving Congress the ability to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Executive the foregoing powers and all the other powers vested by this consitution in the government of the US, grants the federal govenment the authority to pass laws required to carry out its enumerated powers, a critical source of power for the national government, Congress has the authority to legislate as necessary for carrying out its constitutionally granted powers
Ex Post Facto Laws
laws punihsing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed, punishing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed, prohibited by Constitution
Civil Lawsuit
lawsuit based on personal injury or money payment, fines based on damages
Verticle Divison
national government is supreme, power between the state and federal governments in hierarchy
Criminal Suit
not an individual injury, the state or other governments, bringing a trial against someone, an offense against society despite individual nature of crime, possibility of jail or prison time, fines but not the same type as in the other suit, fines here are written in law
Social Contract
people allow their governments to rule over them to ensure an orderly and functioning society, people give to their governments the ability to rule over them to ensure an orderly and functioning society, people have the right to replace an unjust government with a just one if it is broken, John Locke
Concurrent Powers
powers granted to both states and the federal government in the Constitution, allow national and state authority to overlap, ex. the power to tax
Reserved Powers
powers not given to the national government, which are retained by the states and the people, not given to the national government and are therefore retained by the states, the constitution cannot be amended without the consent of three-fourths of the states
Exclusive Powers
powers only the national government may exercise, most of the enumerated powers in the Constitution are granted to the legislative branch in Article 1, Section 8
Block Grants
promotes federalism, states are given money and can choose how to administer it
Tenth Amendment
reserves power not delegated to the national government to the states and the people; the basis of federalism, limits the federal government to the power enumerated in the Constitution and that the states and the people have surperor power over all remaining issues, Congress could decide when to regulate activities by the state and local governments
Inalienable Rights
rights the government cannot take away, some rights are self-evident, a just system of political rule must be constructed to protect these rights and their expression, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, inherent, self-evident rights
Liberty
social, political, and economic freedoms, freedom from intereference by a government or a freedom to pursue one's dreams, ex. religion
Mandate
something that is mandatory, tells the states what to do
Federalists
supporters of the proposed Constitution, who called for a strong national government, both groups interested in a politically and economically secure nation, pointed to the problems that plagued the government under the Articles, mostly made up of wealthy merchants and plantation owners, supporters of the Consitution, proponents of a strong national government, concerne about tyranny of the majority, supports included more wealthy merchants and southern plantation owners, George Washington, Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, focused on dangers of majority rule, a majority of people may use their power to oppress a minority of citizens
Jurisdiction
the authority to hear and decide cases
Popular Sovereignty
the idea that the government's right to rule comes from the people, sovereignty can have many sources but this comes from the people, all of government's power comes from the citizens (preamble), when citizens are unhappy, they can replace the government through regular, free, and fair elections
Executive Branch
the institution responsible for carrying out laws passed by the legislative branch, the president is there to execute or carry out the laws that had been passed by Congress, ability to veto a piece of legislation that Congress has passed, congress can override the veto with a supermajority, Lawmaking Authority: executes laws, works to shape legislative agenda, has power to veto legislation, nominates judges to the federal judiciary, nominates key executive branch officials, gives the state of the union address, National Security and Foreign Policy Responsibilities: president acts as commander in chief of the military, sets foreign policy agenda, negotiates treaties, Oversigh Responsibilities: oversees federal bureaucracy
Judicial Branch
the institution responsible for hearing and deciding cases through the federal courts, the supreme court is the highest in the land and the constitution allows for a system of lower federal courts whose structure and composition would be determined by congress, jurisdiction over all disputes between states and the national government, between two or more states, and between citizens of different states, the federal courts emerged as superior to state courts and laws, Lawmaking Authority: interprets contested laws, can declare both federal and state laws unconstitutional, Oversight Responsibilities: may declare executive branch actions in conflict with the Constitution
Legislative Branch
the institution responsible for making laws, congress' purpose if to legislate, both houses work together to pass laws but because of how congression members are chosen each house had a slightly different purpose, election patterns make it more difficult for any swift change in mood among citizens to quickly affect national policy change, lawmaking authority: writes nation's laws, can override a presidential veto, determines number of Supreme Court justices, creates lower courts, National Security and Foreign Policy Responsibilities: declares war, senate ratifies treaties, Oversight Responsibilities: house issues articles of impeachment; Senate holds impeachment trials (over president, executive branch officials, and federal judges), budget authority and oversight over executive branch agencies, senate confirms judicial nominees, senate confirms key executive branch officials
Amendment
the process by whcih changes may be made to the Constitution, the framers acknowledged the the Constitution would always be unfinished, the founders purposefully designed a system for amending the Constitution that makes changes slow and difficult to achieve, 1) the amendment has to be officially proposed which can either occur by two thirds vote passage in both the House and Senate or the passage in a national convention called at the request of two thirds of the states, 2) a majority in three fourths of states or acceptance by ratifying conventions in three fourths of the states must ratify it, usually the first method is used, only 27 amendments have been ratified since the constitution, first ten make up the bill of rights, which was a condition of ratification for antifederalists
Selective Incorporation
the process through which the Supreme Court applies fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights to the states on a case-by-case basis, done through the Fourteenth Amendment: nor shall any state deprive any person of life liberty or property without due process of law, nore deny any person wihtin its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws
Extradition
the requirement that officials in one state return a defendan to another state where a crime was committed, example of how the federal system work
Writ of Habeas Corpus
the right of people detained by the government to know the charges against them, protection for those accused of crimes, constitution forbids its suspension except during rebellion or invasion, allows people detained by the government to know why they are being held
Natural Rights
the right to life, liberty, and property, which governemnt cannot take away, John Locke argued against a divine, God-given right of kings to rule with absolute power, people who are born cannot have these taken away
American Political Culture
the set of beliefs, customs, traditions, and values that Americans share, liberty, equality, and rights shape the shared set of beliefs traditions and values that define the relationship of Americans to their government, there are often multiple, contradictory, political traditions
Federalism
the sharing of power between the national government and the states, as central to American government as checks and balances, creates multiple access points for citizens to influence government and policies
Political Institutions
the structure of government, including the executive, legislature, and judiciary, US Constitution forms the basis of the nation's government and establishes the framework of it, limits the power of the national government, Americans have tried to create institutions that balance order and security with freedom and prosperity
Judicial Review
the supreme court has the power to look at actions by congress and the executive branch and the ability to say where those are constitutional and unconstitutional
Antifederalists
those opposed to the proposed Constitution, who favored stronger state governments, both groups interested in a politically and economically secure nation, forced toa rgue against a proposal and basing their argumnt on the merits of the Articles of the Confederation was rough, raised fears about what the new government would bring, argued that the new government would trample on the rights of the people and the states, mostly came from rural areas and mistrusted powerful elites, many leaders were part of educated elites, opponents of the proposed constitution, proponents of stronger state governments, concerned about oppression of the rights of the states and the people, supporters included more people in rurual areas, more farmers and shopkeepers, fewer well-known supporters, but leadership included educated elites, Revolutionary War heroes, and convention delegates Partick Henyr, Samuel Adams, George Clinton, dangers of a tyranny of the minority, feared the government would become disconnected from the majority and controlled by the wealthy elites
Unicameral
under Articles of Confederation, a one-house legislature, states could send up to seven delegates but each state was only given one vote on legislation, states could recall their representatives at will and limits were placed on how long a representative could serve
Categorical Grants
very specific, money for a very specific purpose
Bills of Attainder
when the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial, prohibited in the Constitution for Congress and the states
