American Government

Front 1

State

Back 1

A body of people, occupying a defined territory, organized politically with the power to make and enforce laws without consent of a higher authority

Front 2

Legitimacy

Back 2

Power exercised with the consent of others

Front 3

Dynamics of Politics

Back 3

Competition
Conflict
Compromise

Front 4

Two Key Questions

Back 4

Who Governs?
To What End?

Front 5

Power

Back 5

The capacity to produce intended effects

Front 6

Politics

Back 6

The process by which two or more people make decisions of mutual interest
The science/art of governing

Front 7

Political Science

Back 7

The systematic study of governments and political processes, institutions and behaviors

Front 8

Sovereignty

Back 8

Undivided jurisdiction over all persons and property within a given territory

Front 9

Government

Back 9

The vehicle through which public policy (law) is formed and enforced

Front 10

Autocracy

Back 10

Rule by a single individual

Front 11

Monarchy

Back 11

Rule by hereditary kings

Front 12

Oligarchy

Back 12

Rule by a small group of individuals

Front 13

Aristocracy

Back 13

Rule by a class of people (merchants, nobility)

Front 14

Democracy

Back 14

Rule by the "common people"

Front 15

Anarchy

Back 15

Absence of government

Front 16

Direct Democracy

Back 16

Will of the people translated into public policy through mass meetings

Front 17

Indirect Democracy

Back 17

Popular will translated into public policy by a small, elected group of representatives

Front 18

Republic

Back 18

A government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and exercised by elected officers and representatives who govern according to law

Front 19

Constitutionalism

Back 19

Government in which power is distributed and limited by a system of laws that must be obeyed by the rulers

Front 20

Rule of Law

Back 20

Principle that all citizens are equally subject to law, which limits the power of public officials and protects the rights of citizens

Front 21

Sources of American Law

Back 21

Constitution
Treaties
Statutes
Executive Orders
Bureaucratic Regulations and Rulings
Judicial Opinion

Front 22

Unitary Government

Back 22

All governmental power is concentrated in a central government

Front 23

Confederate Government

Back 23

An alliance of sovereign states having a central government with delegated powers over matters of mutual concern

Front 24

Federal Government

Back 24

Governmental power is divided between a central government and several sub-national governments

Front 25

Political Ideology

Back 25

A continually developing, organized set of ideas that help us to both make sense out of politics and to present public arguments

Front 26

Natural Law

Back 26

Idea that societies should be governed by certain principles that are inherent in nature and which can be understood by human reason

Front 27

Middle Ages

Back 27

Dominance of Catholic Church
"Divine Right of Kings"

Front 28

Magna Carta

Back 28

"Great Charter"
Guaranteed rights and privileges of English barons and the Church
"No taxation without representation"

Front 29

Aquinas' 4 Types of Law

Back 29

Eternal Law
Divine Law
Natural Law
Human Law

Front 30

Reformation

Back 30

95 Theses
Leads (back) to autonomous congregations and priesthood of all believers
Ultimately carries over to civil government

Front 31

English Bill of Rights (1688)

Back 31

The King cannot pass or suspend laws without the consent of Parliament.
The people must have the right to petition the King.
Only Parliament could authorize the keeping of an army during peacetime.
Certain people should have the right to bear arms.
Excessive bail or fines should not be imposed, nor cruel or unjust punishment be meted out

Front 32

Enlightenment

Back 32

European Philosophical Movement in the 17th and 18th Centuries
Asserted a rational, orderly and comprehensible universe - including the ‘state’

Front 33

Thomas Hobbes

Back 33

Governments:
Are formed to control society and protect property
Are absolutely necessary
Must be absolutely obeyed

Front 34

John Locke

Back 34

“Consent of the governed is the only true basis for any sovereign’s right to rule.”
Strongly influenced Jefferson’s work on the Declaration of Independence

Front 35

Montesquieu

Back 35

Identifies 3 types of governmental (administrative) powers (called Estates)
- Legislate
- Execute
- Adjudicate
Argues there can be no liberty if these are united in one person or institution

Front 36

Classical Liberalism

Back 36

Adam Smith
"...Nurture voluntary associations. Limit the size, and more importantly, the scope of government. So long as the state provides a basic rule of law that steers people away from destructive or parasitic ways of life and in the direction of productive ways of life, society runs itself. If you want people to flourish, let them run their own lives.”

Front 37

Royal Colonies

Back 37

Also called Crown Colonies
King appoints Governor and Council
Allowed elected assemblies

Front 38

Proprietary Colonies

Back 38

King granted governing power to a proprietor who owned/ran the colony and established any kind of government he chose

Front 39

Charter Colonies

Back 39

King grants a Charter to a group of colonists who are basically self-governing
Both Massachusetts and Virginia were originally charter colonies

Front 40

First Continental Congress

Back 40

Met in Philadelphia in Sep. and Oct. 1774
Drafted "Declaration and Resolves"
Not yet considering rebellion

Front 41

Second Continental Congress

Back 41

May 1775
King George refused demands of the First Continental Congress
United in hostility against Britain
July - Olive Branch Petition sent

Front 42

Declaration of Independence

Back 42

July 4, 1776 - Congress adopts Declaration

Front 43

Articles of Confederation

Back 43

Created a “firm league of friendship” and “perpetual union.”
Congress was a unicameral legislature
Each state was sovereign
All 13 had to agree to amend the Articles
No national executive or judiciary

Front 44

Problems with the Articles

Back 44

States coined their own money
Trade wars
Economy deteriorated
Central govt. not strong enough to deal with problems

Front 45

Shay's Rebellion

Back 45

A 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1500 disgruntled and angry farmers led by Daniel Shays marched to Springfield, Massachusetts, and forcibly restrained the state court from foreclosing mortgages on their farms.

Front 46

Post-Colonial State Constitutions

Back 46

Overreacted to British system
Leaned to a ‘Lockean’ extreme
Legislatures dominated
Weak governors
No checks and balances

Front 47

Sources of Division at the Constitutional Convention

Back 47

Regional
Size
Economy
Ideology

Front 48

Virginia Plan

Back 48

Proposed that sovereignty be vested in the people and not the states; therefore representation was based on population.

Front 49

New Jersey Plan

Back 49

It would have primarily strengthened the Articles by giving Congress the ability to raise revenues and would have kept a unicameral legislature chosen by state legislatures.

Front 50

The Great Compromise

Back 50

Connecticut offered a compromise:
Bicameral legislature (House based on population; Senate given equal representation)
Both houses have to pass all legislation

Front 51

Principles of American Constitutionalism

Back 51

Popular Sovereignty
Limited Government
- Separation of Powers
- Checks and Balances
- Federalism
National Supremacy
Rule of Law
Individual Liberties

Front 52

Articles of the Constitution

Back 52

Article I - establishes the legislative branch.
Article II - establishes the executive branch headed by the president.
Article III - establishes the judicial branch.
Articles IV – full faith and credit clause; republican government; admission of new states
Articles V - amendments
Article VI – supremacy clause
Article VII – ratification

Front 53

Types of Powers

Back 53

Enumerated
Implied
Inherent

Front 54

Anti-Federalists

Back 54

Feared the national govt. was too strong
Feared the executive was too strong and has the tendency to centralize
Feared the judiciary was too strong
Favored adding a Bill of Rights

Front 55

Federalist Papers

Back 55

Written by Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay
Explains and argues in favor of almost each provision of the Constitution

Front 56

Bill of Rights

Back 56

Proposed by Congress in 1789 (James Madison)
Ratified by 1791

Front 57

Arguments For Federalism

Back 57

Prevention of tyranny (diffusion of power);
Increased participation in politics;
Adapt policy to local conditions;
Use of the states as testing grounds or laboratories for new policies and programs.

Front 58

Arguments Against Federalism

Back 58

Duplication/Expense/Inefficiency
Inequality
Great in theory, not practice

Front 59

Federalism

Back 59

Political system in which power is divided and shared between the national/central government and the states (regional units) in order to limit the power of both.

Front 60

Enumerated Powers of Government

Back 60

Found in Article 1, section 8

Front 61

Implied Powers of Government

Back 61

Necessary and proper clause

Front 62

Powers Denied to the Government

Back 62

Found in Article 1, section 9

(section 10 gives the powers denied to states)

Front 63

McCulloch vs. Maryland (1819)

Back 63

Issue of implied powers (necessary and proper clause); states rights (Bank of the United States, aka the ‘national bank case’)
- Congress does have authority to charter the national bank, but the Court denied the right of a state to tax the national bank.

Front 64

Gibbons vs. Ogden (1824)

Back 64

Interstate vs.. intrastate commerce
Steamboats on the Hudson River Can Congress control that type of interstate commerce?
Court upheld broad congressional power over interstate commerce

Front 65

Dual Federalism

Back 65

The Supreme Court articulated the idea of concurrent powers and dual federalism in which separate but equally powerful levels of government is preferable, and the national government should not exceed its enumerated powers

Front 66

Scott vs. Sandford (1857)

Back 66

The Taney Court held that Mr. Scott was not a U.S. citizen and therefore not entitled to sue in federal court.
The case was dismissed and Scott remained a slave.
Taney further wrote that Congress had no power to abolish slavery in the territories and slaves were private property protected by the Constitution.

Front 67

13th Amendment

Back 67

Abolishes slavery

Front 68

14th Amendment

Back 68

Grants citizenship to former slaves and states must give them full rights and protection

Front 69

15th Amendment

Back 69

Right to vote for every citizen, regardless of race or national origin

Front 70

16th Amendment

Back 70

Federal income tax authorized

Front 71

17th Amendment

Back 71

Direct election of Senators

Front 72

FDR's New Deal

Back 72

Economic stimulus
New economic regulations (banking, stock market)
New social welfare programs/protections

Front 73

Constitutional Revolution of 1937

Back 73

Parts of the New Deal were being struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
FDR's court-packing threat
Supreme Court abandons dual federalism, allowing further extensions of national power

Front 74

Preemption

Back 74

Allows Congress to pass laws which preempt (override and replace) state laws on the same subject

Front 75

Marbury vs. Madison (1803)

Back 75

Judicial Review!