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60 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Government |
Formal and informal institutions used to create and conduct public policy |
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Public Policy |
Actions necessary to maintain control over society |
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What are the 4 forms of government? |
Anarchy, Autocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy |
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Anarchy |
Lack of government |
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Autocracy |
Ruled by one |
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Oligarchy |
Rule by a few |
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Democracy |
Ruled by a few |
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Absolute Monarchy |
Ruler gains power though inheritance; no restrictions |
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Constitutional Monarchy |
Ruler gains power though inheritance; formal restrictions on power |
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Dictatorship |
Ruler seized power; keeps power by force; no restrictions |
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Aristocracy |
Rule by the elite; determined by social status/wealth |
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Theocracy |
Rule by religious leaders |
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Direct Democracy |
Citizens make decisions directly |
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Representative Democracy |
Citizens select representatives to make decisions for them |
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What are the 5 theories of Democratic government |
Traditional Democratic Theory Pluralist Theory Elite Theory Bureaucracy Theory Hyperpluralism |
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Traditional Democratic Theory |
Citizens should have the most political power |
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Pluralist Theory |
Interest groups compete for power |
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Elite Theory |
Government ruled by a small group of powerful persons, that focuses on self-interest (top military, rich people, government) |
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Bureaucratic Theory |
Bureaucrats hold the power due to modern and hierarchal structures of government |
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Hyperpluralism |
Groups compete so much that it results in gridlock |
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What was the first US government? And when was it ratified? |
Articles of Confederation. 1781. |
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What type of government was the Articles of Confederation? Who held the power? |
The Articles of Confederation was a Confederacy where the states held the power. |
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Describe the formal institutions created by the Articles of Confederation? |
The Articles of Confederation established a weak Congress with a unicameral legislative. There was no federal Executive or Judicial branches |
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What were 5 weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? |
Each state printed their own money which resulted in conflict No central authority to resolve conflicts between states Congress couldn’t tax so it had no money There was no one to enforce the laws established by Congress Amendments required all 13 states to agree; basically impossible |
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When did the constitutional convention take place? What was the original purpose? What actually happened? |
The Constitutional Convention happened in 1787, with the intent of revising the Articles of Confederation, but it resulted in writing a brand new constitution |
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Describe the Virginia plan for a legislative |
Unicameral legislature with amount of representatives based on population |
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Describe the New Jersey plan |
Unicameral legislature with an equal amount of representatives per state |
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Describe the Connecticut compromise |
A bicameral legislature with one house based on equal representation- Senate, and the other based on population - House of Representatives |
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What was the Three-Fifths compromise? |
Slaves will represent 3/5ths of a person when determining amount of representatives |
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What was the Slave Trade compromise? |
Congress couldn’t control slave trade for 20 years |
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What is a Federalist? What was their main argument? |
A person who favored the constitution. They stressed that the constitution wasn’t tyrannical and was necessary to solve the problems established by the Articles of Confederation |
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What is an Anti-Federalist? What was their main argument? |
Simone who opposed the constitution. They feared an abusive national government and wanted strong state governments |
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What are the 5 basic principles within the constitution? |
Limited government - government only has powers given to it Popular Sovereignty- people are the source of the government’s power Separation of powers - Power separates among 3 branches Checks and balances - Each branch can check the other to stop it from becoming too powerful Federalism - power divide between national and state governments |
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What checks does the Legislative branch posses over the other two? |
Executive branch Impeach president Veto legislation Refuse appointments Refuse to sign treaties Judicial branch Refuse appointments Create courts Impeach judges |
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How can the Executive branch check the other two? |
Legislative Veto bills Call Congress to special session Judicial Appoint judges Grant pardons |
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How can the Judicial branch check the other two? |
Executive Declare executive actions unconstitutional Legislative Declare laws unconstitutional |
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What are the formal Amendment processes? |
Amendment proposed by Congress with a two-thirds vote in both houses Constitutional Convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures |
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What are the informal amendment processes? |
Congress can pass acts that alter or clear the meaning of the constitution President uses his power to expand presidential power Judiciary interprets laws to through judicial review |
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Delegated powers |
Powers given specifically to a branch |
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Implied powers |
Power not expressed but necessary through the necessary and proper clause |
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Inherent powers |
Powers that exist for the national government because it is sovereign |
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Concurrent powers |
Powers shared by the national and state governments |
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Reserved powers |
Powers given specifically to the states |
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McCulloch v Matylanf |
Congress has the ability to create federal banks and states can’t tax them |
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Gibbons vs Ogden |
Interstate commerce overrides intrastate commerce |
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Dual Federalism |
National government and State governments are separate and operate within their own sphere of influence |
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Cooperative Federalism |
National and State governments begin to work together |
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New federalism |
Power started to shift more to the states |
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Fiscal Federalism |
National government’s way of spending, taxation and influencing states through granting or withholding money for programs |
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Grants-in-aid |
Money given to states for domestic programs |
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Categorical grants |
Money given to states for a specific purpose |
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Block grants |
Money given to states that can be used for a variety of reasons |
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Mandates |
Requirements imposed by the national government on the state governments |
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What are some of the national powers granted to the federal government? |
Regulate interstate commerce Coin money Tax Declare war Make laws Enforce laws Regulate immigration and naturalization Admit and govern new states to the US |
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Full Faith and Credit clause |
Legal documents create in one state must be upheld in all others |
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Privileges and Immunities clause |
States cannot discriminate against residents of another state |
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Extradition |
States must return fugitives from other states to not face legal consequences |
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Interstate Compacts |
States may make agreements with other states to work together to solve regional problems |
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What are the advantages of federalism? |
Better for a large geographic area because it encourages diversity in local government Avoids concentration of power States can be experimented with Keeps governments close to the people |
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What are the disadvantages of Federalism? |
Inflexible Complex Duplications of offices and functions Gridlock can occur |
