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120 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
When does the first Continental Congress meet?
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1774
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When does the Revolutionary War break out?
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1775
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Who aids US in Revolutionary War? And why?
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France aids US, primarily due to their previous loss in the French and Indian War
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What was the major purpose of the Declaration of Independence?
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Major purpose of the document was to assert independence and attract the support of the colonists
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What was the major argument made by the Declaration of Independence?
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People have rights, and the sole purpose of government is to protect these rights
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Who was Thomas Payne?
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Wrote "Common Sense"
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What were the 6 major arguments in "Common Sense"
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1. Ridiculous for a far away island to govern a huge continent
2. Colonies aren't solely British, but comprised of worldly influences 3. If Britain is the mother country of the colonies, it it more horrendous that it treats the colonies in such a way 4. Continuing to be a part of Britain would continue to drag colonists into European wars 5. Physical geographical distance between Britain and colonies led to inefficiency 6. Obvious that Britain rules the colonies for its own self-interest and not the colonies |
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After the Revolutionary War, what was the major fear held by the colonists?
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That the new government would have too much power and have interests not compatible with those of the colonists
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When were the Articles of Confederation formed?
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1777
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Articles of Confederation
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The compact among the thirteen original colonies that formed the basis of the first national government of the United States from 1777 to 1789, when it was supplanted by the Contitution
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What was the main problem of the Articles of Confederation?
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Any legislation had to be passed by 9 out of the 13 possible votes, meaning that states had enormous veto power over the federal government
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Under the Articles, who had the authority to tax?
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The federal government did not have authority to tax, only individual states
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Under the Articles, the government was....
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the government was HIGHLY decentralized
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What triggered the collapse of the Articles?
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Shay's Rebellion
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Shay's Rebellion
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Uprising of 1786 led by Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental Army and a bankrupt Massachusetts farmer, to protest the state's high taxes and aggressive debt collection policies. The rebellion demonstrated a fundamental weakness of the Articles--its inability to keep the peace--and stimulated interest in strengthening the national government, leading to the Philadelphia convention that framed the Constitution.
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What was the challenge overcome in the Philadelphia convention?
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Challenge was to create a federal government that is small enough to protect individual freedoms, but strong enough to solve collective problems
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What did the attendees of the Philadelphia convention deem as necessary?
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A stronger legislative branch: would still leave some power to the states, but Congress needed the ultimate say--without states overruling
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What major factions developed during the Philadelphia convention?
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-Virginia Plan
-New Jersey Plan |
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Virginia Plan
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Constitutional blueprint drafted by James Madison that sought to reform the Articles of Confederation. Introduced at the Constitutional Convention the plan proposed a tripartite national government, but unlike the the subsequent Constitution, it provided for a popularly elected legislature that would dominate national policy-making. Moreover, the national government would possess the authority to veto any states laws.
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New Jersey Plan
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New Jersey delegate William Patterson's proposal for reforming the Articles of Confederation. Introduced at the Constitutional Convention, the New Jersey plan was favored by delegates who supported states' rights. It involved a 1 chamber legislature, with the same number of votes for every state
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Connecticut Compromise
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2 chamber legislature with a House of Representatives based on population and a Senate with two votes given to each state
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To pass a law, both houses of Congress must approve it by...
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a majority
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If the President vetoes a bill, what can Congress do?
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To override a Presidential veto, both houses of Congress must have a 2/3 vote
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In the House of Reps, a term lasts how long?
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2 years
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In the Senate, a term lasts how long?
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6 years
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How was the House of Reps originally elected?
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by a direct election of their constituents
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Until the 17th amendment, how were Senators elected?
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Appointed by state legislatures
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When was the 17th amendment ratified?
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1913
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What powers did the Constitution give to Congress?
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-declare war
-maintain permanent Army and Navy -regulate foreign commerce and trade -regulate commerce between the states -Congress can make any law "necessary and proper" to carry out its responsibilities |
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Commerce Clause
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The clause in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution that gives Congress the authority to regulate commerce with other nations and among the states
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What powers were given to the Executive Branch?
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-commander of the military
-negotiate treaties with foreign countries -appoint Justice to the Supreme Court |
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Great Compromise
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The agreement between large and small states at the Constitutional Convention that decided the selection and composition of Congress. The compromise stipulated that the lower chamber be chosen by direct popular vote and that the upper chamber be selected by the state legislatures. Representation in the House would be proportional to a state's population (each slave counting 3/5ths): in the Senate each state would have two members.
Also, Northern states were required to return escaped slaves to their owners |
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What 3 major ideas were presented to chose the president?
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1. Election through a direct, popular election
2. Let state legislatures elect 3. Let the Congress elect |
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Why not a direct popular election for president?
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- Founders didn't trust the people to choose a proper leader
- Too great a population would make this practice lengthy and unpractical - Southern states opposed because their slaves would not vote--and slaves made up much of their populations |
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Why not let state legislatures elect the President?
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State legislatures were already picking their Senators, and founders didn't want the states to have that much power over the federal government
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Why not let the Congress elect the President?
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Separation of powers--wanted the executive branch to have independent judgment
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Electoral College
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A body of electors in each state who formally elect the President and Vice President of the US. Each state's number of electoral votes equals its representation in Congress; the District of Columbia has three votes. An absolute majority of the total electoral vote is required to elect a president.
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Who picks the electors?
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Electors were chosen by state legislators, using whatever method they wanted. Logic being, these are the people best able to make decisions pertaining to the state's desires.
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What were the Founders views on political parties?
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The founders did not like political parties and, incorrectly, did not anticipate their creation
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What happens if there is not a majority in the Electoral College?
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The Constitution gives the authority to select the president to the House of Representatives
-only 1 vote per state -majority wins |
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Who decides on the Vice President if there is not a majority in the Electoral College?
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The Senate, each senator votes
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Which states are the exceptions in regards to the Electoral College? How so?
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In Nebraska and Maine, whichever candidate wins the state's popular vote receives 2 electoral votes. The remaining electoral votes are dependent on the winner of individual congressional districts
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Why has the Electoral College not changed?
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-Its hard to change the Constitution
-Too many states benefit from the Electoral College |
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How might some states benefit from the Electoral College?
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The Electoral College is advantageous to small population states because it gives them unproportional representation in presidential elections.
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Authority
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the acknowledged right to make a particular decision
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Power
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an officeholder's actual influence with other officeholders, and, as a consequence, over the government's actions
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Why do institutions tend to be stable and resist change?
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1. with authority assigned to the office, not the individual holding that office, established institutions persist well beyond the tenure of the individuals that occupy them
2. the people who are affected by them make plans on the expectation that current arrangements will remain 3. even those who seek change typically find it hard to agree on a proposed alternative |
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What are barriers that may block successful collective action?
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-Coordination
-Prisoner's dilemma - Tragedy of the commons |
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What biases does the Electoral College create?
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1. Advantage to small population states
2. Population counts come from the Census, which occurs every 10 years. However, each presidential election occurs every 4 years. Populations change, sometimes significantly, over the 8 year difference. States that experience population change may be unproportionally represented 3. Faithless electors 4. Some states have higher turnout rates than others. Regardless of voter turnout in a particular state, the same number of electoral votes are issued. When more people are engaged, individual votes are less influential |
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Faithless electors
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electors that do not vote for the candidate that they were purposely selected to vote for
-very rare, has only occurred 14 times in history, but has never changed the outcome - 24 states have laws banning faithless electors |
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What is the biggest potential problem of the Electoral College?
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It is possible that the candidate who wins the popular vote nationwide can lose the electoral college vote
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Contingent Election
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Nobody wins the majority of the Electoral Vote, the election goes to the House. In a contingent election, states are represented equally--meaning not in proportion to population
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Runoff Election
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If no majority is won in a direct popular vote, people vote again between the two top candidates
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How have a few states experimented with alternate voting procedures that would not require a Constitutional change?
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They propose to give electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote
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After the completion of the Constitution, how was it ratified?
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Founders decided that state legislatures would NOT be the ones to ratify because the Constitution took power away from the states and gave it to a stronger federal government. If states were allowed to vote, they would likely not ratify. Instead, founders established state conventions
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How long did it take for the Constitution to be ratified?
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3 years, Rhode Island took the longest
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Federalists
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supported ratification of the Constitution
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Anti-federalists
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opposed ratification of the Constitution, because the group believed it would jeopardize individual freedoms and states rights. After ratification, the Anti-federalists led to adoption of the first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights
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How did Federalists go about getting support for their cause?
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wrote the Federalists Papers, 85 in total
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What were the major arguments of the Federalist Papers
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1. Anti-federalists had been saying that the Constitution gave too much power to the federal government, inching towards tyranny. In Fed #10, Madison asserted that this logic was backwards; by incorporating all 13 states you can including more of the peoples' interests--in this way, no extreme can get too much power, too much compromise would inhibit this
2. The 3 branches of government being separate would maintain an important balance, assuring that no one branch would get too much power-- checks and balances |
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Federalist Paper #10
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No. 10 addresses the question of how to guard against "factions," or groups of citizens, with interests contrary to the rights of others or the interests of the whole community. Madison argued that a strong, large republic would be a better guard against those dangers than smaller republics—for instance, the individual states.
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1st Amendment
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Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Press Freedom of Assembly Freedom of Religion --government cannot establish a national religion |
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2nd Amendment
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guarantees the right of individuals to possess firearms
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3rd Amendment
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prohibits the government from using private homes as quarters for soldiers during peacetime without the consent of the owners
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4th Amendment
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guards against searches, arrests, and seizures of property without a specific warrant or a "probable cause" to believe a crime has been committed
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5th Amendment
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forbids trial for a major crime except after indictment by a grand jury; prohibits double jeopardy (repeated trials), except in certain very limited circumstances; forbids punishment without due process of law; and provides that an accused person may not be compelled to testify against himself (this is also known as "Taking the Fifth" or "Pleading the Fifth"). This is regarded as the "rights of the accused" amendment, otherwise known as the Miranda rights after the Supreme Court case. It also prohibits government from taking private property for public use without "just compensation", the basis of eminent domain in the United States.
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6th Amendment
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guarantees a speedy public trial for criminal offenses. It requires trial by a jury, guarantees the right to legal counsel for the accused, and guarantees that the accused may require witnesses to attend the trial and testify in the presence of the accused. It also guarantees the accused a right to know the charges against him
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7th Amendment
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assures trial by jury in civil cases
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8th Amendment
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forbids excessive bail or fines, and cruel and unusual punishment
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9th Amendment
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declares that the listing of individual rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights is not meant to be comprehensive; and that the other rights not specifically mentioned are retained by the people
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10th Amendment
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reserves to the states respectively, or to the people, any powers the Constitution did not delegate to the United States, nor prohibit the states from exercising
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Federalism
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system of government in which power is divided between a central government and several smaller regional governments.
In US, federalism has been an important concept because individuals are protected by multiple governments |
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What are major arguments for a decentralized systems, maintaining state's powers?
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-States are more aware of issues pertaining to their welfare
-States can act as laboratories, being capable of testing what works and what doesn't -Competition: if power is decentralized to the states, they can compete with one another (a capitalistic logic) |
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Since the Constitution was written, how has power shifted?
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Since the Constitution was written, power has gradually been shifting from states to the federal government
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Why has power been shifting from states to federal?
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Early on, the Bill of Rights set up rights only to protect individuals from the federal government, but not against their individual states
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What events shook relations between the federal and state governments?
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The Civil War (1861- 1865)
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A major cause of the Civil War was what?
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Southern states claimed that the Bill of Rights did not pertain to actions taken by the states, in regards to slavery
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13th Amendment
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banned slavery
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14th Amendment
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Defines a set of guarantees for United States citizenship; prohibits states from abridging citizens' privileges or immunities and rights to due process and the equal protection of the law; repeals the Three-fifths compromise; prohibits repudiation of the federal debt caused by the Civil War.
The Supreme Court decided that the Bill of Rights applied to every state law |
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What things have severely limited state power, which making the federal government stronger?
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More amendments have been added, which essential limit the scope of state powers
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17th Amendment
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Took power away from state legislators--Senators would be chosen by direct election as opposed to selection by state legislators
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24th Amendment
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banned poll taxes
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What event was a major event that changed the interpretation of the Commerce Clause?
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The Great Depression
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How did the Commerce Clause affect the Great Depression?
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After FDR was elected President, people wanted action to fix the economy, but individual states weren't big or rich enough to do the job. Previously, the Supreme Court ruled that such did not fall under federal jurisdiction under the commerce clause. But because the Great Depression was considered to be such an extreme case, the federal government implemented the New Deal
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What stance did the Supreme Court adopt during the Great Depression?
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If any piece of commerce even remotely impacts more than 1 state, it can be considered interstate commerce, therefore federal jurisdiction. This greatly increased federal power
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Following the Great Depression, what tactics did the Federal Government use to force states to do specific things?
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The Federal government would give states money, but by accepting the money, the state must abide by federal regulations
--Ex. Drinking age |
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Unfunded mandate
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The federal government requires all states to do something, but does not give money needed to do it
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Why should a centralized government hold more power?
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-Efficiency
-Coordination -Tragedy of the Commons -Foreign trade agreements to benefit all -Social welfare policies |
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Why are House members elected for shorter terms?
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House was intended to be "closer" to their constituents. If elections occur every 2 years, members would not be able to shift far from public opinion
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Why are Senators elected to longer terms?
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Founders wanted the Senate to not respond to every shift in public view. It was believed that Senators would have more moderate views
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What is required to be a House of Rep member?
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-Minimum of 25 years old
-Citizen of US for at least 7 years -Must live in the state represented |
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What is required to be a Senator?
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-Minimum of 30 years old
-Citizen of the US for at least 9 years - Must live in state represented |
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Does the Senate have more power?
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The Senate is said to be more powerful, the upper house. The Senate must approve Presidential appointments
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How can Congress "check" powers?
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-Can override a presidents veto
-Can impeach the president or judicial appointee |
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How does Congress impeach?
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The House can impeach by a majority vote
BUT the Senate holds the trial for the individual in question. A 2/3 vote is required in the Senate to impeach |
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Who has jurisdiction over Washington D.C.?
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Congress has full and complete jurisdiction over Washington DC because it is not a state and therefore does not get rights of a state
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What is the cap on the House of Representatives?
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435 members
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What is the ratio of representatives to constituents in the House?
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Approx 1 per 700,000
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Who decides Congressional district lines?
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State legislatures
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When did Congress decide to place a cap on the number of house members?
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1911
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Originally, how many members were in the House of Reps?
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105 between the 13 states, approx 1 rep per 33,000 citizens
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What did the Supreme Court mandate in reference to congressional districts?
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In 1964, the Supreme Court mandated that districts must be equal in population
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Gerrymandering
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Drawing legislative districts in such a way as to give one political party a disproportionately large share of seats for the share of votes its candidate wins
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What historical precedence considers minorities in congressional district creation?
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1982: Congress passed a law amending the voting rights act--minority groups should be able to elect representatives of their choice
1986: Supreme Court in "Thornberg vs Gingles" rules that state legislatures should consider race in drawing congressional districts |
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How are minorities taken into account when congressional lines are drawn?
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If there is a geographic area of a state with enough members to make up a majority of a congressional district, then one must recognize the majority in the district.
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Majority-minority Congressional Districts
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United States congressional district in which the majority of the constituents in the district are racial or ethnic minorities (white non-Hispanics). Whether a district is majority-minority is usually decided by United States Census data.
Majority-minority districts are often the result of racial gerrymandering. |
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When were majority-minority districts implemented? How many were created?
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First considered after the 1990 census, creating 25 new majority-minority districts nationwide
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What constraints are in place in regards to congressional districts?
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-Equal in population
-Must be continuous -Must consider minority groups |
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Why government?
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Regulate human behavior
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Transaction costs
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the costs of doing political business reflected in the time and effort required to compare preferences and negotiate compromises in making collective decisions
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Conformity costs
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the difference between what what a person ideally would prefer and what the group with which that person makes collective decisions actually does. Individuals pay conformity costs whenever collective decisions produce policy outcomes that do not best serve their interests
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Democratic societies have more of what kind of cost?
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more transaction costs because people have rights. Autocratic societies have higher conformity costs
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constitution
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a document outlining the formal rules and institutions of government and the limits placed on its powers
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What is required to reach a decisions?
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- Authority
- Power |
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Coordination
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The act of organizing a group to achieve a common goal. Coordination remains a prerequisite for effective collective action even after the disincentives to individual participation (that is, prisoner's dilemma problems) have been solved
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Prisoner's Dilemma
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A situation in which two or more actors cannot agree to cooperate for fear that the other will find its interest best served by reneging on an agreement
When institutions that would benefit from collaboration have an incentive not to |
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Agency loss
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the discrepancy between what citizens ideally would like their agents to do and how the agents actually behave
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Tragedy of the commons
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When everybody acting in their own interest ends up in something that hurts them all
Ex. environmental overuse |
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Plurality
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a vote in which the winning candidate receives the greatest number of votes (but not necessarily a majority)
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Supermajority
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A majority larger than a simple 51 percent majority, which is required for extraordinary legislative actions such as amending the Constitution
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