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58 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Define government |
an organization extending to the whole society that can legitimately has force to carry out its decisions |
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Social contract concept |
The suggestion that there is an implied contract between a government and the governed where in exchange for obedience of laws protection is provided |
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Define political science |
The study of politics; who governs for what ends and by what means |
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Define external costs |
Costs imposed on people who are not direct participants in an activity |
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What is a public good |
Goods and services that cannot readily be provided by markets because they're too expensive |
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What are the purposes of government relative to phrases in the preamble? |
Establish justice Insure domestic tranquility Provide for the common defense Promote the general welfare Serve the blessings of liberty to ourselves |
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Define democracy |
Rule by the people for the people |
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Direct democracy |
A governing system in which every person participated actively in every public decision rather than delegating decision making to representatives |
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Representative democracy |
A governing system in which public decision making is delegated to representatives of the people chosen by popular vote in free open and periodic elections |
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At what levels of government does direct democracy exist in the U.S. |
U.S. Congress, State legislature |
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Elitism |
A political system in which power is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small group of individuals or institutions |
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Pluralism |
The theory that democracy can be achieved through competition among multiple organized groups and that the individuals can participate in politics through group membership and elections |
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What is civil disobedience |
A form of public protest in which participants break laws they believe to be just |
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Why is civil disobedience justifiable |
Sometimes it is the only way to stir the conscience of an apathetic majority |
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Define political culture |
Widely shared views about who should govern for what ends and by what means |
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Define values |
Shared ideas about what is good and desirable |
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Equality of opportun |
A leveled playing field in life so that all have the same availability of success |
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Equality of results |
Equal sharing of income and material goods |
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Alexis de Tocqueville's most notable quality about america |
America never had a monarch but instead equality |
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Current trend in income distribution |
Ridiculously slanted, top 10% make 9x more than the bottom 90% |
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Ideology |
A consistent and integrated system of ideas, values, and beliefs |
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The philosophies of modern liberalism |
Strong government to provide economic security and protection for civil rights, yet belief in personal freedom from government in social conduct |
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Modern conservatism |
Limited government in economic affairs and civil rights, but stronger government in social conduct. |
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Libertarians |
Believe in minimal government, specifically lack of government intervention in both economic and social affairs |
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Communism |
Single totalitarian party controls all means of production and distribution of goods and services |
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Fascism |
The state is supreme over individuals |
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Socialism |
Collective or government ownership of economic enterprise with the goal being equality of results |
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Classical liberalism |
Asserts the worth and dignity of an individual to create their own destiny |
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Colonial charters |
A document from the English monarchy giving the American colonies legal right to exist |
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What were the major shortcomings of the articles of confederation |
Too weak and decentralized, government was an Alliance between individual states, it had no power to raise taxes, currency challenges |
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What problem existed in territories west? |
Military weakness along western frontiers kept land values low |
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What is a repubkic |
Government by representatives of the people rather than directly by the people themselves |
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What was the great compromise |
Merged the Virginia plan and the New Jersey plan to create senate and House of Representatives |
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What part of government has the power to declare war |
Congress |
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What is federalism |
A constitutional arrangement whereby power is divided between national and subnational governments, each of which enforces its own laws directly |
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What is the supremacy Clause |
declared that the constitution and federal laws would supersede state contortions and laws |
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What does the necessary and proper clause staye |
Grants congress the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper |
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What is the full faith and credit clause |
Full faith and credit shall be given to each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state |
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What is the preemption doctrine |
Total or partial federal assumption of power in a particular field, restricting the authority of the states |
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What are checks and balances |
Constitutional provisions giving each branch of the national government certain checks over the action of other branches |
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What is judicial review |
The power of the us Supreme Court and federal judiciary to declare laws of congress and the states and actions of the president unconstitutional, therefore legally invalid |
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Difference between federalist a and antifederalists |
Federalist a supported the new constitution while anti federalists opposed |
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Why did federalists believe a bill of rights was unecessary? |
They believed that the bill of rights was unnecessary because they'd given the government very limited (enumerated) powers |
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Define enumerated powers |
Powers specifically mentioned in the constitution as belonging to the national government |
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Explain the concept of federalism operating as laboratories of democracy |
States can serve as a laboratory and try social & economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country |
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What is Dillon's rule |
States that local governments get their powers from state legislature |
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What are concurrent powers |
Powers exercised by both national government and state government |
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Representational federalism is |
No constitutional division of powers exists between the nation and the states but the states retain their constitutional role merely by selecting the president and members of congress |
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New federalism is |
An attempt to return power and responsibility to the states and reduce the role of the national government in domestic affairs |
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State centered federalism is |
Where the supremacy of the national government is questioned and the states resolved most policy questions and provided most public services |
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What was the importance of the NLRB VS jones and Laughlin steel case? |
It gave the national government control over the national economy |
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What is fiscal feceralism |
The practice of different levels of government taxing different sources of revenue based on the mobility of wealth and income |
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Define initiative |
Allows a specified number or percentage of voters by use of a petition to place a state constitutional amendment or a state law on the ballot for adoption or rejection by the state electorate |
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Define referendas |
Proposed laws or constitutional amendments submitted to the voters for their direct approval or rejection |
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What is a recall |
An election to allow voters to decide whether or not to remove and elected official before his or her term expires |
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What is a block grant |
a federal grant to state or local governments for general government functions allowing greater flexibility in the use of money |
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What is a categorical grant |
Federal grants to a state or local government for specific purposes or projects may be allocated |
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What is a mandate |
Perceptions of popular support for a program or policy based on the victory of an elected official who proposed the policy in candidacy |
