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40 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Democracy |
- direct democracy - form of government in which the people govern, either directly or through elected representatives. |
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Republic |
- people rule through representatives; their power is limited by rights -A form of government in which the people's representatives decide policy through institutions structured in ways that foster deliberation, slow the progress of decision making, and operate within restraints that protect individual liberty. To the framers, the Constitution's separation of powers and other limits on power were defining features of a republican form of government, as opposed to a democratic form, which places no limits on the majority. |
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Constitutional Democracy |
- A democracy with constitutional limits; the current form of govt. of the United States |
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What type of govt. before independence? |
- Unitary; ruled by British crown |
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Declaration of Independence |
John Locke's Two Treatises of Govt. : Inalienable rights, consent of the governed, and the right to revolution |
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What type of govt during articles of confederation? (1877) |
Confederal |
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What structure did the three branches have |
- Executive: no independent executive - Judiciary: no federal judiciary - Legislature: one-house legislature, equally distributed between states. |
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What were the three debates at the constitutional convention? |
1. Stronger federal govt. vs. Weak federal govt. 2. Large states(Virginia Plan) vs. Small States(New Jersey plan) Virginia wanted two house legislature-apportionment by population in both. NJ wanted one house legislature with equal apportionment between states. Compromise was the "great compromise"-two houses, house with apportionment by population. Senate with equal apportionment between states. 3. Slave States vs. Non-slave states. Result was three-fifths compromise |
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Baron de Montesquieu |
- The Spirit of The Laws - Separation of powers and checks and balances |
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Federalists |
- For US Constitution |
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Anti-federalists |
- Against US Constitution |
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What were the Federalist Papers? |
- Expressed the Federalist position. - Written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison |
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The US Constitution Article 1: Congress |
- Structure? Bicameral, 2 Houses - How are seats apportioned? House is apportioned based on populations - Length of term? Senate representation is equal among states. |
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The US Constitution Enumerated Powers |
- Ex. Power to Tax (spending power); commerce clause |
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The US Constitution Implied Powers |
- Granted by "Necessary and proper clause" - Implied powers, specifically the implied power to charter a national bank, were confirmed in the Supreme Court case McCulloch v Maryland |
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The US Constitution Article 2: Executive |
- How selected? Electoral college, each state gets a number of Electoral College votes equal to its US Senate plus US House seats - Impeachment Process? House impeaches, with simple majority; senate decides guilt with 2/3 majority required |
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The US Constitution Article 3: Judiciary |
- How selected? Nominated by president-confirmed by sentate - Judicial Review was not established by the supreme court case Marbury v. Madison (1803) |
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The US Constitution Article 5: Amendment Process |
- Two thirds of both houses of congress to propose and three-fourths of state legislatures to ratify. - Vote of two-thirds of state legislature can call a constitutional convention |
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The US Constitution Article 6 |
Supremacy clause |
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The US Constitution Article 4 |
Full faith and credit clause |
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Bill of Rights |
- Ratified after the Constitution - 10 amendments |
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Jacksonian Democracy |
- Party system & spoil system - Increased power of the people in govt. - Established mass democracy and mass parties |
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Jeffersonian Democracy |
- Desired to increase the power of the common people against the govt. - |
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Progressives (Early 20th Century) |
- Theodore Roosevelt (Pres. 1901-1909) - Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Pres. 1933-1945) - Woodrow Wilson (Pres. 1913-1921) |
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What did the progressives do? |
- Eliminated spoils system - Introduced primary elections for selection party candidates - Expanded the role of federal govt. to face the Great Depression. |
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Types of Govt. Unitary |
Sovereignty lies with the national govt. Regional govt. derive their sovereignty from the national govt. Ex. England |
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Types of Govt. Federal |
- Sovereignty is DIVIDED between federal govt and states. Ex. US Constitution |
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Types of Govt. Confederal |
- States alone have sovereignty. - They can dissolve the federal govt if desired. - The Articles of Confederation created a confederal govt. |
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What were the three main eras of the evolution of Federalism in America? |
- Contesting Federalism -Dual Federalism - Cooperative Federalism |
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Contesting Federalism (1780-1865) |
- Survival of the union is in doubt - states contest federal authority |
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Dual Federalism (1865-1937) |
- Federal and state govt. have clearly demarcated separate responsibilities . - Free markets dominate and business is given free rein -Fed govt limited in ability to restrict business by US v E.C. Knight Co. (1895). which restricted the breadth of the commerce clause to transportation and not manufacturing. - State govt. limited in ability to restrict business by Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co. (1886) , which applied the 14th amndmt. to corporations and established they had to be taxed equally compared to individuals. |
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Cooperative Federalism (1937-Present) |
- Federal govt. has expanded into areas previously reserved to share federal and state govt. cooperate in these areas. - National, State, Local work together rather than separate. |
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Fiscal Federalism |
- A term that refers to the expenditure of federal funds on programs run in part through states and localities. |
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Categorical Grant |
- More restrictive; money can only be spent on a specific program |
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Block Grant |
- less restrictive; money could be spent as long as it is within a certain area. |
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History of Constitution |
- Current texas constitution, the constitution of 1876, is a reactionary document. It is a reaction against the Constitution of 1869 (carpetbagger constitution) and what it exemplified. |
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Legislature |
- Two house legislature - meets every two years - $7,200 paid to legislatures - Two branches (House of rep. (2 yr term, now has 150 members) and senate, (4 yr term, 31 members) - bicameral |
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Executive (PLURAL) |
- All are elected except secretary of state. - FragmeNTED - governor, lieutenant governor, comptroller of public accounts, commissioner of general land office, attorney general, secretary of state. |
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Judiciary |
- Distinct from federal system - Judges are elected not appointed - Two high courts; Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals - Through election |
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Criticisms of Texas Constitution |
1. Too long 2. Too detailed 3. Organization is confusingToomany amendments – the constitution is constantly changing |
