American Government Exam 1

Articles of Confederation

First official constitution of the US; weak central government

French and Indian war

a North American conflict between Great Britain and France, alongside their respective Indigenous allies

Thomas Hobbes

Author of Leviathan; argued that humans must give up all rights to a powerful government to avoid anarchy

John Locke

advocated for natural rights, constitutional checks, limited democracy, and limited government

Publius

Pen name used by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison for the Federalist Papers

Brutus

Pen name used by Robert Yates for the Anti-Federalist Papers

Federalist Paper No. 10

addresses controlling factional power through diving up political power

Federalist Paper No. 51

Addresses Checks and Balances and Federalism (“men are not angels”)

Federalist Paper No. 68

Written by Hamilton to justify the Electoral College

Civil Rights

positive rights; actions and protections government must provide to citizens (e.g., free K-12 public education, equal access, emergency response services, Social Security)

Civil Liberties

Negative rights; constitutional protections against government outreach and invasion of personal freedom (e.g., freedom of speech, protection against unlawful search and seizure)

De Jure Segregation

Segregation enforced by official laws (e.g., Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, literary tests)

De Facto Segregation

Unofficial segregation based on social customs, private practices, and economic conditions (e.g., redlining by banks, KKK harassment, church demographics)

Clear and Present Danger Test

Restricts speech that poses an immediate public threat to (e.g., shorting “fire” in a theater or “bomb” on a plane)

Immanent Lawless Action Test

Restricts speech, especially by authority figures, that directly incites or encourages immediate unlawful behavior

Establishment Clause

stops the government from creating an official national religion or unfairly favoring one religion over another

The Lemon Test

Three-part test determining whether government aid to religious institutions violates the Establishment Clause

Official Nullification

Unconstitutional state or city declarations refusing to enforce or recognize federal laws (e.g., South Carolina tariff crisis in 1800s)

De Facto Nullification

Unofficial non-enforcement of outdated or lower-priority federal regulations by tacit government consent

Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)

created the New Deal to combat the Great Depression through federal job creation programs

Lyndon B. Johnson

Created the Great Society program to fight poverty; introduced Medicare (healthcare for seniors) and Medicaid (healthcare for low-income citizens)

Harry S. Truman

First post-reconstruction president to actively champion civil rights reforms

Dixiecrats

Southern political group formed to oppose integration and preserve segregation

Plessy v. Ferguson

Established the “separate but equal” doctrine, upholding state-mandated segregation

Brown v. Board of Education

Overturned Plessy, ruling that racial segregation in public schools is inherently unconstitutional

Gideon v. Wainwright

Guaranteed the right to a court-appointed defense attorney for poor criminal defendants

Miranda v. Arizona

Required law enforcement to inform criminal suspects of their constitutional rights upon arrest

Obergefell v. Hodges

Recognized same-sex marriage as constitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment

Lawrence v. Texas

Invalidated laws criminalizing private, consensual adult sexual conduct

Declaration of Independence

Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson. The founding document in which the 13 American colonies severed their political connection to Great Britain

American Revolution vs. French Revolution

The American Revolution was a conservative war for colonial independence that preserved local self-government, while the French Revolution was a radical social upheaval that sought to completely dismantle a duel society and monarchy.

Mayflower Compact

the first written governing document of Plymouth Colony

Article Powers

the specific authority and duties granted to the branches of the U.S. government directly through the text of the United States Constitution

Shays Rebellion

an armed uprising in Western Massachusetts, led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays and other farmers protesting high taxes, economic hardship, and property foreclosures

Great Compromise

an agreement reached during the U.S. constitutional convention that created the bicameral legislature for the United States

Electoral college

the official, indirect system used under the US constitution to elect the president and vice president of the United States

Federalist

wanted to adopt the constitution and create a more centralized government

Anti-Federalist

disorganized did not want to adopt the constitution some and wanted to keep the article government, others wanted only moderate reforms, others just weren’t happy with a few aspects of the consitution

Separation of Powers

Legislative, Executive, and Judicial

Legislative power

the legal authority of a government body to make, amend, and repeal laws

Executive power

the authority of a government to implement, administer, and enforce laws

Judicial power

the constitutional authority given to courts and judges to hear, interpret, and decide legal cases and controversies

Enumerated Powers

Powers explicitly granted to the federal government (e.g., declaring war, coining money)

Concurrent Powers

powers shared by state and federal governments (e.g., taxation, maintaining court system)

Reserved Powers

Powers reserved exclusively to the states via the 10th amendment (e.g., regulating state elections and local voting laws)

Denied powers

actions forbidden to all levels of government

Nullification

the legal theory that individual states can invalidate federal laws they view as unconstitutional

Official Nullification

strictly illegal under constitutional law and Civil War precedent

De Facto Nullification

Unofficial non-enforcement or state legislation contrary to federal statures (e.g., state marijuana legislation)

Supremacy clause

Article 5 provision establishing that federal law overrides state legislation whenever a direct conflict exists

Carrots (Financial Incentives)

Federal grants-in-aid offered to encourage states to adopt federal policy goals (e.g., Medicaid expansion under the ACA)

Sticks (Penalties and Mandates)

Mandates or threats of withholding federal funds to coerce state policy (e.g., withholding highway funding until states raised the minimum drinking age to 21)

Dual Federalism (“Layer Cake”)

Era characterized by clear, non-overlapping boundaries between national and state responsibilities

Cooperative Federalism (“Penalties and Mandates”)

Era following the Great Depression and New Deal where federal power expanded drastically into state domains

New Federalism

Policy shift beginning under Presidents Carter and Reagan aimed at devolving authority back to state governments

Unprincipled Federalism

Partisan opportunism where political parties favor state rights or federal supremacy based on which level advanced their party goals

Legislation Trends

the consistent, observable directions or patterns in which new laws, regulations, and policies are moving within a specific jurisdiction, industry, or globally over time.

Legal

full recreational or commercial sales permitted

Decriminalized

small amounts carry civil fines or single-pass policies rather than jail sentences (e.g., Mississippi, Louisiana driven by prison capacity and budget constraints)

Illegal

Full prohibited enforced

Pure Public Goods

Non-excludable and non-rivalrous resources accessible to all without diminishing availability (e.g., clean air)

Rival Public Goods

Publicly accessible goods subject to scarcity, congestion, or declining quality under high demand (e.g., public highways, public schools, emergency rooms)

Collective Action Problem

Scenarios where rational individuals would benefit from mutual cooperation, but individual incentives promote non-cooperation without external rules

Tragedy of the Commons

Degradation and depletion of a shared resource due to unchecked individual consumption (e.g., overfishing, overgrazing)

Free Rider Problem

Occurs when individuals consume or benefit from a resource or service without paying their fair share of maintenance costs (e.g., non-payment of union dues, tax evasion)

Selective Incorporation

the legal doctrine applying Bill of Rights protections to state governments through the fourteenth amendment

Second Amendment Evolution

historically interpreted as a collective right enabling state militias; established as an individual constitutional right in District Columbia v. Heller (2008)

Establishment Clause

Prevents the federal government from establishing a state religion or church

Free Exercise Clause

guarantees the right to practice religion without state interference

Separation of Church and State

government and religious institutions must remain separate, meaning the government cannot establish an official religion or favor one faith over another, and religious groups cannot control government power

Historical Case Context

The Scopes Monkey Trial highlighted regional legal battles over state bans on teaching evolution in public schools

Liberty

the freedom of individual from government restraints in the pursuit of happiness

Equality

treating all citizens equally under the law providing equal treatment regardless of circumstance

Equity

tailoring government action and support to individual circumstances, recognizing that treating everyone identical is not always fair when groups start from different positions

Bad Tendency Test (Historical/Ditched)

Allowed government to restrict speech if it had a tendency to corrupt society. Abandoned for being overly vague.

Clear and Present Danger Test (Current Standard)

Speech can be restricted if it creates an immediate threat to public safety (e.g., falsely shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded theater)

Imminent Lawless Action Test

prohibits speech directly inciting or advocating immediate unlawful acts, especially when spoken by figures of official authority

Flag Burning

protected symbolic speech (established in Supreme Court rulings); cannot be banned by ordinary statue without a constitutional amendment

Protests at Military Funerals

protected under the First Amendment if protestors maintain mandatory physical distance (e.g., Westboro Baptist Church ruling)

Redlining

a practice where banks agreed among themselves to deny housing loans to African Americans in designated neighborhoods. Unofficial until outlawed by the Fair Housing Act.

Social/Religious custom

Segregation in voluntary gatherings, such as Sunday church services

Good Character Clauses

a legal standard measuring an individuals honesty, respect for the law, and alignment with community ethical standards

White Primaries

a primary election held in the Southern United States during the Jim Crow era where only white voters were allowed to participate

Propaganda Pressure

the coordinated, intensive use of state-controlled media, biased messaging, and psychological manipulation to coerce or compel public obedience and elite conformity

National Security Concern

any threat, risk, or event that endangers a country's sovereignty, territorial integrity, safety, or core institutions

Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

Prominent pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and leader of nonviolent peaceful protests. Targeted harassment under J. Edgar Hoover; assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

Andrew Young

Close adviser and negotiator for MLK; skilled diplomat. First African American elected to Congress.

John Lewis

Youngest member of MLK’s inner circle; active front-line organizer and activist who faced repeated violence and arrests.

Harry Truman and The Dixiecrats

Truman was the first post-Reconstruction president to run on a civil rights platform (desegregating DC, military integration). Southern Democrats broke off to form the Dixiecrat Party led by Strom Thurmond to preserve Jim Crow Laws.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and enforced school desegregation from Brown v. Board of Education

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Outlawed literary tests and established federal oversights (preclearance) for jurisdictions with histories of voter discrimination

Fair Housing Act of 1968

Passed shortly after MLK’s assassination to prohibit housing discrimination, outlawing redlining and restrictive racial housing covenants.

Ticket-Splitting (Split-Ticket Voting)

When a voter chooses candidates from different political parties for different offices on the same ballot

Local Level

crossover voting is common because local elections (e.g., Sheriff, mayor often depend on personal acquaintances and local issues rather than national party platforms)

John F. Kennedy (JFK)

he redefined political communication, handled intense Cold War crises, and inspired a new era of public service and civil rights advocacy

Freedom Rides

Protests testing integrated interstate bus travel across the South, encountering severe violent resistance in Alabama

Bloody Sunday

Peaceful voting rights marchers were violently attacked by state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, accelerating passage of the Voting Rights Act

Supreme Court Role

Historically the most effective branch in protecting individual civil rights and liberties to relative to Congress and the President

Equal Pay Act of 1963

Made wage discrimination based on sex illegal, but early enforcement was limited by strict 6-month statutes of limitations