Ap gov Unit 1 test

Government defined

The rules and institution the action and policies of government

Politics defined

• The processes of influencing that make up that system of policymaking 

Political participation methods

• Political participation methods are ways that people can get involved in the political process to influence decisions or outcomes.

Policymaking

•   The process through which the government creates laws, regulations, and actions to solve problems.

Democracy (Direct and Indirect)

Direct democracy is a form of government where citizens vote on laws and select officials directly. In contrast, indirect democracy is a system where citizens vote for representatives who make decisions on their behalf.

Participatory democratic theory

Citizens can join groups outside of the government control. 

Majority rule

• the principle that a decision made by a group must be supported by more than half of the participants to be binding on all members. 

Minority rights

• the principle that a decision made by a group must be supported by more than half of the participants to be binding on all members. 

Pluralism / Pluralist theory

• A theory of democracy that emphasizes the role of groups in the policymaking process.

Elitist theory

• A theory of democracy that the elites have a disproportionate amount of influence in the policymaking process.

Policy Gridlock

• refers to a situation where the policymaking process is stalled or blocked, preventing the passage of legislation or implementation of policies. 

Scope of Government

•  refers to the range of activities and responsibilities that the federal government undertakes. Ex. social welfare programs, war-making, diplomacy, justice and law enforcement, and commerce

Popular sovereignty

The idea that the government’s right to rule comes from the people.

Republic

• a government ruled by representatives of the people.

Democracy:

•  Power held by the people

Ideas of John Locke

•  the concept of the social contract, where individuals consent to be governed in exchange for protection of their natural rights. 

State of nature v. society

• Civil society: offers security, order, and the benefits of cooperation, but it comes with restrictions on individual freedoms.

Powers granted by the Articles of Confederation

• No power to tax the state, regulate interstate commerce, no executive branch, and no national judiciary

Problems with Articles of Confederation

• Only one branch of government (Legislative), No President (Executive), No federal court system, No power to tax, No way to enforce state participation No power to raise and army, No money to pay an army

Significance of Shays’s rebellion

• It shows the weakness in the article of confederation as well as state military status being none  as couldn’t an uprising against Massachusetts gov.

New Jersey plan

• Each state should be represented equally with one vote per state

• Small states have a disproportionate amount of power

Virginia plan

•  congressional representatives should be appointed by population

• Big states would have more representatives and have the more power

Framers’ intent Separation of Powers

•  A design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its own.

Checks and Balances

• A design of government in which each branch has powers that can prevent the other branches from making policy.

Structure of government

• arrangement and organization of political institutions, their functions, and the relationships between them within a state. It includes the distribution of power among 

Legislative branch

•  to propose and make laws, which no other branch is able to do

Executive Branch

• is to execute and enforce the laws passed by Congress, which no other branch is able to do

Judicial Branch

•  The responsibility of the judicial branch is to determine the constitutionality of laws, which no other branch is able to do

Article 1, Section 8

•  Exclusive powers are those that are specifically given to the federal government and found in the Constitution.

  • EX. Regulate commerce interstate commerce • Coin money • Establish post offices; • Protect patents and copyrights • Declare war • Raise and support an army and navy

Commerce Clause / Interstate commerce

• impacts federalism because it allows the federal government to regulate commerce that flows between the states, and has been widely used to justify federal actions

 Interstate commerce

• trade that happens between multiple states

Necessary & Proper (elastic) Clause

• Congress to make any other law that is necessary and proper to complete their jobs listed as exclusive powers in the Constitution

Supremacy Clause

• The Constitution and all national treaties and laws shall be the supreme law of the land.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

• A constitutional clause requiring states to recognize the public act, records and civil court proceedings from another state

Bill of Attainder

• when the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial

Habeas Corpus

• The right of the people detained by the government to know the charges against them

Ex Post Facto laws

• Laws punishing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed

Ratification process

1. Proposal: A proposal for the Constitution must be made by either two-thirds of the House and Senate or by a two-thirds vote at a convention initiated by the states and called by Congress.

2. Ratification: The ratification is completed by a vote of three-fourths of the state legislatures or three-fourths of state ratifying conventions. If both steps are passed, a new amendment is added to the Constitution.

The Federalist Papers

• A series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay and published between 1787 and 1788 that laid out the theories behind the constitution

Thesis of Federalist #10

• Tries put the fear of many competing factions in a large republic will uphold liberty because of competition at rest 

Thesis of Brutus #1

• feared the limitation of personal liberties reflected in a larger republic like the United States or an anti-federalist paper arguing that the country was too large to be government as a republic and that the constitution gave too much power to the national government

Thesis of Federalist #51

• An essay in which medicine are used the separation of power and feudalism, which prevented tyranny

Factions

• A group of self-interest people who use the way of government to get what they want, trampoline the rights of others in the process

Federalist: 

• supporters of a strong central government in the early United States, advocating for the ratification of the Constitution and emphasizing the need for a unified national framework

Anti-Federalists

• opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution, fearing it would create a strong central government that threatened individual liberties and state sovereignty

Process of amending the Constitution

• Article V of the United States Constitution states:

“The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.”

Bill of Rights

• guarantees individual rights and limits the powers of the federal government

10^th amendment

Reserved powers are those powers that are kept by the states as stated in ____

Federalism defined

• is the sharing of power between national and state governments.

Enumerated / delegated powers

• Exclusive powers are those that are specifically given to the federal government and found in the Constitution.

Shared / Concurrent powers

are those that are shared by both the federal and state governments

Reserved powers

•  those powers that are kept by the states as stated in the 10th Amendment

• Ex. Public education, issuing licenses, provide public safety, Running elections

McCulloch v. Maryland

•  is an example of federalism with power shifting towards the federal government. This strengthened the understanding of the necessary and proper clause because the Court ruled that the government had powers that were not directly stated in the Constitution.

Gibbons v. Ogden

• crucial in establishing federal authority over interstate commerce, significantly strengthening the power of the national government and shaping the balance between state and federal powers.

Marbury v. Madison

• This case established the constitutional principle of judicial review as part of the United States system because it established the power of judicial review and therefore significantly increased the Supreme Court’s power.

United States v Lopez

• Congress had overstepped in its use of the commerce clause as justification to banning guns and therefore the law was found unconstitutional.

Dual federalism:

•  a form of American federalism in which the state and the national operate independently in their own area of public policy

Cooperative federalism:

•  a form of American federalism in which the state and the national government work together to shape public policy

Fiscal federalism

• is power shared primarily through money, which is the most common example of federalism in action.

Categorical grants

•  Money given to states as long as they comply with specific federal standards

Block grants

•  Money given to states for broad purposes that lets states spend it as they see fit. 

Revenue sharing

distribution of a portion of federal tax revenues to state and local governments.

 Mandate: 

• Directives that require state compliance and the federal government sets rules and provides funding

Unfunded mandated:

• Directives that require state compliance but the federal government no funding.

• Devolution

•  is the process of returning power to the states and away from the federal government

•  Decentralized power devolution

• to the transfer of authority and responsibility from a central government to subnational authorities, such as regional or local governments