UNIT 1 KBAT Review

Article I, Section 8

lists the powers granted to Congress, including the ability to tax, regulate commerce, declare war, coin money, and establish courts and a military. It also includes the Necessary and Proper Clause, allowing Congress to make laws needed to carry out its duties, giving flexibility to address new issues over time.

Articles of Confederation

the first governing document of the United States, creating a loose alliance of states with a weak central government that lacked power to tax or regulate commerce effectively. Its weaknesses, like the inability to enforce laws or raise revenue, led to its replacement by the stronger U.S. Constitution.

Bicameral

(of a legislative body) having two branches or chambers.

Block Grants

a grant from central government which a local authority can allocate to a wide range of services.

Categorical Grants

grants issued by the United States Congress which may be spent only for narrowly defined purposes.

Checks and Balances

counterbalancing influences by which an organization or system is regulated, typically those ensuring that political power is not concentrated in the hands of individuals or groups.

Commerce Clause

refers to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress the power "to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among states, and with the Indian tribes."

Concurrent Powers

refer to powers that are shared by both the federal government and state governments. This includes the power to tax, build roads, and create lower courts.

Conditions/"Strings"

federal rules attached to the grants that states receive. States must agree to abide by these rules in order to receive the grants.

Deceleration of Independence

adopted in 1776, announced the American colonies' break from British rule and explained their reasons for seeking freedom. It emphasized natural rights like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and asserted that governments derive their power from the consent of the governed.

Electoral College

the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in Article Two of the Constitution.

Elite Democracy

political systems where a small number of individuals or groups hold significant power and influence over the decision-making process, often at the expense of broader participation by the general population.

Enumerated Powers

specific powers granted to the federal government by the Constitution, primarily outlined in Article I, Section 8. These powers establish a framework for federal authority and help define the relationship between the states and the national government, ensuring a balance of power and responsibilities.

Federalism

a principle or system of government in which several states form a unity but remain independent in internal affairs.

Federalist Papers

a collection of 85 essays/articles that were written by supporters of the ratification of the Constitution in the fall of 1787 and spring of 1788. The intent of the essays was to sway public opinion—particularly in New York—towards supporting ratification of the newly proposed Constitution.

Federalists/Anti-federalist

the Anti-Federalists believed that almost all the executive power should be left to the country's authorities, while the Federalists wanted centralized national governments.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

the requirement, derived from Article IV, Section I of the Constitution, that state courts respect the laws and judgments of courts from other states. This clause attempts to prevent conflict among states and ensure the dependability of judgments across the country.

Great Compromise

the Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise of 1787 or Sherman Compromise, was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation each state would have under the United States Constitution.

House of Representatives

as per the Constitution, the U.S. House of Representatives makes and passes federal laws. The House is one of Congress's two chambers and part of the federal government's legislative branch. (holds 435 members with amount of reps per state determined by population)

Implied Powers

political powers granted to the United States government that aren't explicitly stated in the Constitution

James Madison

american statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Made a major contribution to the ratification of the Constitution by writing The Federalist Papers. "Father of the Constitution"

Limited Government

a principle that holds that all legitimate state authority has certain, identifiable bounds. Those bounds usually include a doctrine of rights, separation of powers, enumerated powers, and democratic elections.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

the state of Maryland tried to tax the Second Bank of the United States, a federally established institution, to challenge federal authority. The Supreme Court ruled that Congress had the implied power to create the bank under the Necessary and Proper Clause, even though the Constitution didn't explicitly mention it, and that Maryland could not tax the bank because it would interfere with federal powers. This decision confirmed federal supremacy over states, expanded Congress's implied powers, and set a precedent limiting state interference in federal affairs.

Necessary and Proper Clause

gives Congress power to make "all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution" other federal powers, is precisely this kind of incidental-powers clause.

New Jersey Plan

william Paterson's New Jersey Plan proposed a unicameral (one-house) legislature with equal votes of states and an executive elected by a national legislature. This plan maintained the form of government under the Articles of Confederation while adding powers to raise revenue and regulate commerce and foreign affairs.

Participatory Democracy

participatory democracy, participant democracy, participative democracy, or semi-direct democracy is a form of government in which citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their lives, rather than through elected representatives.

Pluralist Democracy

individuals achieve positions of formal political authority by forming successful electoral coalitions. Such coalitions are formed through a process of bargaining among political leaders and subleaders of the various organizations within the community.

Police Powers

the fundamental ability of a government to enact laws to coerce its citizenry for the public good

Popular Sovereignty

the political doctrine that the legitimacy of government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, typically expressed through their elected representatives.

Republicanism

support for a republican system of government.

Senate

the upper chamber of congress. Every state elects two U.S. Senators that make up the 100 members in the Senate. These senators are elected to serve six-year terms and are a part of the Legislative branch of government.

Separation of Powers

an act of vesting the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government in separate bodies.

Social Contract

an implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection. Theories of a social contract became popular in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries among theorists such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as a means of explaining the origin of government and the obligations of subjects.

Supremacy Clause

refers to the foundational principle that, in general, federal law takes precedence over any conflicting state law.

10th Amendment

the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

3/5th Compromise

reached among state delegates during the 1787 Constitutional Convention. It determined that three out of every five slaves were counted when determining a state's total population for legislative representation and taxation.

Unicameral

(of a legislative body) having a single legislative chamber.

United States v. Lopez (1995)

Alfonso Lopez Jr. was charged under a federal law for carrying a gun into a school, which raised the question of whether Congress had the authority to regulate this under the Commerce Clause. The Supreme Court ruled that carrying a gun in a school zone was not an economic activity that substantially affected interstate commerce, so Congress had exceeded its power. This decision was significant because it was the first in decades to limit Congress's commerce power, reinforcing the idea that there are constitutional limits on federal authority and protecting states' rights.

Virginia Plan

drafted by James Madison, and presented by Edmund Randolph to the Constitutional Convention on May 29, 1787, the Virginia Plan proposed a strong central government composed of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.