Studied by 67 people
First, but weak, constitution that formed the basis of the new nation (America’s) government
Important factors:
No executive branch
Favored weak central gov with limited power
No control over taxes and other financial matters
Central gov relied on states to provide money, but they never did; used their own form of currency, which destroyed the economy
No power to raise an army or navy
Gov could declare war but had to depend on states for soldiers
Required 9/13 states to vote on major laws, but all 13 needed to vote unanimously for changing articles
States with high populations were less represented and it was hard to change the articles
Proposed a strong central gov
Called for a bicameral legislature with both houses being based on the state’s population
Combination of the Virginia plan (bicameral legislature with number of representatives based on state population) and the New Jersey plan (unicameral legislature with each state having one vote)
Congress has two chambers
Each state has two senators and House representation would be based on population
Congress would have the power and authority that the national gov lacked in the articles
Located in Article I, Section 8
Aka elastic clause
Enables Congress to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying out its constitutional responsibilities
Located in Article VI
Regulates relationships between federal and state govs by declaring that the constitution and federal law are the supreme law of the land
Divided the national gov into three separate branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) and assigning different responsibilities to each one
Legislative makes laws, executive enforces laws, and judicial interprets laws
Encourages branches to cooperate
Federalism - creates two relatively autonomous levels of gov, each possessing the capacity to act directly on the people with authority granted by the constitution
Federalist - someone who advocates a system of gov in which several states unite under a central authority (support a stronger national gov)
Two ways to cure mischief of factions:
Remove causes (don’t let people have different interests)
Control the effects
In Federalist 10, Madison believed that Americans didn’t need to fear the power of factions or special interests, because the republic was too big and the interests of its people were too diverse to allow the development of large, powerful political parties
Criticized the Founding Fathers by saying they didn’t follow the voting qualifications scheme they created, formed political parties, and messed up the design of the Electoral College
Founding Fathers thought that the electoral college would be a nominating convention
If no candidate had an outright majority, the House would choose among the top 5 (later reduced to 3), with each state delegation casting 1 vote
Dahl believed that “every member must have an equal and effective opportunity to vote, and all votes must be counted as equal”
Unitary system - subnational govs are dependent on the national gov
Federal system - power is divided between the national gov and the state govs
McCulloch (an agent for Baltimore branch of the Second Bank) refused to pay a tax that Maryland had imposed on all out-of-state chartered banks
Raised two constitutional questions: Did Congress have the authority to charter a national bank? Were states allowed to tax federal property?
Court decided that the national gov had the right and power to set up a national bank and that states did not have the power to tax federal property
Dual federalism - states and national gov exercise exclusive authority in distinctly delineated spheres of jurisdiction
*like a layered cake*
Cooperative federalism - both levels of gov coordinated their actions to solve national problems (such as the Great Depression and civil rights struggle)
*like a marbled cake*
Filburn was a farmer that was given a quota on how much wheat he can grow, but doubles it since he’s feeding it to his animals and not selling it, so he says Congress’s ability to regulate it isn’t valid
Wickard argues that Filburn is failing to purchase wheat on the market, which changes the supply and demand of that market → reduces the price of wheat and helps defeat the goal that Congress had of regulating the price of these agricultiral commodities
Ruling: an activity doesn’t need to have direct effect on interstate commerce to fall within the commerce power, as long as the effect is substantial and economic
State govs would compete to either get more people to move to the state or retain the existing people by strategically lowering taxes
Scenerios:
If both states keep high tax, both states get lots of revenue and no one really moves
If State A lowers taxes but State B doesn’t, people will move to A, and property values and tax revenues will rise in A and drop in B (and vice versa)
If both states lower taxes, both states will have low tax revenue
National gov sets requirements that are then implemented by state and local govs
Use leverage of federal money to force states to adopt policies they may oppose
Money (grants) given by the national gov to the states that’s intended for general purposes, allowing state officials greater discretion over spending
Typically used for things like community development, public health, law enforcement, and social services
The current holding of an office
Gives an advantage - more likely to continue holding their position
Permanent committee established under the standing rules of the Senate and specialize in the consideration of particular subject areas
fixed jurisdiction (e.g. agriculture), division of labor and specialization, provide info to chamber
Parties united ideologically - members more willing to delegate authority to party leaders
Party leaders become “agents” of members
Overcomes difficulty of legislating
Smaller ideological differences inside party → feelings less hurt
Parties divided ideologically - members will take power away from party leaders, favor more decentralized committee system
Closed rules - no/few amendments are allowed on the bill
Open rules - any member may offer amendments to the bill
Reelection
Reaching policy goals
Gaining influence in Congress/Washington
President is sometimes referred to as the “chief clerk” because they were originally not expected to initiate or guide national policy (were meant to have little initiative or independent power)
President’s powers can’t go far without the other branches working alongside
Greater power in foreign affairs (delegated and inherent)
Greater executive power, as national gov has grown (expressed and delegated)
Legislative powers (informal, disputed efficacy)
Increased legal claims under the Constitution
President uses things such as televised speeches, town hall meetings, lectures, travel, etc
Go over heads of Congress, directly to public, to build support for the POTUS’s position
Hope that such public pressure will result in legislators supporting the president on a major piece of legislation
Theory/book by Aaron Wildavsky
US has one president but two presidencies
one concerned with domestic policy
one concerned with foreign policy
Generally, presidents have had greater success with controlling foreign policies than dominating domestic policies
Note 
Flashcard (51)