Unit 1 AP Gov

Participatory Democracy

emphasis broad participation in the political by most if not all members of society

* town hall meetings
* referendums
* initiatives/proposition

Pluralist Democracy

groups of people who associate with the same interests, compete to influence policy

* NAACP (worked towards civil rights)
* NRA (promotes 2nd amendment rights)

Elite Democracy

emphasis more limited participation in policy making on the assumption that government is complicated and therefore the most educated people need to run it

* electoral college

Federalist 10

discussed the issue of factions, or interest groups, in a large republic. He argued that a large republic would prevent any single faction from gaining complete control, but also recognized that factions could lead to the suppression of minority opinions.

Brutus

raised concerns about the concentration of power in the national government and the potential for elected representatives to become an elite class, disconnected from the people they were supposed to represent; power at local/state level, Against Constitution

The Great Compromise

created House and Senate; House (pop)435 seats and Senate (equal rep) 2 seats

* based off New Jersey Plan (equal rep)
* Virginia Plan (favor to large states)

Three-Fifths Compromise

Slaves counts as 3/5 of a person for representation in the House

Electoral College

States decides who's president; people choose their electoral, popular vote doesn't have final say

Three branches of govt

Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary

Executive

enforces laws

Legislative

makes laws

Judiciary

Interprets laws; court systems

Federalism

division of power among federal, state, and local government

Exclusive/Delegated powers

Powers that are exclusively granted to the federal government and cannot be exercised by the states

Concurrent powers

These are powers that are shared by both the federal government and the states

Reserve Powers

powers to the states, not explicitly said in Constitution

Dual Federalism

layer-cake federalism; power divided clearly between the federal and state govt

Cooperative federalism

federal/state govt work together to carry out shared responsibility and duties; marble cake

Categorical grants

federal $ to states for a specific purpose; gets to tell states how to spend and what to do with the $; "strings attached"

Mandates

rules of what states MUST do to, regardless of funds

Block grants

federal $ to states with a broad purpose

Devolution

Attempt to give states power

Supremacy Clause

supreme law of the land

Necessary and Proper Clause

allows Congress to pass laws that they believe are necessary in order to perform their responsibilities.

checks and balances

The system by which the powers of the different branches of government are balanced and limited, preventing any one branch from becoming too powerful

* Congress - Advice and consent
* President - Veto/executive orders
* Judicial - judicial review

Natural Rights

Rights people posses by natural law, apart from government

* life, liberty, pursuit of happiness (Locke)

Popular Sovereignty

by nature, the power to govern is in the hands of the people

Social Contract

in order to protect natural rights, people willingly give some of their rights to the government

Republicanism

people **elect** leaders to represent them and create laws in public interest

Limited Government

government that is prevented from tyranny; to protect citizens rights

* checks and balances
* distribution of power

Shay’s Rebellion

Rebellion against the government (Articles) by veterans no paid for the war; demonstrated the weakness of the Articles

* government couldn’t put down rebellion due to no official military

Articles of Confederation

First government

* one branch of govt (congress )
* difficult amendment process; need **all** states to agree
* couldn’t tax
* couldn’t raise army

Constitution

The second and current constitution of the United States which established a stronger central government with defined powers and a separation of powers between branches of government

Electoral College Compromise

Compromise: based on both popular and elite decisions; state is assigned number of electors based on population who cast the final choice

Compromise for slave importation

Government could not touch the Slave Trade for 20 twenty, after that it would be finished

Separation of powers

The division of the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government among separate branches, with each branch acting as a check on the powers of the others

Federalist 51

discusses the concept of separation of powers and checks and balances, argues that these are essential to protecting individual liberties and preventing the abuse of power by any one branch of government

Full faith and credit clause

This clause prevents one state from ignoring the valid legal acts of another state

Extradition Clause

States are required to surrender individuals who have fled from one state to another to face criminal charges

Privileges and Immunities clause

Citizens of each state are entitled to the same privileges and immunities as citizens of every other state

Commerce Clause

Clause in Constitution that gives Congress the power to regulate commerce between the states and with foreign nations