AHTG Final

:)

Regressive Tax

Taxes as a percentage of income decrease with income (the poor pay more than the rich)

Progressive tax

Taxes as a percentage of income increases with income (the rich pay a greater percentage than the poor)

Proportional Tax ("flat")

The taxes are a constant percentage of income

15th Amendment

Big idea: Guarantees the right for former male slaves to vote

14th Amendment:

Big idea: Guarantees equal protection and applies the bill of rights to the states
States before this were allowed to violate the national bill of rights

13th Amendment

Big picture: Ends slavery

Equality of opportunity

The start is equal
Differences during the race lead people to finishing the race at different times

Equality of results

The disadvantaged are given advantages
The result is equal

Positive Exceptionalism

the idea that Americans are a distinct people with
special traits (probably mostly good, but some bad) that make them collectively and perhaps individually special.

Normative Exceptionalism

idea that some principles and ideas are true and worthy principles that merit consideration in organizing a good society
Basic values

Human Predicament Cycle

Coordination problem

How to get everyone together to contribute to a problem

Sandel

He emphasized welfare, freedom, and virtue (virtue was the most important)

Aristotle's view of government

Believed people were social and cooperated to create government by instinct. He also believed you should balance different types of government, and by fragmenting power and sharing it, there would be balance and stability.

Plato's view on human nature

He believed that humans were only good when they were being watched. He also believed that . the government should push virtue.

John Winthrop

- "City Upon a Hill" speaker
- believed in civil liberty
- Believed that you needed to accept that the government was in charge

Civil Liberty

The right to do that which was good, honest, and just.

Natural liberty

The right to do whatever you want.

Jamestown

Corporate community, they came sell glass and ended up selling tobacco, sole purpose was to make money.

Corporate communities

Existence is to make money.

Pilgrims/Plymouth

Covenant community in Mass, they created the Mayflower Compact, religious separatists wanting religious freedom from the Church of England

Covenant Communities

A community based on religious or moral values, made the agreement to work together with self-governance

Puritans

Neither a covenant or a corporate community, reform (or purify) the church, they had strong values, they were led by John Calvin

James I, Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Charles II, James II, William and Mary

Glorious Revolution succession of kings

Result of the Glorious Revolution

The colonists saw the result that people were in charge.

John Locke

The second treatise, Believed people were born a blank slate, founding fathers looked up to him

General, Prospectivity, Publicity, Due process, Consent

Five aspects of the rule of law

Generality

No one group can be targeted in laws

Prospectivity

Rule of law principle that states laws must apply to future action and not past action

publicity

Everyone needs to know about the law and has to be enforced consistently

Due process

The legal process must be applied to everyone equally

Consent

The people following the law have to be generally acceptable to the people living in them

Edmund Burke

His view on legislature was he will do what is right, not what his constituents necessarily want trustee model.

The Court Party

Consisted of individuals closer to power, also known as Tories. Supporters of the king

The Country Party

English opposition to the "Court party" that consisted of commonwealth men (everyday citizens). The Country party was considered morally independent with pure motives. Also known as the Whigs. Believed that whoever had power would eventually abuse it.

trustee model

a model of representation in which a member of the House or Senate follows his or her own conscience when deciding issue positions

Delegate model

The view that an elected represent should represent the opinions of his or her constituents.

Kennedy Profiles in Courage

You can't be just a delegate or just a trustree because you need to have bothl

Toussaint L'Ouverture

Was an important leader of the Haïtian Revolution and the first leader of a free Haiti; in a long struggle again the institution of slavery, he led the blacks to victory over the whites and free coloreds and secured native control over the colony in 1797, calling himself a dictator.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines

He was Toussaint L'ouverture's general, and took up the fight for the freedom of slaves in Saint Domingue on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean sea. In 1804, he declared the slave colony an independent country, the first black country to free itself from European control, and named the country Haiti.
He was extremely cruel and created no institutions

British Mercantilism

British goal was to increase gold and silver reserves. They restricted imports with tariffs, encouraged exports with subsidies, and wanted colonies to provide raw materials and some consumption goods.

Decentralized Government

Decentralization is achieved by dividing power between national and state governments and separating legislative, executive, and judicial branches at both levels.
Free exchange

Centralized government

A government in which power is concentrated in a central authority to which local governments are subject
Command, planned, regulated.

Stamp Act

1765; law that taxed printed goods, including: playing cards, documents, newspapers, etc.

Sovereignty

ultimate political power, having the final say

The Human Predicament Cycle

The cycle from tyranny to revolution to anarchy to competing factions, arising out of government's capacity to do great harm.

Tyranny

Absolute power

Revolution

Uprising to remove a tyrant from power

anarchy

Mass disorder and violence caused by a failure to agree on common means of government

Competing factions

groups that, in a state of anarchy, fight for supreme power and control; part of the human predicament cycle

The Good Society

Societies that avoided the human predicament. Peaceful, culture flourished. Not a place but an aspiration.

political legitimacy

justification, or sanction, for government beyond sheer necessity; legitimacy may be derived from divine right, wisdom, consent, etc.

Divine Right of Kings

Doctrine that states that the right of ruling comes from God and not people's consent

Theocracy

A government controlled by religious leaders

Aristocracy

A government in which power is in the hands of a hereditary ruling class or nobility

What gives legitimacy?

Consent of the governed.

Greek Freedom

The privilege of taking part in the political process and observing society's rules

Individual freedom

free to do whatever you want as long as it doesnt infringe on others freedom

Human nature

The fundamental disposition of humans that determines their behavior

Greek virtue

Civic qualities

Wisdom, courage, temperance, justice

Plato's 4 virtues

Christian virtue

inner qualities including meekness, patience, humility, long-suffering, compassion, love for neighbor

European Enlightenment

18th century philosophical movement that proposed individual self-interest, rather than Greek virtue or Christian humility, as the motivating factor in human behavior

Autocracy

a system of government by one person with absolute power. Leaders believe people are like children who need to be controlled and that government is necessary.

Classical Republicanism

Human beings are not necessarily corrupt . but they are corruptible. If proper moral values were enforced, they may be able to govern themselves.

Libertarianism

Individual freedom is the most important and governments should respect it. They believe some people are bad, some people are good. Government interactions do very little to change human nature and should be kept to a minimum.

Liberalism

Human beings are essentially good. Conflict arises from social institutions, not the human heart. They have a kind view of government and insist on government intervention in economics.

Christopher Columbus

Believed European civilization was superior to all others, had good luck, and poets believed America could start over again.

John Rolfe

Jamestown colony leader who showed that tobacco could be grown successfully in Virginia

Indentured Servitude

A worker bound by a voluntary agreement to work for a specified period of years often in return for free passage to an overseas destination.

House of Burgesses

the first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619, representative colony set up by England to make laws and levy taxes but England could veto its legislative acts.
This led to Virginians gaining hands-on political experience.

John Calvin

- Influenced Puritan beliefs and thought that the Bible was the final authority
- Salvation comes through grace and believed in pre-destination.
- Bible is the final authority
- Christian calling

God's Elect

From John Calvin's predestination theology, the doctrine that God has already chosen those who will be saved. These elect people are to build a holy community as an example.

The Christian Calling

From the theology of John Calvin- people should pursue a "calling" in some sort of worldly work where they are to rise early in the morning, work hard, save their money, and invest it wisely. Prosperity indicates God's approval.

Moral Self-Governance

Puritan ideal that all must live a righteous life largely on their own, with each man being responsible for his own actions and those of his family - with an eye on his neighbor as well

Lockean Liberty

Not freedom to participate in gov, but rather the freedom of individuals to live their lives without interference. Freedom from society instead.

Second Treatise of Government

Written by Locke, Government created to protect life, liberty, and property.

Glorious Revolution

Monarchy was subject to parliament. The goal of this was decentralization and giving the power back to the people. Also about linking legitimacy and sovereignty. Inspired the colonists.

Natural Law

God's or nature's law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law

Natural Rights

Fundamental rights granted by nature that government cannot abrogate and which government is bound to protect

England Common Law

Law derived from court precedents and based on natural law. This was primary in England.

Adam Smith

Scottish economist who wrote the Wealth of Nations a precursor to modern Capitalism. Considered the father of modern economics.

Mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought.

command systems

systems which the government controls, or commands economic activity (i.e. socialism, communism)

Navigation Acts

Acts passed in 1660 passed by British parliament to increase colonial dependence on Great Britain for trade; limited goods that were exported to colonies; caused great resentment in American colonies. Americans saw this as demeaning to their freedom of choice.

coincidence of wants

when two parties each possess something desired by the other, promoting an exchange

Law of Demand

consumers buy more of a good when its price decreases and less when its price increases

Law of Supply

producers offer more of a good as its price increases and less as its price falls

equilibrium price

the price that balances quantity supplied and quantity demanded

Role of Profits

in a market economy, as profits increase, the number of suppliers and resources for making that good will increase

invisible hand

term economists use to describe the self-regulating nature of the marketplace

Russ Roberts Reading

We should marvel at how the cooperation problem is solved without anyone in charge.

Competition in the market

No one controls the price, price is usually lower and the quality is better

Cooperation in markets

Specialization, division of labor helps us create better products.

law of comparative advantage

the individual, firm, region, or country with the lowest opportunity cost of producing a particular good should specialize in that good

Matthew Ridley Ted Talk

lays out the case for how ideas can promiscuously interact and lead to progress, the ultimate goal of a good society

5 Roles of Government in a Market Economy

Prevent coercion and fraud, Provide money, provide infrastructure, define property rights, enforce exchange agreements

Boston Tea Party

British thought that cheap tea would allow the colonists to overlook a small tax. However, this didn't work. Colonists were angry that they were taxed without their consent. Britain in retaliation went and occupied Boston and the colonies rallied around Boston. This was the first time the colonies united together.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine

powerful pamphlet telling the colonists to break free. British were trying to destroy colonies' natural rights. Government is there to protect life liberty and property. Power came from people, not kings. Colonies don't benefit from British Empire. Government and society are opposites. Government is produced by wickedness and society is produced by wants.
The purpose of government is to judge people, to provide security, uphold laws, and punish crimes.

Declaration of Independence

The unifying document of the revolutionary war