Federal Government 2305 Review Guide

3 forms of government

monarchy, dictatorship, democracy

Monarchy

A government ruled by a king or queen. Strong and weak law.

Oligarchy

A government ruled by a few powerful people. Athenian Democracy. Thomas Jefferson wote about not doing this.

Democracy

a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

Inderect and direct

(for democracy) inderect: represenative

direct: all hands-on deck everybody decides what needs to be decided and whoever has more votes win

Thomas Hobbes

(pessimist -) believed that people are born selfish and need a strong central authority. o He strongly believed in monarchy (king

John Locke

(optimistic +) English philosopher who argued that people have natural rights. He was all about proper "pursuit of property" "life, liberty, and happiness". He believed that people should get power and gov serves.

Marcus Ellias

He was coveting after he saw what John Locke did.

The Preamble to the U.S. Constituion

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America"

Equality : Rational Discrimination

our greatest challange till this day and biased.

Freedom of Discrimination by law

Being able to be ourselves either that being bad or good.

The five tenets

Individualism, Liberty, Equality, Consitutional, Democracy

Individualism

the belief that each person should act in accordance with their own conscience.

Liberty

government should not infringe upon an individual's rights or freedoms; ex. government's job #1 is to enable to individual to become all that they can be.

Equality

freedom from racial discrimination or oppression

Consitutional

government should be limited by a written constitution.

Democracy

people hold the power and government serves

The Five Civic Virtues

Civic Knowledge, Civic Participation, Self- Reliance, Self-Restraint, Pratriotism

civic knowledge

the belief that each citizen should acquire, possess, and pass on a basic understanding of the Nation's systems of government, including its icons, processes, and traditions. This forms Our Common Ground.

civic participation

o the belief that the nation's systems of government function as parts of a deliberative democracy, requiring the active and passive (tacit) consent of its citizens.

self-reliance

o the belief that each citizen should be encouraged, socialized, and trained to function as apart of society, this relates to the theory of the "weakest link" in which citizen adopts the mentality that they are the weakest link in the chain of society, so they can improve to be the strongest "weakest link".

Self-Restraint

o the ability to control your own actions and emotions, by listening to the better angles of our nature rather than the devils.

Patriotism

(NOT nationalism) - The love of a country based on a reason. Holds that you should love your country enough to tell it when it is doing right and when it is doing wrong, and ACT to ensure that it does better.

SCOTUS

Supreme Court of the United States, determines our liberty/freedom and our voice to our government.

Being able to vote

§ AGE - 18

§ RESIDENCY

§ CITIZENSHIP

"community supervison"

meaning yet to complete your sentence meaning you cannot vote.

"non campos mentis"

§ Court proceeding where the judge determines you can't make adult decisions for yourself.

§ Your voting right will be denied until you are "cured"

Elites Theory

o Has to do with privileged (NOT OLIGARCHY)

o Individuals and family that want power and try to elevate themselves "status qou" (using violence and gov) and only some people are happy.

3 systems of power

Unitary, Federal, and Confederate Systems.

unitary system

A government that gives all key powers to the national or central government

federal system

A government that divides the powers of government between the national government and state or provincial governments

Confederate system

A system of government with a very weak central government and strong states.

Powers

Explicit and Implicit

o Explicit, enumerated, express

o Implicit, implied (reasonably assumed exist - proper cause) allows gov to expand for constitution duties

concurrent powers

(with time/ at the same time) powers shared by the state and federal governments.

The power to...

§ Educate

§ Legislate

§ Coin money

§ Adjudicate

§ Incarcerate

§ Tax

ex post facto law

a law that would allow a person to be punished for an action that was not against the law when it was committed.

Bills of Attainder Laws

laws under which specific persons or groups are detained and sentenced without trial

Elastic Clause

the part of the Constitution that permits Congress to make any laws "necessary and proper" to carrying out its powers. (Necessary + Power Clause)

James Madison

"Father of the Constitution," Federalist leader, and fourth President of the United States.

How many amendments does the Constitution have?

twenty-seven (27)

she will not test on 7, 12, 17, 23 i will not include them so dw!

1st Amendment

Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition

2nd Amendment

Right to keep and bear arms

3rd Amendment

No quartering of troops

4th Amendment

Protection against Unreasonable Search and Seizure

5th Amendment

The Right to Remain Silent/Double Jeopardy, right to due process

6th Amendment

The right to a Speedy Trial by jury, representation by an attorney for an accused person

8th Amendment

No cruel and unusual punishment

9th Amendment

Citizens entitled to rights not listed in the Constitution

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.

11th Amendment

Prohibits citizens of one state or foreign country from suing another state.

Bill of Rights

First 10 amendments to the Constitution. - The individual rights and freedom.

Franchise

the right to vote

executive agreement

an agreement between the president and the leader of another country.

Orders, Privildege, and Prerogative.

political party

A group of individuals with broad common interests who organize to nominate candidates for office, win elections, conduct government, and determine public policy. (controlling)

National Convention

The meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform.

Electoral College

A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president. o Casts the final ballot for POTUS, usually happens after the general election (Dec 7-15) The elector is the one that won that general election night and cast their final vote, in the capital building that they meet in the capital grounds and cast their vote together and declaring who will be president.

How Many Houses of represenatives?

435

Explain the relationship between companion bulls & compromised bills?

Companion bills are identical, compromised bills are merged versions.

13th Amendment

abolished slavery

14th Amendment

Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws

15th Amendment (1870)

U.S. cannot prevent a person from voting because of race, color, or creed

16th Amendment

Allows the federal government to collect income tax

18th Amendment

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcoholic beverages

19th Amendment (1920)

Gave women the right to vote

20th Amendment

Congress begins on January 30th; President starts on January 20th

"Lame-duck" Amendment

21st Amendment

Amendment which ended the Prohibition of alcohol in the US, repealing the 18th amendment

22nd Amendment

Limits the president to two terms.

24th Amendment

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1964) eliminated the poll tax as a prerequisite to vote in national elections.

25th Amendment

Presidential Succession; Vice Presidential Vacancy; Presidential Inability

26th Amendment

lowered the voting age to 18

27th Amendment

Limits the power of Congress to increase its own salaries

7 articles of the constitution

1.) Legislative Power; 2.) Executive Power; 3.) Judicial Power; 4.) States' Power & Limits; 5.) Process of Amendments; 6.) Federal Powers; 7.) Ratification

Supreme Court

the highest federal court in the United States. Mechanism of law, they think they needed for our preamble.

Preemption

The right of a federal law or a regulation to preclude enforcement of a state or local law or regulation.

Inclusion = Key: Court Order

Putting the supreme clause into action

jury nullification/ homocide

Going to a capital case meaning death penalty

Double Jeopardy (5th Amendment)

The act of putting someone on trial again for the exact same crime, which cannot be done.

Revisions

Comprehensive: · Throw the whole thing out and make a new one. (constitutions)

· Period of flawlessness.

· It forces the change.

· Texas have been trying to change the constitution for many years but don't success as people do not change.

Piecemeal:· Is when you change the cons bit by bit, piece by piece incurability like an amendment.

· If you have 7 pair of socks, you change it 6 times. (Like amendments 27 has 26 changes)

Preemption

A doctrine under which certain federal laws preempt, or take precedence over, conflicting state or local laws.

portability clauses

Clauses that allow accumulated pension rights to be transferred to another employer when an employee changes employers

5 fundamental freedoms

Assembly: associations (who you hang out with, be careful)

Petition: right to tell your gov of what is doing right or wrong,

Establishment clause- First Amendment ban on laws "respecting an establishment of religion"

Exercise clause- you should be able to freely ptactice your relgion.

seperation of church and state

The concept that religion and government should remain seperate. The principle is the basis for the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

liberal

tolerant or broad-minded; generous or lavish ex. Consitution and Texas Consitution.

defemation of character

slander: spoken (people in twitter)

libel - written (newspapers)

Jurisdiction

the official power to make legal decisions and judgments. (jurisdx)

enfranchise

to give the right to vote

disenfranchise

to lose the right to vote

civil rights acts of 1964

banned discrimination in public places, ending the era of Jim Crow

Voting rights of 1965

act which guaranteed the right to vote to all Americans, and allowed the federal government to intervene in order to ensure that minorities could vote

1970

Equal Pay Act

1930s

Great Depression and The end of World War I

Civil Liberties

freedoms to think and act without government interference or fear of unfair legal treatment

SCOTUS Meetings

every first mnday of october

Subcommittee

A group within a standing committee that specializes in a subcategory of its standing committee's responsibility

4 classifications of committees

Standing, Joint, Conference, and Special

standing committee

A permanent committee established in a legislature, usually focusing on a policy area

joint committee

A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigations.

conference committee

Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form.

special committee

a temporary committee organized around a specific purpose. Also called a select committee or an ad hoc committee, a special committee is usually investigative in nature and lacks the authority to review legislation.

Judicial Philosophies

Views about the way in which law should develop and about the role that courts should play in the American political system

judicial activism

A judicial philosophy in which judges make bold policy decisions, even charting new constitutional ground. Advocates of this approach emphasize that the courts can correct pressing needs, especially those unmet by the majoritarian political process.