AP Government Unit 1

Vocab covered from Heimler's History Review Videos In Progress

Limited Government

people in democratic societies admit the need for a government but it only has powers delegated to it by law, ex: Jefferson faced cognitive dissonance when buying the Louisiana Territory because he believed he could only be given power if stated in the constitution

Enlightenment

European Intellectual Movement, influenced the founders of the United States

Natural Rights

the idea that people are born with certain rights that are given to them by their creator (were not given and can not be taken by a monarch)

John Locke

contributed to the idea of natural rights, wrote the Two Treatises of Government that says people are endowed just by virtue of being born a human with the rights of life, liberty and property

State of Nature

Locke and Hobbes argued that humans are free and that comes before any government

Thomas Hobbes

contributed to the idea of natural rights but said that government was necessary as a device for ensuring collective security

Popular Sovereignty/ Social Contract

that idea that by nature the power to govern is in the hands of the people, and to protect their natural rights people willingly give over some of that power to a government, AKA the state is the servant of the people

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

wrote the treatise called the Social Contract, additionally he wrote that if the government violates the agreement, it is the people’s duty to overthrow that government

Republicanism

a form of government that means people elect leaders to represent them and create laws in the public interest, to keep this government from becoming tyrannical, he argued that power ought to be separated between three branches: executive, legislative and judicial

Baron de Montesquieu

wrote the book The Spirit of Laws, which had many beliefs on republicanism

Declaration of Independence

outlined the reasons for the official break between American colonies and British Empire, written by Thomas Jefferson with help from John Adams and Benjamin Franklin

Consitution

foundational document which provides the blueprint for enlightenment ideas of separation of powers

Philadelphia Convention of 1787 (Consitutional Convention)

delegates met at this convention to discuss and draft a new constitution because the Articles of Confederation led to problems in America

Grand Committee

tasked with forging compromises that were required to draft a new governing document during the constitutional convention

James Madison

Took lead on writing the new constitution, laid the foundation for republicanism and the seperation of powers

Representative Republic

united states is a pure democracy in which everybody gets a vote, the people vote to get representatives who would then legislate on the behalf of the people

Participatory Democracy

emphasizes broad participation in politics and civil society, wants as many people as possible, vote on laws directly

Intiative

voters put a measure on the ballot which they want passed into law, if representatives do not propose a bill the poeple will do it for them

Referendum

when people oppose a law that is passed by their legislature, if the law is unpopular and enough people support this, they can call for a vote to defeat that law

Elite Democracy

emphasizes limited participation by a few, well-education and informed statespeople who are qualified to direct the nation through law making on behalf of the people

Electoral College

example of elite democracy, its not the people who vote the president in but rather a handful of electors from the various states

Pluralist Democracy

describes group-based activism by nongovernmental interests which work to impact political decision making

Interest Groups

groups that form around a particular cause, helps average citizens have a big influence on the representatives in congress

Purpose of the Declaration of Independence

rally troops to fight at home and to secure foreign allies who would be able to help the Americans win the war against Britain, and demonstrate and explain why they are taking action and how

Federalist Papers

Hamilton and Madison published essays in the NY newspaper in order to convince the public to ratify the new constitution, addressed common objections to the new government and gave a sense of how the nation would work under the new constitution

Federalist 10

an essay by James Madison trying to answer the question of how the new constitution will protet the liberty of citizens against the tyranny of the majority

Main idea and proposals in the Federalist 10

address dangers of factions (believing they are a threat to liberty), madison proposes that they should stop factions from forming (but this would impose liberty) or limit their effects (through a republican style government),

Factions

a group of citizens who desire to dominate government so that they might impose their own interest on the whole society, believe their interests are more important than any other interest

How does a republican government solve the problem of factions?

as size and diversity grow and in doing so you take in a greater variety of parties and interests, making it less probable that a majority will have a common motive or action in unison (debate and compromise) because they are at competition with one another

Brutus No. 1

of the anti-federalist papers, arguing in support of a confederacy, which should be better than what the constituion would establish, opposed to the necessary and proper clause and the supremacy clause

Necessary and Proper Clause

in the constitution, says that congress can make any law which shall be necessary and proper to the execution of its enumerated powers

Supremacy Clause

says that federal laws have greater authority than state laws

Main Concern of Brutus No. 1

history had never seen a republican style government govern a large population like the United States and that the necessary and proper clause and supremacy clause of the constitution would create a powerful central government and render state government unnecessary, thus squashing the interest of teh states, so the liberty can only be keep when the constitution is not ratified

Biggest part of the Debate between Federalist 10 vs Brutus 1

Between regional and economic majority rule (federalist for centralized power) or minority rights ( anti-federalists against ratification of constitution/ centralized power)

Letters from the Federalist Farmer

from the anti-federalist papers, Hamiliton acknowledged them as the most cogent of the writers

History of the Articles of Confederation

After independence, the 13 states needed to create a constitution, in turn they created their own, this wasn’t great to do task in order to bound each other together

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

federal government only had one branch, all 13 states must agree to an amendment of the articles, congress had no power to raise tax revenue, Congress couldn’t pay debt, no national currency, congress couldn’t raise a national army

Shay’s Rebellion

farmers became in debt because of inflation and new taxes being imposed upon, in turn they petitioned for relief, but government did not offer it, Daniel Shay organized a militia and formed a rebellion, demonstrated the weakness of the Articles of Confederation (no way to help rebellion)