American Democracy and Voting Unit 1

American Democracy

A system of government in which power is vested in the people, who rule either directly or through freely elected representatives.

Individual rights

The liberties of each individual to pursue life and goals without interference from other individuals or the government.

EX: of individual rights

Freedom of speech, bill of rights

LImited Government

The government is not all-powerful and can only do things that the people have given it the power to do.

Ex: of limited government

Freedom of speech

seperation of powers

There are three distinct & independent branches of government & many actions require the cooperation of two or more

EX: separation of powers

executive, legislative, judicial branches

Checks and Balances

each branch is restrained by the other two branches and can stop the action from happening

EX: checks and balances

The president vetoing a bill that was passed by Congress (the executive branch "checking" the legislative branch)

Federalism

the division of power among a central government and several regional governments

Rule of Law

Every person, even leaders of the government, must follow the law

EX: rule of law

if you commit a crime you go to jail no matter who you are

Popular Sovereignty

all political power resides in the people

EX: popular sovereignty

the presidential elections, voting

Republicanism

the people elect representatives at regular intervals to make decisions on their behalf

EX: republicanism

congressional elections

The constitution justifies 2 things:

creating a nation, and war

Three big ideas of the constitution

people have rights, government should protect those rights and another one i didn't find it

Four parts of the constitution

Preamble, Articles, Bill of Rights, Amendments

How many words are in the constitution

1300

How many grievances are in the constitution

27

What is the 150 years of salutary neglect

Britain ignoring the colonies

French and indian war

(1754-1763) War fought in the colonies between the English and the French for possession of the Ohio Valley area. The English won.

Committee of 5 for the constitution:

Thomas jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman

Antislavery and pro-slavery

was split between the writers

The declaration of independence

1776 statement, issued by the Second Continental Congress, explaining why the colonies wanted independence from Britain.

Delegated Powers

Powers specifically given to the federal government by the US Constitution, for example, the authority to print money.

Concurrent powers

powers shared by the state and federal governments

denied powers

Powers which the constitution prohibits to the national and state governments

Reserved powers

powers that the Constitution does not give to the national government that are kept by the states

Confederacy

A loose union of independent states; no central power EX: eurpoean union

Why a confederacy?

people wanted a system of government to be as opposite as possible to what the rule of england was like

firm league of friendship

one branch of government : Legislative called the confederation of congress

Powers of the Confederation Congress

to coin money, to make treaties with forging nations and to request money from the states

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

no power to tax, President lacked power, no money to buy ships or pay soldiers

Shay's rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

Strengths of the Articles of Confederation

self government, the Northwest Ordinance, freedom of speech, freedom of press freedom of religion, not allowed to have slavery

Annapolis Convention (1786)

Held to discuss the barriers that limited trade or commerce between the largely independent states under the Articles of Confederation.

Historical Significance:

Led to the Constitutional (Philadelphia) Convention in 1787.

The name Cato comes from

a politician in ancient Rome who killed himself because he didn't want to live in Julius Caesar's new government

The name Anti-Federalist comes from

the federalist - describing their opponents

The number of essays in the federalist papers

85

The number of oppositional essays

150

Opponets of teh anti-federalist would have been called

pro-republican

Publius comes from

a guy in ancient rome who helped overthrow the monarchy and create the republic of the people

federalist

A term used to describe supporters of the Constitution during ratification debates in state legislatures.

Anti-federalist

Anti-Federalists rose up as the opponents of the Constitution during the period of ratification. They opposed the Constitution's powerful centralized government, arguing that the Constitution gave too much political, economic, and military control. They instead advocated a decentralized governmental structure that granted most power to the states

No. 10 on Fractions of the Republic

madison, how will the gov. get things does with a split country, advantages of a large republic

No. 78 on independence judiciary & separation of powers

alexander hamilton, writing about importance of an independent judiciary

Bill of Rights

First 10 amendments to the Constitution

No. 70 on the need for a chief executive

strong executive individual and executive branch

No. 39 on the federal structure of power

it is a federal and partly nation in the operation of power

Anarchy

without any governing body of hierarchical rule

Autocracy

Form of government where on person holds all power and makes decisions without approval of everyone else

Confederation

Union of sovereign states of groups that form a central entity for a common purpose while retaining significance, individual powers

Direct Democracy

s political system where citizen participate directly in decision making on laws and policy rather than through representatives

Monarchy

undivided rule or absolute sovereignty (supreme power) nu a single person

EX: Anarchy

Somalia

EX: Autocracy

North Korea

EX: Confederation

European Union

Ex. of direct democracy

Switzerland

EX: Monarchy

Austria

Oligarcy

a form of government that consist of a small selective group of people, often wealthy, that have all the power over the country

Socialism

a government that refers to economic and political philosophies advocating for social ownership. wanting to create a more equal society by distribution resources and goods

Theocracy

a system of government in which a priest rule in the name of a god or gods

Unitary

a government that has one central power instead of several levels of authority, this is the opposite of a federal government

Ex of Oligarchy

Russia

Ex of socialism

Sweden

Ex of theocracy

Iran

ex of unitary government

Great Britain

voting

citizens making choices in election to select leaders laws and other things in our democracy

In maine

people that are convicted of a felony can vote

The 15th amendment granted who the right to vote

african americans

In 1776 years ago, the only people who could vote when our nation was founded was

white, land-pwning, literate, poll tax paying men over the age of 21.

In 1856, after the passage of local laws throughout the nation starting in the 1820s voting rights were extended to

white men over the age of 21.

In 1870, after the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments voting rights were extended to, but marginally granted in practice to

all men, including black men, (test and poll tax were used to prevent many of them from voting)

In 1920, after the passage of the 19th amendment, voting rights were extended throughout the nation after decades of vocal protest to

women (although the barriers to prevent non-white women to vote remained in place)

In 1924, after the passage of the federal law, voting rights were extended to

indigenous americans

In 1943, in the midst of WWII, after the passage of the federal law voting rights were extended to

Chinese Americans

In 1961, after the passage of the 23rd amendment voting for U,S, president (but not a representative in congress) were extended to

citizens of D.C.

In 1965, after the passage of the voting rights act and the 24th amendment, voting rights were truly and finally extended in practice to

Black Americans (by banning the poll tax and federally enforcing elections)

In 1971, after the passage of the 26th amendment, voting rights were extended to

Americans aged 18 and older

In 1984 after the passage of federal law, voting accessibility was extended to

americans who are disabled or elderly and unable to easily vote at polling stations

In 1975, after the passage of amendment to the voting tights act voting accessibility was extended to

Americans who aren't literate in english

In 1984, after a US district court decision declared a violation of the Equal Protection clause, voting rights were extended to

americans who are homeless

In 1986, after the passage of federal law, voting accessibility was extended to

american military members and civilians living over seas

In 1998, after the passage of state la, voter accessibility in Oregon followed by Washington in 2011 and Colorado in 2013 was extended to

Americans who have any difficulty attending pilling stations by creating vote-by-mail only elections

vica voce voting

voting by voice just moving to one side to vote for a candidate

Ballot voting

An issue/budget that is put on the ballot and citizens vote on it by ballot for a town/city

paper voting

scraps of paper counted, had problems with hand writing

Party Newspapers

periodical publications used by political parties to disseminate party information and encourage more active political participation among grassroots voters

party tickets

cutting your ballot out of the news paper

Colored paper ballots

people couldn't hide who they were voting for people would beat others up if they were voting for the opposite party that they wanted to win.

Australian ballot

a government-printed ballot of uniform dimensions to be cast in secret that many states adopted around 1890 to reduce voting fraud associated with party-printed ballots cast in public

Donkey and elephant symbols

how people that had limited literacy could vote

Mail-in only

voters only allowed to vote by mail in ballots

Photo ID Requirement

laws that require a person to provide some form of official identification before they are permitted to register to vote, receive a ballot for an election, or to actually vote

Automatic Registration

Enrollment of voters done by the government automatically, without requiring the individual to take any particular action to be eligible to vote.

Early voting

an accommodation that allows voting up to two weeks before Election Day

Two party system

a political structure in which two major parties dominate the electoral process and constantly control the government while the third parties rarely get elected

Why are third parties important?

A. They give more people a way to express ideas, introduce new ideas, influence major party platforms, and act as a voice for minority opinions.