American Government - CLEP

Early Immigration

Western and northern Europe.

Second Wave

Immigrants from southern and eastern Europe; before and after World War II

Recent Immigration

Large numbers of people from Latin America and Asia

Machine Politics

an organizational style of local politics in which party bosses traded jobs, money, and favors for votes and campaign support

Liberty

Freedom for people to do what they want

Limited government

places relatively few restrictions on it's citizens' freedom.

Laissez-faire capitalism

government that places relatively few restrictions on its citizens' freedom

Equality

treated the same as everyone else

Political equality

equality in political decision making: one vote per person, with all votes counted equally

Equality of opportunity

Giving people an equal chance to succeed.

Popular Sovereignty

rule by the people

Majority Rule

the doctrine that the numerical majority of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group

Tyranny of the majority

majority would ignore the basic rights of the minority

Individualism

a belief in the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence

Rugged individualism

the willingness of individuals to stand along and struggle long and hard to survive and prosper

Conformism

trying to be like everyone else

Unity

the quality of being united into one

Diversity

difference, variety

Multiculturalism

embrace diversity and learn about others cultures

government

is viewed as a necessary evil

Political efficacy

belief that one's actions can make a difference in govt. and that the govt. listens to normal, everyday people

American exceptional-ism

the idea that the U.S. differs from the rest of the world

Divine Providences

The idea that America has been chosen by God to be a beacon to the world.

Just principles

Unlike most states, the US was founded on ideas and principles, not by conquest

Geography and resources

The great wealth of resources and relative isolation of the US for much of it's history has made America unique among most other countries in the world

Diversity

American mix of cultures and traditions is the source of American strength.

Founding Fathers

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Alexander Hamiton, John Adoms, James Madison

Constitution

rules that determines how power will be used legitimately in a state

Declaration of Independence

1776; all men are created equal

Inalienable right

a right that all people in the world have that no one can take away

Congress achieved

Negotiating and signing the Treaty of Paris (1783) to end revolutionary war

Congress achieved

Passing the Northwest Ordinances (1787) to create a system for admitting new states to the union

Shay's Rebellion

Heavy taxes and big debt, showed how weak the Natl. Govt. was.

Constitutional (Philadelphia) Convention

created an entirely new stronger natl. govt.

Annapolis Convention

called Congress to make the Articles to make Congress stronger

Framers

wealthier and better educated than the average American

Virginia Plan

based on population to represent

New Jersey Plan

each state has equal representation

Supremacy clause

states that the Constitution and the laws Congress passes have more weight than state and local laws.

Great Compromise

created bicameral legislature... Senate and the House of Reps.

3/5 Compromise

slaves could be counted as a small population when voting

Electoral College

presidential voting system

Article 1

Legislative Branch

Article 2

Executive Branch

Article 3

Judicial Branch

James Madison

Father of the Constitution

Limits on power

Federalism

Limits on Power

Specificity

Limits on Power

Checks and balances

Limits on Power

The Bill of Rights

Limits on Power

Rules for Elections

Federalism

Division of power between the federal govt. and the states allows the different levels of govt. to check each other

Specificity

a program developed with selected activities to improve skills and conditioning for the purposes of achieving a goal

Checks and Balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power

The Bill of Rights

First 10 amendments of the Const. 1st 9 limited Congress' Power, the 10th gave states the power to make laws not included in the Constitution.

Rules for Election

The voters have the power to change the govt.

435

Seats in the House of Reps

100

Seats in the Senate

6 years

Senators serve?

2 years

House of Reps serve?

4 years

President serves?

Elastic clause

gives congress the power to do what is necessary

Congress can

make laws

Congress

has the power of the purse

Prohibited powers of Congress

Passing an ex post facto law

Prohibited powers of Congress

Passing a bill of attainder

Prohibited powers of Congress

Suspending the write of habeas corpus

Federalism

system of govt. in which the national and state govt. share power

Changing the constitution

is called an amendment

FIrst 10 Amendments

Bill of Rights

Federalists

Supporters of the Constitution

Federalist Papers

Written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay; to convince ppl to ratify the constitution

Antifederalists

believed that the Constitution took away power from the states, thereby taking power away from the people

Expressed (Enumerated)

Powers explicitly granted to Congress

Implied

Powers that Congress has assumed in order to better do its job.

Inherent

Powers inherent to a sovereign nation

Prohibited

Powers prohibited to the national government.

Commerce clause

the authority to regulate interstate commerce

Reservation Clause

Reserved to the States

Concurrent powers

powers held by both states and the national government

Full Faith and Credit Clause

both establishes and limits state powers

Charter

specifying its powers and responsibilities

Home rule

a promise by the state government to refrain from interfering in local issues

Special district

a local government created to deal with a single issue or problem

Dual Federalism

1789-1945; provisions for national and state government

States' Rights

Advocates believed that the individual state governments had power over the federal government because the sates had ratified the Constitution to create the federal goverment in the first place.

Privileges and immunities clause

no state can deny any citizen the privileges and immunitiess of American citizenship

Due process clause

limits states' abilities to deprive citizens of their legal rights

equal protection clause

all people get the equal protection of the laws

industrialization

economy became a national, industrial economy, and the federal government was much better equipped than the states to deal with this change.

Globalization

the US emerged as a global economic power

Cooperate Federalism

1945-1969 The States and National both rely on each other

New Federalism

1969-Present national government has grown too powerful and that power should be given back to the state

Devolution

policy of giving states power and responsibility for some programs

Fiscal Federalism

the national government also relying on the states to administer some federal policies

Grants-in-Aid

federal government giving money to the states for particular purposes

Block grants

money given for a fairly broad purpose with few strings attached

Categorical grants

money given for specific purpose that comes with restrictions concerning how the money should be spent; 2 types

Project Grants

money states apply for by submitting specific project proposals

Formula grants

Money given to states according to a mathematical formula