everything i need to learn ap gov in 4 days

Declaration of Independence

established

• popular sovereignty

• natural rights (we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal; endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights)

• social contract (Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed)

U.S Constitution

• republicanism

• separation of powers

• Shows elite democracy because elected representatives legislate on behalf of their people

• Shows pluralist democracy through first amendment’s freedom of assembly

• Shows participatory through first amendment’s free speech and press and voting expansion (civil rights, women’s suffrage)

Natural Rights

The idea that humans are born with rights given by god NOT THE GOVERNMENT, and therefore cannot be taken away by the government

Popular Sovereignty

By nature, the power to govern is in the people

Social Contract

People give up some of their power to the government to protect their natural rights, but if the government starts violating them then the people have a responsibility to overthrow the government

Limited Government

Checks and balances —> no tyranny

Republicanism

People elect leaders to represent them and create laws in public interest

participatory democracy

broad participation of most (if not all) of the population

• ex. town hall meetings

pluralist

groups of people associate with interest groups who then compete to influence society

• ex. NRA, NAACP

elite democracy

emphasizes more limited participation on the assumption that only the most educated (richest) are smart enough to be involved

• ex. electoral college

Brutus 1

• Championed a broad, participatory model and confederation of small republics

• Feared constitution and Federal government would be too powerful and endanger liberty and state sovereignty

• Believed that the US was too large, and that ordinary citizens would be too distant for leaders to represent their interests

• (necessary and proper clause give too much authority to Federal government)

Federalist 10

• Factions (groups of people with shared interests) are dangerous but can be controlled if the republic is large and has a strong central government

• Large republic control factions because no one/few factions will be able to gain a lot of power (because people disagree a lot)

• Pluralist democracy

Articles of Confederation

• states > federal

• Only one branch of government (congress)

• no power to raise taxes or army

Shay’s rebellion

A group of revolutionary war veterans weren’t getting paid and were getting punished for not paying taxes (which they couldn’t pay because they had to money). The started rebelling, but there wasn’t a formal army (only a militia) to stop them

Great compromise

• Virginia plan (representation by population) vs New Jersey (equal representation)

• Decided on bicameral congress (senate and HoR)

Electoral College

• Each state is given the number of electors that corresponds to the number of congressional representatives they have in the HoR

• State legislatures have all the power to decide who those people are

3/5s Compromise

• South (wanted slaves counted in the population) vs north (didn’t want slaves counted)

• Decided that every slave would be 3/5s of a person

Article V

Two stages process laid out to amend the Constitution

• Proposal

  • Proposed by 2/3 of HoR and Senate or 2/3 of state legislatures

• Ratification

  • ¾ of state legislatures need to approve it

Federalism

Sharing of power between national and state government

Exclusive powers

• Powers only for the federal government

• Ex. the ability to declare war or sign trade agreements

Reserved Powers

• Powers only for the state governments

• Found in 10th amendment

• All rights that aren’t explicitly given to the Federal government in the constitution or explicitly withheld from the states are reserved for the states

• Ex. police powers, education, hospitals

Concurrent

• Shared powers between federal and state governments

• Ex. taxation

Fiscal Federalism

Congress can choose to give or withhold money from states depending on whether or not they are complying with Congress’s rules

Ex. Congress withheld money for road and highway construction from states until they raised the drinking age to 21 (South Dakota v Dole) (example of categorical grant)

Mandates (Fiscal Federalism)

Required federal imposes on states to follow certain guidelines, often without financial support

• ex. Clean Air Act

Grants (Fiscal Federalism)

• Categorical Grants: money given to states as long as they comply with federal standards

• Block Grants: funds given to states for broader purposes with fewer restrictions

Fourteenth Amendment

Applies the Bill of Rights to the states

Commerce Clause

Allows Congress to regulate commerce among the states

Necessary and Proper (Elastic) Clause

Federal government can do what they need to do to uphold the laws that they are explicitly given in the tenth amendment

Ex. Hamilton saying a national bank was necessary for taxation and regulate interstate commerce

McCulloch v Maryland (1819)

• Balance of power in favor of Federal government

• Said that the necessary and proper clause implied powers not given to the Federal government in the constitution

• If there is conflict between Federal and State law, Federal > State (supremacy clause)

United States v Lopez (1995)

• Balance of power toward the states

• Congress used the commerce clause to ban guns on school property, but the Court decided that carrying guns to school isn’t related to interstate commerce, so Congress had overstepped its bounds into state authority

Paris Climate Agreement (Example of Federalism)

When Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, the standards for greenhouse gas emissions became more lax by the Federal government. However, California kept the same regulations that they had before withdrawing. So, what would have been legal emission standards federally were illegal locally.