American Government Exam 1

Politics

The process through which individuals and groups make collective decisions about who gets what, when, and how, especially involving power and government.

Government

The institutions and processes through which a society makes and enforces collective decisions and rules.

Why do we need government?

Government helps societies solve collective action problems, provide public goods, establish rules, protect rights, maintain order, and resolve conflicts.

Public Goods

Goods or services that are available to everyone and are difficult to prevent people from using; examples include national defense and clean air.

Collective Action Problems

Situations in which individuals have difficulty working together to achieve a shared goal because individuals may have incentives to act in their own self-interest.

Free Riders

People who benefit from a public good or collective effort without contributing to its cost.

Prisoners’ Dilemma

A situation where individuals acting in their own self-interest can produce an outcome that is worse for everyone than if they cooperated.

How does the Prisoners’ Dilemma apply to politics?

Political actors may have incentives to act in their own interests even when cooperation would produce a better result for everyone, such as voting, paying taxes, or participating in collective action.

Nash Equilibrium

A situation in which each person or player is choosing the best strategy given the strategies chosen by everyone else, so no one has an incentive to change their choice alone.

Tragedy of the Commons

A situation in which individuals acting in their own self-interest overuse a shared resource, eventually harming everyone who depends on it.

Rivalrous Goods

Goods where one person's use reduces the amount available for others; for example, food.

Excludable Goods

Goods where people can be prevented from using them if they do not pay or meet certain requirements.

Rivalrous and Excludable Goods

Private goods are both rivalrous and excludable because one person's use reduces availability and people can be prevented from using them.

Teaching Assistant’s Name

Fill in your specific TA's name from your class materials.

Declaration of Independence

The 1776 document in which the American colonies declared independence from Great Britain and explained why they believed they had the right to do so.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

A 1963 letter by Martin Luther King Jr. defending nonviolent civil rights protests and arguing that people have a moral responsibility to oppose unjust laws.

Declaration of Independence vs. Letter from Birmingham Jail

Both argue that people have the right and responsibility to challenge unjust government. The Declaration justified independence from British rule, while King argued for civil rights and resistance to racial injustice within the United States.

Prisoners’ Dilemma and the American Revolution

The colonies faced a collective action problem because each colony could benefit from independence while hoping others would bear the costs and risks of revolution. Cooperation was necessary for the colonies to successfully resist Britain.

Articles of Confederation

The first governing document of the United States, adopted during the Revolutionary War, that created a weak national government and gave most power to the states.

Articles of Confederation: Structure

A confederation with a unicameral Congress, no separate executive branch, and no national court system. Each state had one vote in Congress.

Articles of Confederation: Weaknesses

The national government could not effectively tax, regulate interstate commerce, enforce laws, or maintain a strong military. Major decisions often required large majorities, making action difficult.

Republicanism

A system of government in which citizens elect representatives to make political decisions on their behalf.

Federalists

People who supported ratification of the Constitution and favored a stronger national government.

Antifederalists

People who opposed or were skeptical of the Constitution because they feared a strong national government would threaten states’ power and individual liberties.

Constitutional Convention

The 1787 meeting in Philadelphia where delegates met to revise the Articles of Confederation but ultimately created the U.S. Constitution.

Virginia Plan

A proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for a strong national government and a legislature with representation based on population, favoring larger states.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal that favored equal representation for each state in a unicameral legislature, protecting the interests of smaller states.

Great Compromise

The agreement that created a bicameral Congress with the House of Representatives based on population and the Senate giving each state two senators.

Three-Fifths Compromise

The constitutional agreement that counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for purposes of representation and taxation.

Debates at the Constitutional Convention

Delegates debated representation, the balance of power between branches and levels of government, slavery, executive power, and how much power the national government should have.

Majority Rule vs. Minority Rights

Majority rule means decisions are made according to the preferences of most people, while minority rights protect individuals and groups from having their rights taken away by the majority.

Small States vs. Large States

Small states wanted equal representation while large states wanted representation based on population; the Great Compromise addressed this conflict.

Legislative Power vs. Executive Power

Delegates debated how much power Congress should have to make laws compared with how much power the president should have to enforce laws and lead the executive branch.

National Power vs. State Power

Delegates debated whether power should be concentrated in the national government or remain primarily with individual states.

Slave States vs. Non-Slave States

Delegates disagreed over slavery and its effect on representation, taxation, and the political balance between slave and non-slave states.

Structure of Government under the Constitution

The Constitution created three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, with checks and balances and separation of powers.

Ratification Process

The process by which states approved the Constitution. Nine of the thirteen states had to ratify it for the Constitution to take effect.

Amendment Process

The process for formally changing the Constitution. An amendment generally requires proposal by two-thirds of Congress or a convention called by two-thirds of states and ratification by three-fourths of the states.

Understanding the Constitution

The Constitution can be understood through its text, historical context, government practices, precedents, and interpretations by courts and political institutions.

Past Actions and Precedents

Previous government actions can establish precedents that influence how constitutional powers and rules are understood.

Court Rulings

Decisions by courts that interpret the Constitution and laws and can establish legal precedents.

Acts of Congress

Laws passed by Congress that can help clarify how constitutional powers are exercised and interpreted.

Federalism

A system of government in which power is divided between a national government and state or regional governments.

Sovereign Power

The ultimate authority to make and enforce laws within a territory.

Confederation

A system in which independent states retain most political power and delegate limited powers to a weak central government.

Unitary Government

A system in which the central government holds most governing power and regional governments have authority delegated to them by the central government.

Powers of Federal Government

Powers granted to the national government by the Constitution, including regulating interstate commerce, conducting foreign policy, raising an army, and collecting taxes.

Powers of State Government

Powers retained by states, including many powers over education, public safety, local government, and health and welfare.

Concurrent Powers

Powers shared by both the federal and state governments, such as taxing, borrowing money, and establishing courts.

Federalism in the Constitution

The Constitution divides power between the federal and state governments and establishes rules for resolving conflicts between them.

How did the Constitution help prevent freeriding states?

The Constitution gave the federal government powers such as taxation and regulation of interstate commerce, allowing it to provide national goods and prevent states from benefiting without contributing.

Supremacy Clause

The constitutional principle that the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties are the supreme law of the land when they are validly made.

Enumerated Powers

Powers specifically listed and granted to the federal government in the Constitution.

Necessary and Proper Clause

The clause giving Congress power to make laws necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers; also called the Elastic Clause.

Commerce Clause

The constitutional provision giving Congress the power to regulate commerce among the states, with foreign nations, and with Native American tribes.

Tenth Amendment

The amendment stating that powers not delegated to the federal government and not prohibited to the states are reserved to the states or the people.

Dual Federalism

A model of federalism in which federal and state governments have relatively separate areas of authority.

States’ Rights

The idea that states should have significant authority and autonomy rather than having power concentrated in the federal government.

Cooperative Federalism

A model in which federal and state governments share responsibilities and work together to implement policies.

How has federalism changed over U.S. history?

Federalism has shifted between periods of stronger state power and periods of greater federal involvement, with the national government becoming especially influential during crises and major policy changes.

Coercive Federalism

A form of federalism in which the federal government pressures states to follow national policies through funding requirements, regulations, or other incentives and penalties.

Tools Federal Government Uses to Be Coercive

The federal government can use conditional funding, mandates, penalties, regulations, and threats to withhold federal funds to influence state governments.

Example of State Drinking Age

The federal government encouraged states to adopt a drinking age of 21 by threatening to withhold a portion of federal highway funds from states that did not comply.

Unfunded Mandates

Federal requirements imposed on state or local governments without providing enough federal money to pay for carrying them out.

How do activists view federalism?

Activists may support or oppose federalism depending on their goals. They may use federalism to push for change at the state level or seek federal action to create nationwide policies.

COVID and Federalism

COVID-19 demonstrated federalism because federal, state, and local governments shared responsibility for responding to the pandemic, sometimes producing different policies across states.

Desegregating UGA and Federalism

The desegregation of the University of Georgia involved federal constitutional authority and court enforcement overriding resistance at the state level.

Civil Liberties

Individual freedoms protected from government interference, such as freedom of speech, religion, and privacy.

Civil Rights

Protections against unequal treatment and discrimination, especially for groups that have historically faced discrimination.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution, which protect many individual liberties and limit government power.

Role of Bill of Rights in Protecting Civil Liberties

The Bill of Rights protects individuals from certain government actions that would violate fundamental freedoms.

Civil Liberties and the 14th Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment helped apply many protections in the Bill of Rights to state governments through the doctrine of selective incorporation.

Civil Rights and the 14th Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection and due process, providing a major constitutional basis for civil rights protections.

Origins of the Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in 1791 partly because Anti-Federalists demanded stronger protections for individual liberties.

Selective Incorporation

The process through which the Supreme Court has applied protections in the Bill of Rights to state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Due Process Clause

The constitutional requirement that government must follow fair legal procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property.

First Amendment

The First Amendment protects freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government.

Free Exercise Clause

The First Amendment protection of the right to practice one's religion without improper government interference.

Establishment Clause

The First Amendment prohibition against government establishing or officially favoring a religion.

Clear and Present Danger Test

A historical legal test used to determine whether speech could be restricted because it created a serious and immediate threat of harm.

Direct Incitement Test

The modern test for restricting speech that asks whether speech is intended and likely to produce imminent lawless action.

Symbolic Speech

Nonverbal actions that communicate an idea or political message and may receive constitutional protection.

Hate Speech

Speech expressing offensive or hateful ideas about a person or group. In the United States, offensive speech is generally protected unless it falls into an unprotected category such as direct incitement or true threats.

Prior Restraint

Government action that prevents speech or publication before it occurs; courts generally consider prior restraint highly unconstitutional.

Freedom of Religion

The First Amendment protection of religious belief and practice, including the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses.

Freedom of Speech

The First Amendment protection of individuals' ability to express ideas and opinions, subject to limited exceptions.

Freedom of the Press

The First Amendment protection allowing the press to publish information and criticize the government, subject to limited exceptions.

Freedom of Assembly

The First Amendment right to gather peacefully for political, social, religious, or other purposes.

Right to Petition Government

The First Amendment right to ask the government to address grievances or change policies.

Second Amendment

The Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms, subject to constitutional interpretation and regulation.

Right to Bear Arms

The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess and carry firearms, although the scope of the right and permissible regulations have been debated and defined by courts.

Third Amendment

The Third Amendment prevents the government from quartering soldiers in private homes without the owner's consent during peacetime and according to law during wartime.

Protection Against Quartering of Troops

The Third Amendment protects people from being forced to house soldiers in their homes.

Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.

No Unreasonable Searches and Seizures

The Fourth Amendment generally requires government searches and seizures to be reasonable and often requires a warrant supported by probable cause.

Probable Cause Needed for Search Warrants

Police generally must show probable cause and obtain a warrant from a judge before conducting a search, although there are recognized exceptions.

Right to Privacy

A person's ability to make certain personal decisions free from unjustified government interference. The Constitution does not contain one single explicit general right to privacy.

Sources of Privacy Rights

Privacy protections come from several constitutional provisions and amendments, including the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments, as interpreted by courts.

How has our understanding of rights developed over time?

Courts, constitutional amendments, legislation, social movements, and historical events have expanded, clarified, and sometimes limited how constitutional rights are understood.

Second Amendment Example

Use the specific Second Amendment case or example discussed in your class; know the facts, constitutional question, ruling, and reasoning.