unit 1 usgov

What is State of Nature

Obliged under the law of nature to respect each other's rights to life

List all of the enlightenment Ideals

Natural Rights, State of Nature, Popular Sovereignty, Social Contract, Republicanism, Separation of Powers

What are the enlightenment ideals in the Decelration?

Popular Sovereignty

Natural Rights

What are the enligthenment ideals in the Constituion?

Republicanism and Seperation of Powers

What are the 3 types of democracy

Participatory, Elitist, Pluralist

What is participatory democracy

Broad participation in politics, where citizens vote on laws directly

What are the downsides of participatory democracy

Hard to sustain over larger populations

What are some uses of Particpatory Democracy

Local Politics, Initiative and Refrenedum

What is Initative

voters put a measure on the ballot which they want passed into law if reps aren’t proposing it

What is referendum

people call a vote to defeat the law

What is Elite Democracy?

Limited participation by a few, well educated people that can make decisions on the behalf of the people

Examples of Elite Democracy

President appoints judges to Supreme Court

Electoral College

Pluarlist Democracy

Middle ground between elitist and participatory democracy —> interest groups work to impact political deiciosn making

Examples of Pluralist Democracy

Interest groups lobbying to have influence on the representatives in congress

States representing the interests of its citizens

How is the elite model reflected in the constitution

Provides for elected representatives that legislate on behalf of th epeople

How is the pluralist model reflected in the constituion

To get a law passed, various interests have to compromise to get it done

How is a participatory model reflected in the constituion

Fedarlism

What type of democracy did Brutus 1 champion

Participatory model

What was Fedearlist 10 and Brutus one a debate about?

Majority rule v. Minority Rights

Key federalists, and what did they argue for

More centralized power, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay

Main Argument of Federalist 10

factions BAD —> republicanism

Brutus 1

Republicanism BAD (not seen in a big scope before

Necessary Proper/Supremacy = COOKED

Shays Rebeliion

Farmers went into debt, so they revolted —> state leaders realized that the Articles was very weak

Constitutional Convention

Called in 1787 to fix the weaknesses of the AoC

Great Compromise

Established bicameral legislature

Virginia PPlan

Reps should be apporptioned by population

New Jersey Plan

Argued that every state should get the same number of reprsetnatives

3/5 Compromise

Enslaved population is counted 3/5 for representation and taxation

What was the compromise regarding the importation of enslaved people when ratifying the constution?

Slave trade would be abolished in 20 years —> until then it would be untouched

Article V of the Constution

Outlines process to ammend the constution

How to ammend the csontution?

Congress or a state convention proposes an amendment. 2/3 vote passes amendment to the next stage. Propose ammendment must be ratified by ¾ of the states, and then it becomes offical.

How many times has Constution become amended?

27 times

What are the two modern day debates on fedarlism

Government Surveillance and Education

Explain government surveillance x debates on federalism

Due to 9/11, USA Patriot Act was made to stop future terrorist acts by monitoring emails and wiring phones.

People said that this violated 4th amendment rights (no unreasonable searches and seizures(

Explain education e x debates on federalism

Education is usually domain of states.

No Child left behind act was passed federally, people thought this was overreach

How does exectuive check congress

Veto power (Article 2 section 7)

What is executives role/jurisdiction

Enforce laws, has president and bureaucracy

How does the legislative branch check exectuive branch

Power of Advise and Consent

senate must vote to approve high level president appointments

Impeachment

Override veto with 2/3 vote

What is the main power of the judicial branch

Interpret constitutionality of laws. Judicial Review

What is main power of legislative

Propose and make laws

What is a stakeholder

Anyone with a vested interest in the outcome of policymaking —> we the people

How do stakeholders have access to legislative branch

Interest groups can lobby with representatives

Average citizens can write emails to reps

How do stakeholders have access to exectuive branch

Average citizens can file a complaint to bureaucratic agencies run by executive branch

How do stakeholders have access to judicial branch

Stakeholders can use courts to challenge unjust laws/appeal wrongful convictions

Fiscal Federarlims

distribution of spending and taxing powers among different levels of governmen

What are the 4 types of grants

Categorical, Block, Mandate Unfunded Mandate

Categorical Grant

Gives federal money to states as long as they comply with specific federal standards. Money comes with strings attached

Block Grant

Categorical grant with less strings —> broad category (e.g education)

Mandate

Fed government requires states to follow directive and gives money to carry out that mandate

10th Amendment

Any power that constution does not expliclty give to the fedearl government is reserved for the states

14th Amendment

Applies bill of rights to the states