Unit 1 Test Review Gov

American Political Culture

A set of shared values, beliefs, and traditions regarding how political and economic life ought to be carried out in the United States.

Federalists

Early American political faction/party that advocated for a strong central government and ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the 1787 U.S. Constitution who advocated for strong state governments, weak central authority, and a Bill of Rights.

Fed 10

An essay written by James Madison arguing that a well-constructed Union can control the violence and damage caused by factions.

Fed 51

An essay written by James Madison arguing that the U.S Constitution protects liberty through structural safeguards: Separations of Powers, Checks and Balances, and Federalism.

Fed 21

Written by Alexander Hamilton, focusing on the core defects of the AOC, specifically the federal government's inability to enforce laws, collect revenues, or protect states.

Brutus 1

An Anti-Federalist essay (likely written by Robert Yates) arguing that the proposed U.S. Constitution created a central government that was too powerful and would ultimately destroy state sovereignty and individual liberty.

Judicial Branch: AOC v. Constitution

Articles: No national court system; legal disputes handled entirely by state courts.

Constitution: Supreme Court established alongside lower federal courts to resolve national legal issues.

Executive Branch: AOC v. Constitution

Articles: No separate executive branch or President to enforce laws.

Constitution: Independent Executive branch led by a President to enforce national laws.

Legislative Structure: AOC v. Constitution

Articles: Unicameral legislature (one house) where each state received equal voting power.

Constitution: Bicameral legislature (House of Representatives by population, Senate with 2 votes per state).

Accomplishments of the AOC

• Northwest Ordinance of 1787: Established a clear process for admitting new states to the Union and banned slavery in the Northwest Territory.

• Land Ordinance of 1785: Created a standardized system for surveying and selling western lands, setting aside land to fund public education.

• Winning the Revolutionary War: Successfully organized the war effort and negotiated the Treaty of Paris (1783), securing U.S. independence and expanding American territory to the Mississippi River.

• Established Key Departments: Created early cabinet-level departments for foreign affairs, war, and finance.

Failures of the AOC

• No Power to Tax: The federal government could only request money from states, leaving the country deeply in debt after the war.

• No Executive or Judicial Branch: Lacked a president to enforce laws and a national court system to resolve disputes between states.

• Inability to Regulate Commerce: States set their own tariffs and printed their own currencies, crippling interstate trade.

• Rigid Amendment Process: Required a unanimous vote of all 13 states to pass amendments, making structural changes impossible.

• Weak National Defense: Could not maintain a standing army or respond quickly to internal rebellions, as exposed by Shays' Rebellion in 1786.

Block Grants

A large sum of federal money given to state or local governments with broad spending guidelines and minimal federal oversight, allowing states flexibility in how to address general functional areas (e.g., community development, public health).

Federal Grants

Financial assistance given by the federal government to state, local, or tribal governments (or institutions) to fund specific public programs, infrastructure, or social policy initiatives.

Federal Mandates

An official directive or requirement issued by the federal government imposing specific policy, regulatory, or administrative obligations on state and local governments.

Elite Democracy

A model of democracy in which a small, wealthy, and highly educated minority holds the real political power and dominates the decision-making process, limiting the influence of everyday citizens.

Pluralist Democracy

A model of democracy where political power is decentralized and shared among multiple competing non-governmental groups (interest groups, unions, NGOs) that lobby and bargain to shape public policy.

How to Handle Factions

• Remove its causes: Destroying liberty (unacceptable) or giving every citizen the exact same opinions (impossible).

• Control its effects: Structuring government so that factions cannot oppress others (the Madisonian solution).

Controlling Factions

Solved by the republican principle (majority vote). If a faction represents a minority, the majority can simply outvote it in elections to prevent it from enacting its agenda.

3/5 Compromise

An agreement reached at the 1787 Constitutional Convention stipulating that three-fifths of the enslaved population would be counted for both congressional representation and direct taxation.

Enumerated / Expressed Powers

Powers specifically written and granted to the national government in the text of the U.S. Constitution (e.g., Article I, Section 8 grants Congress the power to declare war, coin money, and regulate interstate commerce).

Implied Powers

Powers not explicitly stated in the Constitution, but reasonably deduced from the Enumerated Powers through the Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause). Example: Creating a national bank or setting up a military draft.

Inherent Powers

Powers that belong to the federal government simply because it is a sovereign state operating in a global world (e.g., controlling national borders, acquiring new territory, defending the nation from revolution).

Concurrent Powers

Powers shared and exercised independently by both the federal and state governments (e.g., the power to tax, build roads, establish lower court systems, and pass legislation).

Reserved Powers

Powers not granted to the federal government nor denied to the states, which are reserved exclusively for the states or the people under the Tenth Amendment (e.g., public education, local police powers, election rules, marriage laws).

Exclusive Powers

Powers that belong only to the federal government and are explicitly forbidden to the states (e.g., negotiating treaties with foreign nations, coining money, regulating foreign and interstate trade).

Prohibited / Denied Powers

Powers explicitly forbidden to the federal government, state governments, or both (e.g., passing ex post facto laws, granting titles of nobility, suspending the writ of habeas corpus except in national emergencies).

Great Compromise

An agreement reached during the 1787 Constitutional Convention that settled the debate over congressional representation by creating a bicameral (two-house) legislature.

Article V

The section of the U.S. Constitution that outlines the formal two-stage process for altering or adding to the Constitution: Proposal and Ratification.

Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic)

Grants Congress the power to pass all laws essential to carrying out its enumerated powers, serving as the constitutional foundation for implied powers.

Supremacy Clause

Establishes that the U.S. Constitution, federal laws, and treaties constitute the supreme law of the land, overriding conflicting state laws or state constitutions.

Commerce Clause

Grants Congress the authority to regulate business and trade activities with foreign nations, among the several states, and with Indian tribes.

Location of the Commerce Clause

Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution.

Location of the Necessary and Proper Clause

Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the U.S. Constitution.

Location of the Supremacy Clause

Article VI, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution.

What is Federalism

A system of government in which power is constitutionally divided and shared between a central (national) government and regional (state) governments.

Devotion

The political process of transferring power, responsibility, and decision-making authority from the central (national) government down to regional, state, or local governments.

No Child Left Behind

A federal education law passed in 2001 (signed by President George W. Bush) that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It mandated annual standardized testing, required states to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals, and imposed federal penalties on non-compliant schools.

Tenth Amendment/Reserved powers

the constitutional bedrock of state authority, establishing the concept of Reserved Powers to protect states from federal overreach.

Process to amend constitution

proposal and ratification

Proposing an Amendment

A two-thirds supermajority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Ratifying an Amendment

Three-fourths of state legislatures (38 out of 50 states) vote to approve it.