Unit 1 Cards

What are inalienable rights?

Rights that cannot legitimately be taken away or surrendered, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

What are natural rights?

Rights that individuals possess inherently by virtue of being human, including life, liberty, and property.

What is limited government?

The principle that government power is restricted by constitutions, laws, and individual rights.

What is popular sovereignty?

The principle that government authority comes from the people.

What is the social contract?

The idea that people consent to give government certain powers in exchange for protection of their rights and maintenance of order.

What is the state of nature?

A theoretical condition in which people live without an established government or political authority.

What is participatory democracy?

A democratic system that emphasizes broad citizen participation in political decision-making.

What is pluralist democracy?

A democratic system in which many competing interest groups influence government policy.

What is elitist democracy?

A democratic system in which political power is concentrated among a relatively small group of influential individuals.

What is the central/federal/national government?

The national level of government established by the Constitution that exercises powers over the entire United States.

What are state governments?

Governments that exercise authority within individual states, subject to the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Why did the Framers debate a small republic versus a large republic?

The Framers debated whether a smaller or larger republic would better preserve self-government, control factions, and balance competing interests.

What were delegated powers?

Powers assigned to the federal government by the Constitution.

What are interstate powers?

Powers or governmental responsibilities involving relationships and activities between different states.

What are intrastate powers?

Powers concerning activities that occur primarily within a single state.

What was Shay's Rebellion (1786–1787)?

An armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers protesting debt, taxation, and economic policies that demonstrated weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation.

What were the Articles of Confederation (1781)?

The first national framework of government for the United States, creating a weak central government with limited powers and no independent executive or national judiciary.

What was the Philadelphia Convention (1787)?

The convention originally called to revise the Articles of Confederation that instead produced the U.S. Constitution.

What was the Virginia Plan (1787)?

James Madison's proposal for a stronger national government with a bicameral legislature in which representation was based largely on population.

What was the New Jersey Plan (1787)?

William Paterson's proposal for a unicameral legislature with equal representation for each state, preserving greater state equality.

What was the Connecticut (Great) Compromise (1787)?

The compromise creating a bicameral Congress with proportional representation in the House and equal representation for each state in the Senate.

What was the Electoral College Compromise (1787)?

The compromise establishing an indirect method for selecting the president through electors chosen by the states.

What was the Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise (1787)?

The compromise allowing Congress to regulate interstate and foreign commerce while preventing Congress from banning the international slave trade until 1808.

What was the Three-Fifths Compromise (1787)?

The agreement that three-fifths of a state's enslaved population would be counted for purposes of representation and direct taxation.

What is the constitutional amendment process?

The process established in Article V for proposing and ratifying amendments to the Constitution.

What was the Bill of Rights promise during ratification?

Federalists agreed that amendments protecting individual liberties could be added to the Constitution to address Anti-Federalist concerns.

Who were the Federalists?

Supporters of the Constitution who favored a stronger national government and its ratification.

What were the Federalist Papers (1787–1788)?

A series of essays written primarily by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay defending the proposed Constitution and explaining its governmental structure.

Who were the Anti-Federalists?

Opponents of the Constitution who feared that a strong national government could threaten state authority and individual liberties.

What did Madison mean by the "mischiefs of factions" in Federalist No. 10 (1787)?

Madison argued that factions are groups of citizens united by interests or passions that may threaten the rights of others or the public good.

What is federalism?

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

What is separation of powers?

The constitutional division of government authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

What are checks and balances?

A system in which each branch of government has powers that can limit or check the actions of the other branches.

What is republicanism?

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

What is majority rule?

The democratic principle that decisions generally reflect the preferences of more than half of participating voters or representatives.

What are minority rights?

Protections for individuals and groups that prevent the majority from unfairly violating their rights.

What are expressed powers?

Powers explicitly stated in the Constitution.

What are enumerated powers?

Specific powers granted to the federal government that are listed in the Constitution, particularly in Article I, Section 8.

What is Article I, Section 8?

The section of the Constitution that enumerates major congressional powers, including taxation, borrowing, regulation of interstate commerce, declaring war, and making laws necessary and proper to execute federal powers.

What are implied powers?

Powers not explicitly written in the Constitution but reasonably inferred from expressly granted powers.

What are concurrent powers?

Powers exercised by both the federal government and state governments, such as taxation and borrowing money.

What are denied powers?

Powers that the Constitution prohibits a particular level or branch of government from exercising.

What is an ex post facto law?

A law that retroactively makes an action criminal or increases the punishment for an action that was not punishable in the same way when committed.

What is a bill of attainder?

A law that declares a person or group guilty of a crime and imposes punishment without a judicial trial.

What is a writ of habeas corpus?

A legal order requiring the government to justify the detention of a person before a court.

What are reserved powers?

Powers retained by the states under the Tenth Amendment because they are not delegated to the federal government or prohibited to the states.

What is devolution?

The transfer of powers and responsibilities from the federal government to state or local governments.

What is dual federalism?

A model of federalism in which the federal and state governments have distinct areas of authority, often described as "layer cake federalism."

What is layer-cake federalism?

Another term for dual federalism, emphasizing relatively separate spheres of authority between federal and state governments.

What is cooperative federalism?

A model of federalism in which federal and state governments share responsibilities and work together to address public policy.

What is marble-cake federalism?

Another term for cooperative federalism, emphasizing the overlapping responsibilities of federal and state governments.

What is horizontal federalism?

The constitutional and political relationships among the states.

What is vertical federalism?

The relationship and distribution of authority between the federal government and state governments.

What is fiscal federalism?

The use of federal taxation, spending, and grants to influence relationships and policy between the federal government and states.

What are block grants?

Federal grants that provide states or local governments with relatively broad discretion over how the money is spent within a general policy area.

What are categorical grants?

Federal grants designated for specific purposes or narrowly defined policy areas.

What are formula grants?

Federal grants distributed according to a predetermined formula based on factors such as population, need, or other criteria.

What are funded mandates?

Federal requirements imposed on states or local governments that include federal funding to help cover the costs of compliance.

What are unfunded mandates?

Federal requirements imposed on states or local governments without sufficient federal funding to cover the costs of compliance.

What is revenue sharing?

A system in which the federal government distributes a portion of its revenue to state or local governments with relatively few restrictions on how the funds are used.

What is the Commerce Clause?

The constitutional provision in Article I, Section 8 giving Congress the power to regulate commerce among the states, with foreign nations, and with Native American tribes.

What is extradition?

The constitutional requirement that a state return a person accused of a crime to the state where the crime was allegedly committed.

What is Full Faith and Credit?

The constitutional requirement that states generally recognize and respect the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of other states.

What is the Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause)?

Article I, Section 8, Clause 18, which gives Congress the power to make laws necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers.

What are privileges and immunities?

Constitutional protections preventing states from unfairly discriminating against citizens of other states in fundamental rights and activities.

What is the Supremacy Clause?

Article VI provision establishing that the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties are the supreme law of the land when validly enacted.

What is the Declaration of Independence (1776)?

The founding document declaring the colonies' independence from Great Britain and asserting principles including natural rights, equality, popular sovereignty, and the right of the people to alter or abolish oppressive government.

What was the purpose of the Articles of Confederation (1781)?

The Articles created a national government while preserving substantial state sovereignty, but their weak central structure contributed to problems that led to the Constitutional Convention.

What is the U.S. Constitution (1787)?

The supreme law of the United States establishing the structure, powers, limitations, and relationships of the federal government and its relationship with the states and citizens.

What does Article I, Section 8 establish?

Article I, Section 8 enumerates major powers of Congress, including taxation, spending, borrowing, regulation of interstate commerce, declaring war, and making laws necessary and proper to execute its powers.

What does the Tenth Amendment (1791) establish?

Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states or the people.

What was the Gettysburg Address (1863)?

A speech by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War emphasizing preservation of the Union, equality, popular government, and government "of the people, by the people, for the people."

What was the central argument of Federalist No. 10 (1787)?

James Madison argued that a large republic with representative government would help control the dangers of factions because numerous competing interests would make it difficult for one faction to dominate.

What was the central argument of Brutus No. 1 (1787)?

The Anti-Federalist author Brutus argued that the proposed Constitution created an excessively powerful national government that could threaten state governments and individual liberty.

What was the central argument of Federalist No. 39 (1788)?

James Madison argued that the proposed Constitution was republican because its authority ultimately came from the people and that it combined national and federal features.

What was the situation in United States v. Lopez (1995)?

A student was arrested for carrying a handgun in a school zone under the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.

What was the constitutional question in United States v. Lopez (1995)?

Did Congress exceed its authority under the Commerce Clause by making possession of a gun in a school zone a federal crime?

What was the opinion in United States v. Lopez (1995)?

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Congress exceeded its Commerce Clause authority because possessing a gun near a school was not sufficiently connected to interstate commerce.

What constitutional provision was central to United States v. Lopez (1995)?

Article I, Section 8, Commerce Clause.

What is the significance of United States v. Lopez (1995)?

It placed a constitutional limit on Congress's Commerce Clause authority and strengthened the principle of federalism by recognizing an area of state authority.

What was the situation in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)?

Maryland attempted to tax the Second Bank of the United States, and bank cashier James McCulloch refused to pay the tax.

What was the constitutional question in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)?

Did Congress have the constitutional authority to establish a national bank, and could Maryland tax the federal bank?

What was the opinion in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)?

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Congress had implied power to create the bank under the Necessary and Proper Clause and that Maryland could not tax it because federal law is supreme over conflicting state action.

What constitutional provisions were central to McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)?

Article I, Section 8, Necessary and Proper Clause, and Article VI, Supremacy Clause.

What is the significance of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)?

It strengthened federal power by recognizing implied congressional powers and established that states cannot interfere with valid federal actions.