AP GoPo Unit 1 Key Terms

Politics

• Process of deciding who benefits in society and who doesn’t

Efficacy

• Citizens’ belief that they have the ability to achieve something desirable

• Belief that government listens to people like them

Political Engagement

• Citizen actions that are intended to solve public problems through political means

Government

• Institution that creates and implements policy + laws that guide the conduct of a nation and its citizens

Naturalization

• Process of becoming a citizen by means other than birth

• Think of immigrants

Public goods

• Government-provided services not limited to a specific group or individual

• National defense, access to clean air + water, security, highways

Monarchy

• Government in which a member of a royal family has absolute authority over a territory and its government

• Usually inherited from generation to generation

Oligarchy

• Government in which an elite few hold power

• Think of North Korea

Democracy

• Government in which supreme power of governance lies in the hands of its citizens

Republic

• Also called representative democracies

• Government where citizens elect leaders to represent their views

Totalitarianism

• System of government in which the govt controls every aspect of people’s lives

• Citizens do not enjoy rights

• The state is the tool of the dictator

Authoritarianism

• Government has strong powers but are checked by other forces within society

• Citizens enjoy some rights

Constitutionalism

• Form of government structured by law

• Can be democracies or monarchies

Limited Government

• Government has restricted powers

• Ensures rights of the people are protected

Social Contract

• Agreement between people and leaders

• People agree to give up some rights so other rights are protected

  • (Driver follows traffic laws in exchange for public safety)

• Citizens have ability to consent to be governed

Natural Law

• Body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human behavior

• Universal moral law

Popular Sovereignty

• Theory that government is created by the people and depends on them to function

Direct Democracy

• System of govt where citizens directly discuss and decide policies

• Happens through majority rule

Indirect Democracy

• Also called representative democracy

• Citizens elect representatives who decide policies on their behalf

Capitalism

• Economic system where means of producing wealth are privately owned

Consent of the Governed

• Government’s power derives from the consent of the people

Majority Rule

• In a democracy, only policies with 50% + 1 vote are enacted

Constitution

• Fundamental principles of a government

• Basic structures and procedures by which the govt operates

• Can be unwritten or written

Natural Rights

• Rights possessed by all humans as a gift from nature/God

• Also called unalienable rights

Bicameral legislatiure

• Legislature made up of 2 parts called chambers

• Congress made up of the House of Rep. and Senate

Senate

• Has 2 senators per state (100 in total), regardless of population

• Equal representation

• Each senator serves 6 year terms, and elections are direct elections by the citizens of each state

Confederation

• Union of independent states

• Each state retains its own sovereignty and power to govern

• Agree to work with each other

• Has weak central government

Unicameral legislature

• Legislative body with a single chamber

Dual sovereignty

• System of government where ultimate governing authority are shared between 2 levels of government

• Central and regional governments

• Each has ultimate authority over different policy matters

Supremacy clause

• Treaties and laws created by the national government in compliance with the Constitution are the supreme law of the land

Separation of powers

• Primary governing functions of the national govt are split among 3 branches

• Legislative (Makes laws)

• Executive (Implements/enforces laws)

• Judicial (Interprets laws + solve legal disputes)

• Ensures no branch is too powerful

Checks and balances

• Each branch can monitor and limit the functions of the other branches

• Like rock, paper, scissors

Virginia Plan

• Advocated for Congress to have a bicameral system

• Citizens elect members to lower house

• Lower house members elect people to upper house

• Both chambers would be proportional, based on state population

New Jersey Plan

• Advocated for Congress to be unicameral

• All states would have equal representation/vote in government

• Called Congress to elect people to form executive office

• Executive office would elect Supreme Court members

Connecticut Compromise

• Compromise between NJ and Virginia Plans

• Established Congress as bicameral legislature

• One chamber is Senate (2 senators per state/equal representation)

• Other chamber is House of Representatives (based on state population)

Electoral College

• Citizens elect representatives (electors) in each state

• These electors would elect the president and vice president (1 vote for each)

  • # of electors = # of the state’s House of Rep. members + 2 senators

• 538 electors in total (1/2 of that # + 1 to win presidential election)

Twelfth Amendment

• Abolished the system where each elector would cast 2 votes

  • Whoever got the most was president and whoever got the 2nd most was vice president

• 12th Amendment established 1 vote for president, 1 vote for vice president

Veto

• Happens when president rejects a proposed bill and sends it back to Congress with his objections

• Happens when Congress passes a bill, and that bill is forwarded to the president

• Congress can override the veto if 2/3 of House members + 2/3 of senators vote to approve the veto bill

  • To pass a proposed bill, 50% + 1 members in both chambers must approve

Advice and Consent

• Power given to Senate by the Constitution

• It is the power to approve or reject the president’s treaties or appointment of an individual to federal positions

  • 2/3 majority in Senate required to pass treaty

  • Majority approval for appointment to pass

Judicial review

• Established by 1803 USSC case Marbury v. Madison

• Allows the Supreme Court to shoot down laws passed by the executive and legislative branches if the Court deems it to contradict the Constitution

Federalists

• People who advocated for the Constitution’s ratification as presented by the 1787 Constitutional Convention

• Wrote the Federalist Papers in favor of it

Anti-Federalists

• Apposed ratification of the Constitution

• Didn’t approve b/c fear of strong central govt + lack of bill of rights

• Wrote Brutus in disapproval of the Constitution

Federalist No. 10

• Written by James Madison in response to Brutus 1

• Argued that a large representative democracy is actually beneficial to protecting minority rights

• Helped suppress the effects of factions (factions are inevitable)

• Large population makes it hard for a majority faction to form

Federalist No. 51

• Argued that the Constitution actually protects individual rights

• Prevents abuse of power due to checks & balances

• Provides an “internal” check on the government by arguing that the structure of the government prevents any one branch from becoming too powerful

Informal Amendment

• Changes interpretation of the Constitution

• Does not change the written words, only its meaning

Formal Amendment

• Written change to the Constitution

• Amendment must be proposed by either 2/3 of both H.o.R. and senate or by a national convention by 2/3 of state legislatures

• Ratification must be approved by 3 /4 of states

Federal system

• Government structure with 2 levels of government

• Each level has sovereignty over different policy matters + geographic areas

• System of dual sovereignty

Unitary System

• One central government is the sovereign government

• Can create smaller governments but can eliminate them as please

Confederal system

• Several independent sovereign nations agree to cooperate on specific matters by creating a central governing body

• Each state still retains ultimate authority within their borders

• Central governing body is not sovereign

Concurrent powers

• Basic governing powers of a government

• Exercised both by national and state governments

• Power to make policy, raise revenue, implement policies, and establish courts

Enumerated powers

• Explicitly stated powers given to the national government by the Constitution

• Oversee national defense, general welfare, system of money, and interstate + foreign affairs

Implied powers

• Congress powers not described explicitly that may be interpreted to be necessary to fulfill its enumerated powers

• Received from elastic clause (necessary and proper clause)

Necessary and Proper clause

• Called elastic clause

• Clause in Article 1, Section 8 of that Constitution that gives Congress the power to do whatever it deems necessary to meet its enumerated obligated

• Serves basis for implied powers

Supreme law of the land

• Says that all laws made by governments in the Us must be compliance with the Constitution

Reserved powers

• Powers not delegated to the national government

• Therefore given to the states to rule over

• Includes birth laws, death, marriage, intrastate business, crime, health, and morals

Police powers

• States’ reserved powers to protect the health, safety, lives, and properties of residents within a state

Horizontal Federalism

• State-to-state relationships created by the Constitution

Interstate compacts

• Agreements between states

• Congress has the authority to review and reject to ensure that it does not harm surrounding states and the nation as a whole

Extradition

• Return individuals accused of a crime back to the state where the crime is committed

• Must be upon the request of the state’s governor

• States must respect the laws of other states

Privileges and immunities clause

• Constitution establishes that a state extends their immunities and protection to other states’ citizens

Full faith and credit clause

• Constitutional clause that requires states to comply with and respect public acts, records, and judicial decisions of other states

Judicial federalism

• States relying on their state constitutions to determine citizens’ rights

• Usually happens when their constitution provides greater protections than the US Consitution

Intergovernmental relations

• Interactions between 2 or more governments

• Collective efforts to provide goods and services to the people they serve

Dual Federalism

• National government takes care of its enumerated powers

• State governments independently take care of their reserved powers

Grants-in-aid

• Also called intergovernmental transfer

• Transfer of money from one government to another that does need to be paid back

Cooperative federalism

• Intergovernmental relation where national govt supports state governments’ efforts to address domestic matters reserved to them

Centralized federalism

• Intergovernmental relations where national government imposes its policy preferences on other governments

• Uses grant-in-aid (coercion) to implement a specific policy

Devolution

• Process where national government returns policy responsibilities to state or local governments

Conflicted federalism

• Elements of dual federalism, cooperative federalism, and centralized federalism are all at play

Partisan federalism

• Refers to a preference for intergovernmental action depending on policy substance and partisan makeup of government

Fiscal Federalism

• Relationship between national govt and state and local governments

• National government provides grant money to those governments

Categorical formula grant

• A grant-in-aid for a narrowly defined purposed

• Defined by national government

• Comes with rules and regulations for which the recipient government must comply to receive money

Matching funds requirement

• Grant requirement that requires receiving government to spend some of its own money to match a specific % of grant money given

Categorical Project Grant

• Narrowly defined grant-in-aid

• Governments compete with each other by proposing specific projects

• Does not include formula specifying how much a recipient will receive

Block grants

• Grant-in-aid for a broadly defined policy area

• Funding amount typically based on a formula

• Allows more discrection on how money should be spent

Mandates

• Rules and regulations that come with grant-in-aids specified by the national government

Preemption

• Principle that allows a national law to supersede/override state or local laws

• Citizens must obey national law even if state has their own laws on the matter

Nullification

• Legal theory where state governments have power to invalidate national law they deem unconstitutional

United States v. Lopez

• Alfonso D. Lopez violated Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and argued that Congress can’t create that law b/c it did not follow the commerce clause

• Congress agreed and stroke down the Act

  • argued that the presence of a firearm at school will not affect intrastate commerce, much less interstate.

• Gave states/local govt more power, and decrease federal govt power (devolution)

McCulloch v. Maryland

• In response to the chartering of the Second Bank of the United States, Maryland tried to tax the bank in 1818

  • Maryland argued that the federal government had to right to establish the bank

• SCOTUS said Congress had the power to establish the bank through the commerce clause to facilitate interstate commerce