Studied by 35 people
State
Dominant political party unit in the world today
Limited government
Government must operate within certain bounds set by the people
Manga Carta
Reflected this basic concept of limited government
Unitary form of government
All political powers in a state are concentrated at the central level
Does the US have a unitary form of government? Why or why not?
No; the states have powers reserved to them in the constitution
Basic characteristic of a state, lacked by individual 50 states
Sovereignty
According to the social contract theory…
The contract is a constitution
Power is divided between central government and local government
Federal government
A system of government in which a written constitution divides power between a central or national government and several regional governments
Federalism
Most governmental matters were handled by the colonists
Charter colonies
Declaration of Independence
*First time Americans formally expressed the idea that people have the right to abolish an abusive and unresponsive government
What did the Declaration of Independence consist of
Complaints of the wrongs done to the colonies (27 grievances)
What ideas did the Declaration of Independence include
People have certain natural rights, government can exist only with the people’s permission, people may change or abolish the government, did not support king’s idea that God gives certain people the right to govern
After the revolutionary war…
The new national government was too weak to deal with growing economic and political problems
Delegates met at mount vernon and Annapolis to recommend a federal plan for regulating commerce
After the revolutionary war a major objective of both the Annapolis convention and Philadelphia convention was to…
Recommend a federal plan for regulating interstate trade
After the revolutionary war, government set up by the…
Articles of confederation
Had only a legislative branch, consisting of a unicameral congress
Articles of confederation
Similar to the 1st in the composition of its members
Second continental congress
What was an achievement of the second continental congress
Raising an American army
At the Philadelphia conventional….
The delegates agreed to draft a new constitution
Much of the work of the framers centered around the proposals that had been set out in the
Virginia plan
Outlines the purposes of government
Preamble of the constitution
What were the purposes of the government that were outlined in the preamble
Defending the nation against foreign enemies
Insuring order and domestic tranquility
*promoting the general welfare of the citizens
The constitution establishes its authority on the basis of popular sovereignty with…
The words “we the people”
Constitution requires the national government to guarantee
States a republican (representative) form of government
The first ten amendments to the constitution are called
The bill of rights
What did the bill of rights arise from?
The controversy over ratification of the constitution
Bill of rights were…
Not ratified at the same time as the constitution
Where was the 1st place basic constitutional rights of the people set out
Bill of rights
What basic rights did the bill of rights guarantee
Freedom of expression
Fair and equal treatment before the law
Freedom of belief
Did NOT guarantee women the right to vote (came much later)
Example of concept equality of opportunity
Public schools may not exclude students because of their sex or race
What was a constitutional change as a result of party practices
Use of the electoral college as a “rubber stamp” for the popular vote
What was an example of the Judiciary Act of. 1789
Congressional change to the constitution
President’s cabinet is an example of what
Constitutional change by unwritten custom
Power is distributed among 3 independent branches of government
Separation of powers
Example of checks and balances
Presidents power to veto an act of congress
Checks and balances is
Used to keep the government from getting too powerful in one branch
Checks and balances
Legislative branch can check judicial branch by its power to remove judges through impeachment
Power of the national government to coin money
Example of expressed power
Those that are exercised simultaneously by national and state governments
Concurrent powers
Directs any area desiring statehood to prepare a constitution (enables them to write a state constitution so they can eventually become a state)
Enabling act
Says that states must honor the legality of one another’s civil laws
Full faith & credit clause
Derive their power from state constitution and state laws
Local governments
Process where citizens who commit a crime in one state and flee to another state to escape prosecution are returned to the original state
Extradition
Agreements states enter into with both foreign nations and other states with the consent of congress
Interstate compacts
The Supreme Court ruling based upon supremacy clause
McCulloch v. Maryland
Funds given to a state by the national government with special conditions
Categorical grants
States get needed resources while the national government gains influence over state and local affairs
Grants-in-aid
The two party system developed in the United States mainly because
Conflicts about the constitution created opposing viewpoints
Try to appeal to as many voters as possible
Both major parties
Is a sign of weakened political parties
Split-ticket voting
Contributed most to US politics by causing major parties to adopt their ideas
Minor parties
Delegated powers
Powers granted to the National Government in the Constitution
Reserved powers
Powers denied to the national government, but not denied to the states
Note 
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