Unit 1 Foundations of American Democracy Study Guide

Vocabulary, Key Events, Key Papers..

Government

An organization of people, offices, and processes, by which a state is ruled.

• The person or people who make the rules and enforce them.

• The people in charge of law-making and law enforcement.

Public Policy

Democracy

"Rule of the many” (Aristotle).
AKA Majority Rule

• Direct (participatory democracy) “pure.”

• Indirect (representative democracy)

Direct (participatory) Democracy

A democracy in which all or most of the citizens participate directly in either holding office or making policy (laws).

• Exists in only very small population sizes

• Exists in some small towns in the U.S. today

It is very hard to maintain a direct democracy in our modern day because you cannot easily count all of the votes. The Framers did not want a direct democracy because they felt that the masses would be too uneducated to vote on matters that would affect the whole nation. Further, the Framers feared that even highly educated people could be manipulated by demagogic leaders playing on people’s fears and prejudices.

Mr. Kowalski’s Lecture

Representative Democracy

One person or a group of people are elected and assigned the task of representing and making decisions on behalf of the citizens they represent.

• Efficient

• Can be a segway for corruption

Social Contract

Natural Rights

Declaration of Independence

A document heavily influenced by John Locke that was split into 3 parts.

• Theory of Government based on the Social Contract and Natural Rights

• List of grievances against the British King and Parliament

• Statement of colonial unity and separation from British Rule

(Thomas Jefferson, 7/4/1776).

Articles of Confederation

First government of the United States (1781-1789).

• Created a confederation, with a weak central government

  • The government was broke because it did not have the power to tax

• Required 9/13 states to pass legislation

• Required 13/13 states to pass an amendment

• Did not have any national currency, executive or judicial power, or a national army

Constitutional Convention

Virginia Plan

New Jersey Plan

The Connecticut Plan (AKA Great Compromise)

Three Fifths Compromise

Commerce and Slave Compromise Ratification

The Federalist Papers

The Federalists

The Anti-Federalists

The US Bill of Rights

The US Constitution

Limited Government

Popular Sovereignty

Separation of Powers

Checks and Balances

Federalism Amendments

Judicial Review

Marbury v. Madison