Unit 1- Foundations of American Government

Constitutionalism

The United States Constitution is based on rule of law and a balance of majority and minority rights It contains a system of checks and balances among the three branches and allocated power to both the federal and state governments.

Liberty and Order

Governmental laws and actions balancing individual liberty and societal order and safety have been interpreted differently over time.

Civic Participation in a Representative Democracy

The principles of popular sovereignty, individualism, and republicanism assume citizens will engage and participate in American democracy.

Competing Policy-Making Interests

Multiple actors and political institutions interact to produce and implement public policies.

Methods of Political Analysis

Students of political science analyze quantitative and qualitative data to draw conclusions about how political behavior, attitudes, ideologies, and political institutions are shaped over time.

What are the cover values of American political culture? How did they develop?

Individualism, equality of opportunity, free enterprise, rule of law, limited government

Individualism

Individual freedom is the foundation of society *Personal liberty, self-sufficiency + initiative

Equality of Opportunity

Equal vote, equal chance to participate, equal treatment under the law. *Not equality of result

Free enterprise

Ability to organize and profit from business with little government interference. *Tied to fair play

Rule of Law

The law is supreme over all citizens. *"Country of laws, not of men", accountability

Limited Government

Government's power is legally constrained.
-Examples: Separation of Powers, Checks + Balances, Judicial Review, Federalism, Popular Sovereignty

How did the Founding Fathers seek to balance individual rights and government power?

-John Locke's influence: natural rights, social contract, limited government, popular sovereignty, republicanism *know examples of each
-Documents: Declaration of Independence, US Constitution

Natural (inalienable) Rights

Those rights that persons theoretically possessed in the state of nature, prior to the formation of governments. These rights, including those of life, liberty, and property, are considered inherent and, as such, are inalienable. Since government is established by people, government has the responsibility to preserve these rights.
-Examples: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness

Popular Sovereignty

Rule by the people.
-People voting for representatives in Congress and the President.

Republicanism

Theory of government centered on the idea that robust political participation and cooperation will lead to good government
-Example: Giving power to the people

What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

-Confederation (states were supreme over the national government), no taxation (couldn't support military), no enforcement powers (no executive branch), Shays' Rebellion (sign that civil unrest was spreading and there was a need for a stronger national government)
-Document: Articles of Confederation

How was the Constitution a product of political negotiation and compromise?

-Great (Connecticut) Compromise, Electoral College, 3/5 Compromise, Slave Trade, amendment process
-Document: US constitution

Great (Connecticut) Compromise

The agreement at the constitutional convention to create a two-chamber Congress with the House apportioned by population and the senate apportioned equally by state.

Electoral College

A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president

3/5 Compromise

Slaves were granted as less than a full person--3/5 of a person--for tax/representation in House of Representatives purposes

Slave Trade Compromise

Congress couldn't pass laws to end the slave trade until 1808. *Also called the Non-importation clause.

Amendment process

How to propose an amendment:
a) By 2/3 of the members of both the House and Senate (goes with a)
b) At a Convention called by 2/3 of the states (goes with b)
How to ratify an amendment:
a) By 3/4 of the State legislatures
b) By 3/4 of ratifying conventions in the States
-note: choice A has been the most times we amend the Constitution
-note: you must know the fractions

What are the common types of representative democracy? Which did the Founders intend? Which were feared?

-Types: participatory, pluralist, elite (feared)
-Arguments of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists
-Political participation, factions, republicanism, centralization vs. decentralization, personal liberty
-Documents: Federalist #10, Brutus #1
-pluralist=what the federalists intended

Participatory democracy

A theory of democracy that holds that citizens should actively and directly control all aspects of their lives

Pluralist democracy

A theory of American politics that holds that society's interests are substantially represented through the activities of groups.

Elite democracy

The view that the United States essentially is run by a tiny elite (composed of wealthy or well-connected individuals) who control public policy through both direct and indirect means.

Federalist Arguments

The constitution…
-…protects against the tyranny of the majority
-…creates stability
-…unites the states
-… puts the right sort of people in power
-The government needs more power to govern effectively
-The separation of powers into three independent branches protects the rights of the people

Federalist 10: A large republic is the best way to control the negative effects of factions. Pluralist competition in government will protect the rights of the people.

Anti-Federalist Arguments

stronger central government would destroy the work of the Revolution (the war would be for nothing), limit democracy, restrict states' rights

Brutus 1: In a large republic, representatives will be too distant and thus will not be accountable to the people. The federal government is too powerful and elitist; the rights of the people will be in jeopardy.

Political participation

Actions of private citizens by which they seek to influence or support government and politics.

Factions

Political groups that agree on objectives and policies; the origins of political parties.

Centralization vs. decentralization

Centralization means that decision authority is located near the top of the organization (e.g. national government)
Decentralization means decision authority is pushed downward to lower organizational levels (e.g. state/local governments)

John Locke's Idea of a Social Contract

People enter social contracts (a voluntary agreement by individuals to form government, which is then obliged to act within the confines of the agreement) to have a government's protection to protect their natural rights.
-Example: people give up their right to yell in return for a respectful & ordered society
-Note: the government can't do whatever it wants even if it still protects the citizens (the government can't do whatever it wants)

• Locke wanted a legislature to provide order

How did the Constitution's Framers divide power among the federal government and the states? How has that balance of power changed over time?

-Federalism, Supremacy Clause, 10th Amendment, dual sovereignty system, Commerce Clause [interstate v. intrastate commerce], Necessary and Proper Clause, 14th Amendment
-Types: concurrent powers, expressed powers, exclusive powers, implied powers, reserved powers *know examples of each type of power
-Documents: US Constitution, McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), US v. Lopez (1995)

Federalism

A governmental system in which authority is divided between two sovereign levels of government: national and regional.

Supremacy Clause

Article 6 of the Constitution, which makes national law supreme over state law when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits

10th Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Dual Sovereignty/Federalism

A doctrine based on the idea that a precise separation of national power and state powers is both possible and desirable.

Commerce Clause (Article 1, Section 8)

Congress can regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several states.

Interstate v. Intrastate Commerce

Interstate commerce crosses state lines and is within the federal government's authority to regulate if it chooses. Intrastate commerce is conducted within a state's borders - state law applies, unless a preemptive federal law applies.

Necessary and Proper Clause

The authority granted Congress in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution to make laws which shall be necessary and proper for the implementation of its enumerated powers.

14th Amendment

Declares that all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws

Concurrent Powers

Powers held jointly by the national and state governments.
-Examples: lend and borrow money, taxation, law enforcement, charter banks, transportation

Enumerated Powers

The 17 powers granted to the national government (specifically to Congress) under Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. These powers include taxation and the regulation of commerce as well as the authority to provide for the national defense.
-Examples: Taxation, creation of the military, ability to declare war, establish a court system, create money, regulate commerce, regulate immigration/naturalization, powers of impeachment (House brings charges, Senate tries the case)

Exclusive Powers

Those powers that can be exercised by the National Government alone
-Examples: currency, post office, foreign affairs, interstate commerce

Implied Powers

The federal government's constitutional authority (through the "necessary and proper" clause) to take action that is not expressly authorized by the Constitution but that supports actions that are so authorized.
-Examples: draft people into the military for national defense, establish the federal reserve system for banks to borrow money, create the IRS to levy and collect taxes, etc. (pretty much making ways to enable the expressed powers)

Reserved Powers

The powers granted to the states under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution
-Examples: charter local governments, education, public safety, registration and voting, intrastate commerce

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

The state of Maryland (along with other states) put taxes on the national bank to make it unprofitable so that state and local banks didn't have competition. Edward McCulloch (in charge of the national bank in Maryland) refused to pay taxes and thus the dispute went to the Supreme Court.
-John Marshall (strong nationalist and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court)=ruled in favor of national authority
-Marshall: the government could make a bank in order to tax, borrow money, and regulate commerce since it was an exercise of implied powers.
-Marshall also addressed the Supremacy Clause; Maryland argued that the national bank was a legal entity, so thus it could be taxed by the states; Supreme Court rejected Maryland's argument since national law was more powerful than state law
-Because the national government could make a bank, it could protect the bank against actions from states that could destroy it.

US v. Lopez (1995)

Gun Free School Zones Act exceeded Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce.
-1990 Gun-Free School Zones Act declared unconstitutional because having a gun does not significantly interfere with interstate commerce.
-The law is a criminal statute and has nothing to do with commerce and any sort of economic activity.

Block Grants

A type of federal grants-in-aid that allow states considerable discretion in how the funds are spent

Grants-in-Aid

Programs through which Congress provides money to state and local governments on the condition that the funds only be used how Congress designated them to be used.

Categorical Grants

Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or "categories," of state and local spending. They come with strings attached, limiting how states can use the funds.

Formula Grants

A type of categorical grant where states and local governments do not apply for a grant but are given funds on the basis of a formula. The formula is typically # of qualified individuals X set dollar amount = the amount of the grant to the state.

Expressed Powers

The powers of the national govt that are explicitly stated in the text of the Constitution. May also be called delegated powers.