GOV Chapters 1 & 2

Government

the system for making and implementing decisions reached through the political process

Politics

the process that determines what gov does

Redistributive tax policies

tax the rich; uses taxation to try to create social equality

Economic individualism

the idea that individuals should have a large degree of autonomy to manage their own finances

Ideology

refers to an individual's belief system used to organize and evaluate the political world

Conservative

support for lower tax, free market, more limited gov

Liberal

support for strong gov programs, more market regulation

Libertarian

prefer limited gov and tend to be more conservative on welfare, environment, and education. But liberal on personal liberties like speech, abortion, drugs, etc.

Culture wars

division between strongly religious and secular citizens

Melting pot

concept in which different ethnicities would lose their cultural distinctiveness, stresses assimilation

Multiculturalism

embraces our differences but as a unified whole

Identity politics

the concept that race, religion, political ideology defines who you are. Used to stoke fear and divide people

Democracy

gov my the people in which the people elect leaders to enact policies

Liberty

political freedom such as speech, press, assembly, religion; outlined in Bill of Rights

Treaty of paris 1783

congress unable to pay war debts

Annapolis convention 1786

5 states met and agreed to reconvene to discuss shortcomings of the Articles of confederation

Shays’s rebellion 1786

farmers crushed by debt and taxes rebelled against foreclosures and judges, worried wealthy elites and highlighted need of stronger national gov, leading to CC

National supremacy clause

national laws always prevail over state laws

Reserved powers

any powers not granted to national gov and not prohibited to states are reserved for states

Impeachments, power of the purse, oversight and use of legislation as a check, confirm or reject justice appts.

congressional checks

Veto, judicial appointments, pardon

presidential checks

Judicial review

judicial checks

Exclusive powers

powers given specifically to one branch

Enumerate powers

powers explicitly expressed in the constitution

Shared powers

powers shared between branches, such as war powers