Terms I dont know pol101 midterm

Totalitarian governments

What it is;

• An extreme system where the government seeks total control over ALL aspects of life—public, private, thoughts, beliefs, and behavior

How it controls:

• Uses mass surveillance, secret police, state-controlled economy, mandatory ideology, and complete information control to dominate every part of society

What citizens experience:

• No privacy or personal freedom, constant monitoring, forced participation in state ideology and activities, with severe punishment for any deviation

Examples: 

Stalin's Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Maoist China, North Korea; often feature personality cults and attempts to completely remake society

authoritarian governments

What it is:

• A government where one leader or small group holds concentrated power with little accountability, and citizens have minimal political participation or influence

How it controls:

• Suppresses opposition, censors media, limits freedoms, and maintains power through force, fear, and propaganda rather than popular consent

What citizens experience: 

• Restricted freedoms of speech, press, and assembly, with punishment for dissent and limited access to independent information

Examples:

North Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, Russia; historically Nazi Germany and Soviet Union

limited government

What it is:

• A system where government power is restricted by law (usually a constitution), and the government can only exercise specific powers granted to it, protecting individual rights and freedoms

How it operates:

• Uses checks and balances, separation of powers, rule of law, and constitutional constraints to prevent any branch or leader from becoming too powerful

What citizens experience:

• Strong protection of individual rights and freedoms, ability to participate in politics freely, legal protections against government overreach, and private sphere free from government interference

Examples:

United States, Canada

popular sovereignty

What it is:

• The principle that government's power comes from the consent of the people, who are the ultimate source of political authority and legitimacy

How it operates:

• Through free and fair elections, voting rights, representative government, referendums, and the ability of citizens to hold leaders accountable and remove them from power

What citizens experience:

• Right to vote and participate in choosing leaders, ability to influence policy through democratic processes, government that is responsive to public will, and power to change government peacefully

Examples:

Embodied in phrases like "We the People" in the U.S. Constitution, democratic elections, ballot initiatives, and the idea that governments derive power from "the governed" rather than divine right or force

political efficacy

What it is:

• A citizen's belief that they can understand politics and that their political participation can actually influence government decisions and policies

Two Types:

• Internal efficacy: confidence in your own ability to understand and participate in politics;

• External efficacy: belief that government is responsive to citizens and will listen to their demands

What citizens experience:

• High efficacy leads to active participation (voting, contacting officials, protesting); low efficacy leads to apathy, cynicism, and withdrawal from political process

Why it matters:

Essential for healthy democracy—when citizens feel powerless or ignored, participation drops, weakening democratic legitimacy and responsiveness of government to public needs

autocracy

What it is:

• A system where unlimited power is concentrated in the hands of a single individual who rules without meaningful constraints or accountability to the people

How it operates: 

• The ruler makes decisions unilaterally without checks and balances, often claiming absolute authority through heredity, force, or claiming to represent the people's will

What citizens experience:

• No say in choosing their leader, limited or no political rights, ruler's word is law, and citizens subject to the whims and decisions of one person without recourse

Examples:

Monarchies (like Saudi Arabia's king), dictatorships (like Belarus under Lukashenko), and historical absolute monarchs; can overlap with authoritarian or totalitarian systems depending on scope of control

constitutional government

What it is:

• A system where government power is defined and limited by a constitution—a set of fundamental laws and principles that outline how government operates and protects citizens' rights

How it operates:

• The constitution serves as supreme law that binds all government officials and branches, establishes separation of powers, and typically requires special procedures to amend or change

What citizens experience:

• Legal protections for individual rights that government cannot violate, predictable rule of law, ability to challenge government actions in court, and stability through established procedures

Examples: 

United States (written Constitution since 1787), United Kingdom (unwritten constitutional principles), Germany, France; constitution acts as a contract between government and governed that limits what rulers can do

(theory of) pluralism

What it is:

• A theory that political power is distributed among many competing groups (interest groups, organizations, associations) rather than concentrated in elites, and policy results from negotiation and compromise among these groups

How it operates:

• Multiple groups with different interests compete for influence through lobbying, advocacy, and mobilization; no single group dominates, and government acts as referee or responds to group pressures

What citizens experience:

• Ability to join groups that represent their interests (unions, environmental groups, business associations, etc.), multiple access points to influence policy, and representation through organized collective action

Examples:

• U.S. political system with thousands of interest groups (NRA, AARP, Sierra Club, Chamber of Commerce); assumes open competition where even minority groups can gain influence and policy reflects bargaining among diverse interests

direct democracy

What it is:

• A system where citizens vote directly on laws and policies themselves rather than electing representatives to make decisions on their behalf

How it operates:

• Through mechanisms like referendums, ballot initiatives, and town hall meetings where every citizen participates in decision-making; majority vote determines outcomes on specific issues

What citizens experience:

• Direct power to approve or reject laws, vote on budgets and policies, and make governmental decisions without intermediaries; requires active and frequent participation

Examples:

Ancient Athens (citizens voted directly on laws), New England town meetings, Swiss referendums, California ballot initiatives; impractical for large modern nations but used for specific issues at state/local levels

representative democracy (republic)

What it is:

• A system where citizens elect representatives to make laws and policy decisions on their behalf rather than voting directly on every issue themselves

How it operates:

• Through regular elections where citizens choose leaders (legislators, executives) who debate, compromise, and vote on laws; representatives are accountable to voters and can be removed in next election

What citizens experience:

• Right to vote for representatives, ability to hold elected officials accountable through elections, indirect influence on policy through chosen leaders, and less time-intensive participation than direct democracy

Examples:

United States (Congress and President), United Kingdom (Parliament), most modern democracies; also called "republic" when combined with constitutional limits; practical for large populations where direct voting on everything is unfeasible

the confederacy

What it is:

• A system where independent states or regions join together for common purposes but retain most of their sovereignty and power, with a weak central government that depends on member states

How it operates:

• Central government has only powers explicitly granted by member states, cannot tax citizens directly or enforce laws without state cooperation, and states can often ignore or veto central decisions

What citizens experience:

• Primary loyalty and connection to their state/region rather than national government, state laws matter more than central laws in daily life, and central government feels distant or weak

Examples:

• Articles of Confederation (U.S. 1781-1789, failed due to weakness), Confederate States of America (1861-1865), European Union (has confederal features), and historical examples like Swiss Confederation before 1848

(problems with) the articles of confederation

Weak central government:

• Congress had no power to tax citizens directly, no executive branch to enforce laws, no national court system, and depended entirely on states voluntarily cooperating and contributing money

Cannot regulate economy:

• No power to regulate interstate or foreign commerce, each state printed its own money causing economic chaos, states taxed each other's goods, and couldn't pay war debts or fund national defense

Difficulty making decisions:

• Required 9 of 13 states to pass major laws, unanimous consent to amend the Articles (nearly impossible), and each state had one vote regardless of size creating gridlock

National weakness:

• Couldn't raise an army without state approval, foreign nations didn't respect U.S. authority, states acted like independent countries, and events like Shays' Rebellion showed government couldn't maintain order or stability

federalists vs antifederalists

Who they were:

• Federalists: supporters of the new Constitution who wanted a strong national government (Hamilton, Madison, Washington); Anti-Federalists: opponents who feared centralized power and wanted states to retain authority (Patrick Henry, George Mason)

Their main disagreement:

• Federalists believed strong central government was necessary for stability, unity, and economic prosperity; Anti-Federalists feared it would become tyrannical and destroy individual liberties and state sovereignty

Key arguments:

• Federalists: large republic with checks and balances would prevent tyranny, wrote The Federalist Papers to defend Constitution; Anti-Federalists: Constitution gave too much power to federal government, lacked Bill of Rights, and would favor wealthy elites over common people

The outcome:

• Federalists won—Constitution was ratified in 1788; Anti-Federalists' concerns led to compromise with the Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments) added in 1791 to protect individual liberties and limit federal power

separation of powers

What it is:

• A system that divides government power among three distinct branches—legislative (makes laws), executive (enforces laws), and judicial (interprets laws)—so no single branch controls everything

How it operates:

• Each branch has its own specific powers and responsibilities that are independent from the others, preventing any one branch from accumulating too much authority or acting without restraint

Why it matters:

• Prevents tyranny and abuse of power by ensuring no single person or group can make, enforce, and judge laws simultaneously; creates institutional competition and accountability among branches

Examples:

• U.S. government: Congress (legislative), President (executive), Supreme Court (judicial); inspired by Montesquieu's philosophy and designed to protect liberty by fragmenting power rather than concentrating it

the new jersey plan

What it was:

• A proposal at the Constitutional Convention (1787) presented by William Paterson that wanted to modify the Articles of Confederation rather than create an entirely new government structure

Key features:

• Unicameral (one-house) legislature where each state got equal representation regardless of population size, protecting small states' power and influence

Who supported it:

• Small states (like New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut) who feared large states would dominate under a population-based system and leave them powerless in national decisions

The outcome:

• Rejected in favor of the Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise), which blended the New Jersey Plan with the Virginia Plan—creating a bicameral legislature with equal state representation in Senate and population-based representation in House

concurrent powers

What they are:

• Powers that are shared by both the federal government and state governments, allowing both levels to exercise authority over the same issues simultaneously

How they operate:

• Both federal and state governments can legitimately act in these areas, though federal law is supreme if there's a conflict (Supremacy Clause); cooperation and overlap are expected

Common examples:

• Taxing citizens, building roads and infrastructure, establishing courts, borrowing money, making and enforcing laws, chartering banks, and spending for the general welfare

Why they matter:

• Essential feature of federalism that allows flexibility and shared responsibility; prevents federal government monopoly while letting states address local needs, though can create confusion when federal and state laws differ

expressed powers

What they are:

• Powers explicitly stated and granted to the federal government (specifically Congress) directly in the Constitution, also called "enumerated" or "delegated" powers

Where they're found:

• Primarily listed in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, spelling out exactly what Congress can do in clear, written language

Common examples:

• Coin money, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, declare war, raise armies, establish post offices, levy taxes, make treaties, and establish federal courts below the Supreme Court

Why they matter:

• Define the specific limits of federal power under the Constitution; anything not expressly granted is either reserved to states (10th Amendment) or shared as concurrent powers; basis for "limited government" principle

implied powers

What they are:

• Powers not explicitly written in the Constitution but are reasonably suggested or inferred as necessary to carry out the expressed powers

Where they come from:

• Based on the "Necessary and Proper Clause" (Article I, Section 8) which allows Congress to make laws "necessary and proper" for executing its expressed powers; also called the "Elastic Clause"

Common examples:

• Creating a national bank, drafting soldiers, regulating immigration, establishing the Air Force (Constitution only mentions army and navy), minimum wage laws, and creating federal agencies like the FBI

Why they matter:

• Allow federal government flexibility to adapt to changing times and unforeseen circumstances without constantly amending the Constitution; expands federal power beyond what's explicitly listed, leading to debates about how far government authority should stretch

devolution

What it is:

• The transfer of power and responsibility from the federal (national) government back to state and local governments, reversing the trend of centralization

How it operates:

• Federal government reduces its role in certain policy areas and gives states more control, flexibility, and decision-making authority, often through block grants or eliminating federal mandates

Common examples:

• Welfare reform in 1990s (giving states control over programs), reducing federal education mandates, allowing states to set their own environmental standards, and block grants that let states decide how to spend federal money

Why it matters:

• Reflects debate over federalism and which level of government handles issues best; supporters argue states know local needs better and can innovate; critics worry it creates inequality and inconsistent protections across states

reserved powers

What they are:

• Powers that belong exclusively to state governments because they are not granted to the federal government nor prohibited to the states by the Constitution

Where they come from:

• The 10th Amendment, which states that powers "not delegated to the United States...nor prohibited to it by the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"

Common examples:

• Conducting elections, establishing local governments, regulating intrastate commerce (within state borders), creating marriage and divorce laws, issuing driver's licenses, running public education, and establishing professional licensing requirements

Why they matter:

• Protect state sovereignty and prevent federal government from becoming all-powerful; ensure states retain significant authority over daily life and local matters; foundational principle of American federalism balancing national and state power

dual federalism

What it is:

• A system where federal and state governments operate in separate, distinct spheres of authority with minimal overlap, like a "layer cake" where each level has clearly defined powers

How it operated:

• Federal government handled only national concerns (foreign policy, interstate commerce, national defense) while states controlled everything else (education, local commerce, police powers); little cooperation or shared responsibility

When it existed:

• Dominant model from 1789 to roughly the 1930s; Supreme Court strictly interpreted federal powers and protected state authority from federal encroachment

Why it declined:

• Great Depression and New Deal expanded federal role into areas previously controlled by states; federal government grew more active in economy, social welfare, and civil rights, leading to more cooperative and overlapping federalism

categorical grants

What they are:

• Federal funds given to state and local governments for specific, narrowly defined purposes with strict rules on how the money must be spent

How they operate:

• Come with detailed federal requirements, regulations, and conditions (strings attached); states must use money exactly as federal government specifies or risk losing funding; most common type of federal grant

Common examples:

• Medicaid funding, highway construction funds, special education programs, Head Start, food stamps (SNAP), and public housing assistance—each with specific federal guidelines states must follow

Why they matter:

• Give federal government significant control over state policy by attaching conditions to money; ensure national standards and uniformity but reduce state flexibility and autonomy; states often accept despite restrictions because they need the funding

how federalism changed over time

Early period (1789-1930s) - Dual Federalism:

• Clear separation between federal and state powers with minimal overlap; states controlled most domestic policy while federal government handled only national issues; Supreme Court protected state sovereignty

New Deal era (1930s-1960s) - Cooperative Federalism:

• Great Depression led to massive expansion of federal power into areas previously controlled by states; federal and state governments began working together and sharing responsibilities; "marble cake" federalism with blurred lines between levels

1960s-1970s - Creative Federalism:

• Federal government dramatically increased involvement in state/local issues (civil rights, education, poverty, environment); explosion of categorical grants with federal strings attached; national government became dominant partner setting priorities

1980s-present - New Federalism and beyond:

• Attempts to return power to states through block grants and devolution; ongoing tension between federal mandates and state autonomy; Supreme Court sometimes limits federal power but federal government remains much larger than Founders envisioned

chapter 5

Landmark Supreme Court Cases:

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): established "separate but equal" doctrine allowing segregation

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954): overturned Plessy, declared school segregation unconstitutional

• Loving v. Virginia (1967): struck down bans on interracial marriage

• Civil Rights Cases (1883): limited federal power to prohibit private discrimination

Major legislation:

• Civil Rights Act of 1964: banned discrimination in public accommodations and employment

• Voting Rights Act of 1965: protected voting rights and banned literacy tests

• Title IX (1972): prohibited sex discrimination in education

• Americans with Disabilities Act (1990): banned discrimination based on disability

Key events:

• Civil Rights Movement (1950s-60s), Montgomery Bus Boycott, March on Washington, sit-ins and protests

de facto vs. de jure

De jure discrimination:

• Legal discrimination explicitly written into laws, policies, or government regulations; "by law" discrimination that is official and enforced by the state

De facto discrimination:

• Discrimination that exists "in fact" or in practice, but is not officially sanctioned by law; results from social customs, economic conditions, or individual actions rather than legal requirements

Examples:

• De jure: Jim Crow laws mandating separate schools, poll taxes, "whites only" signs legally enforced, Japanese internment camps during WWII

• De facto: Housing segregation from economic inequality or private choices, achievement gaps in schools due to neighborhood poverty, workplace discrimination despite equal opportunity laws

Why the distinction matters:

• De jure discrimination is easier to address (change the law); de facto discrimination is harder to eliminate because it's embedded in social patterns and doesn't have a single law to overturn; courts have been more willing to remedy de jure than de facto discrimination

LGBT chapter 5

Early legal status:

• LGBTQ+ individuals had no federal civil rights protections for most of U.S. history; sodomy laws criminalized same-sex relationships, and discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations was legal in most states

Major Supreme Court cases:

• Lawrence v. Texas (2003): struck down sodomy laws, established right to privacy in intimate relationships

• Obergefell v. Hodges (2015): legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, applying 14th Amendment's Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses

• Bostock v. Clayton County (2020): ruled Title VII of Civil Rights Act protects against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

Ongoing debates:

• Transgender rights (bathroom access, military service, sports participation), religious freedom vs. anti-discrimination protections, adoption and parenting rights, and whether sexual orientation/gender identity should be protected classes like race and sex

Current status:

• No comprehensive federal civil rights law explicitly protecting LGBTQ+ individuals; protections vary widely by state; some states have strong protections while others have few or none; debate continues over balancing LGBTQ+ rights with religious liberty claims