Unit 1: Foundations in American Democracy

Government vs. Politics

An institution that provides order, protection, equality vs. how the institution functions/operates

Four characteristics of state

Territory, population, sovereignty, government

Divine right theory

The population of a territory is religiously obligated to give the government it’s sovereignty because of religious beliefs in those religious leaders and religious rules

Evolutionary theory

The population of a territory grows so much that a government is formed from the need for organization

Force theory

The population of a territory are forced to abide by a government, forcing its sovereignty

Social contract

The population of a territory gives up freedoms by abiding by the laws, but reap the benefits that government provides, giving it sovereignty

Anarchy

Opposes all government and rules

Autocratic

Dictatorship (force)

• authoritarian

• totalitarian

Monarchy (bloodline)

Oligarchy

Small group of people

• Theocracy (religious)

• Could be self appointed or could be chosen by citizens

Republic

• Citizens vote for representatives that represent them in government

• Each representative makes decisions for a mass amount of people

Democracy

• Indirect/representative - voting for someone else to make choices for you

• Direct (Every vote counts; Every person is involved in every decision)

Unitary

Single central government

Federalism

layers/levels of government, power divided and shared between a central government and smaller governments

Confederacy

Can be an alliance of independent states, central government has VERY limited power

Laissez faire

Little to no government involvement in the economy or providing goods and services

Fascism

All or most means of production are privately owned, BUT pushed on to society by government authority (overrides self-interest), equality is often very low/racism/sexism

Capitalism

Most means of production are privately owned but there are still public goods, this is the typtype of economy the U.S has

Socialism

All or most means of production are government owned and operated

Communism

Government enforced communal ownership, no private companies or ownership, cannot become richer or poorer than anyone else despite skill level and ability

Presidential form

Citizens vote for their lawmakers separately from voting for their president

Parliamentary form

Citizens vote for their lawmakers, then the lawmakers pick a leader from the majority amongst themselves

Natural rights

All people have certain rights that cannot be taken away from them

Social contract

An agreement between the citizens and government to give up some rights in exchange for protection

Popular sovereignty

All government power comes from the consent of its people

Limited government

A governments power cannot be absolute and needs limits to be placed on it

Separation of powers

Each branch has separate powers that the other branches cannot exercise

Checks and balances

Each branch has checks and balances on the other two to ensure that actions are constitutional and favored by a majority of the country

Republicism

Citizens elect representatives to govern on their behalf

Participatory democracy

Broad and direct participation in politics and civil society

Pluralist democracy

Political power is distributed among many different organized groups, interest groups. “squeaky wheel gets the grease”

Elite democracy

A small group of people (usually those who are wealthy or educated) have the most political influence and power. General public is pretty much just there to elect them into office.

Dual federalism

Programs and authority are clearly divided among the national, state, and local governments

Cooperative federalism

Programs and authority are mixed among the national, state, and local governments

Categorical grants

Have a very specific purpose and come with strict rules and regulations

Block grants

These grants are given for a broad policy area and offer much more discretion on how to spend the money

Enumerated/expressed powers

Powers of the federal government

Reserved powers

Powers of the state government

Concurrent powers

powers shared by the national and state governments

Article 4

Federalism

Article 5

Amendment procedures

Article 6

Supremacy, debt, and oaths

Article 7

Ratification procedures

What date was the Constitution ratified?

September 17th, 1787

The great compromise (Connecticut compromise)

Combined the New Jersey and Virginia plans by suggesting a bicameral legislature in which one house’s representation is based on size and the other house has equal representation. Satisfied big states and small states.