AP United States Government and Politics Flashcards

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts from AP United States Government and Politics.

What is direct democracy?

A system where citizens directly govern and make laws, often considered chaotic and inefficient in large populations.

What is participatory democracy?

A system that values broad-based public participation in governing, keeping government close to the people's opinions.

What is representative democracy (republicanism)?

A system where citizens elect representatives who govern for them, allowing for more efficient decision-making while retaining elements of public participation.

What is elite democracy (elitism)?

A system that favors allowing the best-educated and most qualified members of society to govern.

What is majoritarian democracy?

A system that promotes majority rule, allowing the majority to govern based on their ideals, but criticized for potentially violating minority rights.

What is consensus democracy?

A system that promotes the sharing of power across diverse groups, requiring compromise, but criticized for inefficiency.

What document declared the British Colonies in North America to be a free and independent country?

The Declaration of Independence.

What concepts does the Declaration of Independence rely on?

Natural Rights, Popular Sovereignty, and Social Contract Theory.

What are natural rights?

Rights that exist in a “state of nature,” including life, liberty, and property, as proposed by John Locke.

What is popular sovereignty?

The concept that people are the highest level of power in society and government gains legitimacy from their consent.

What is social contract theory?

The theory that people should consent to be governed and in exchange the government will provide protections and certain public goods.

What was the United States’ first constitution?

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.

What is confederation?

A form of government where smaller government units (states) are sovereign and empower the national government to do very limited tasks.

What powers did the national government lack under the Articles of Confederation?

An executive branch, a national judiciary, the power to tax, and the power to compel states to obey national laws.

What was Shays’ Rebellion?

An uprising in western Massachusetts that demonstrated the weakness of the national government under the Articles.

What type of government system was adopted after the failure of the Articles of Confederation?

Federalism, where national and state governments share powers, but the national government has significantly more powers.

What was the Virginia Plan?

Proposed by the large states, it created a Congress with two houses—both based on representation.

What was the New Jersey Plan?

Proposed by the small states, it created a Congress with one house based on equal representation from each state.

What was the Three-Fifths Compromise?

An agreement in which free persons were counted as a whole person and slaves were counted as three-fifths of a person.

What was the Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)?

It created a bicameral legislature with the House of Representatives based on population and the Senate based on equal representation.

What is separation of powers?

Dividing the national government into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial, each with specific and unique powers.

What are checks and balances?

A system where each branch of government has certain powers over the other branches.

How was the President of the United States originally elected?

By the Electoral College.

What are enumerated powers?

Powers specifically listed in the Constitution.

What are implied powers?

Powers not specifically mentioned but implied in certain phrases in the constitutional text.

What does Article I of the Constitution create?

The Congress and legislative branch.

What is the basis of representation in the House of Representatives?

Population, with each state guaranteed at least one representative.

What qualifications must a member of the House of Representatives meet?

At least 25 years of age, a citizen of the United States, and reside within the state they represent.

Who is the most powerful person in Congress?

The Speaker of the House.

What is the purpose of the Census, as outlined in Article I?

To count the population at least every 10 years to apportion representation to each state based on population.

What power does the House of Representatives have against members of the executive or judicial branches?

The power of impeachment, a formal charge of wrongdoing.

What does Article II of the Constitution create?

The executive branch and the presidency.

How are electoral votes assigned to each state?

By adding the number of representatives apportioned to the state plus the two senators.

What qualifications must a person meet to be President of the United States?

A natural born citizen of the United States and at least 35 years of age.

What powers does the president have?

Commander in chief of the army and navy, the power to create treaties (ratified by the Senate), and the power to appoint officials to the executive and judicial branches (confirmed by the Senate).

What does Article III of the Constitution create?

The judicial branch and the Supreme Court.

How many District Courts, Circuit Courts of Appeals, and Supreme Courts are there in the US?

93 District Courts, 13 Circuit Court of Appeals, and one Supreme Court.

What is the power of judicial review?

Only the courts have the power to interpret law and the constitution.

In the federal judiciary, what is the term length?

Lifetime terms.

What does Article IV of the Constitution expand upon?

Federalism, noting what states owe to each other and what the national government owes to the states.

What does Article V of the Constitution do?

Provides two methods for amending the Constitution, through bills passed by two-thirds of each house of Congress or by convention of the states.

What is stated in Section 2 of Article VI?

The constitution, federal law, and treaties shall be the “supreme law of the land.”

What does Article VII of the Constitution set forth?

The ratification process for the constitution, requiring that 9 of 13 states ratify it for it to take effect.

Who were the Federalists?

Those in favor of ratifying the Constitution.

Who were the Anti-Federalists?

Those opposed to ratifying the Constitution.

Who authored The Federalist Papers?

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.

What does subsidiarity mean?

That the lowest level of government capable of performing a task should be the one to perform the task.

What does the First Amendment protect?

Multiple rights including the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of petition, and freedom of assembly. It also contains the Establishment Clause, which created the separation of church and state.

What is the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment?

Guarantees the right to follow the religion of your choice.

What is strict scrutiny?

Places the burden of proof on government and significantly expands the right of free exercise of religion. To limit the free exercise of religion, the government must prove it is pursuing a compelling government interest by the least restrictive means.

What is the Lemon Test?

For government interaction with a religious institution to be constitutional, it must have a secular legislative purpose, not inhibit or advance religion, and must not create excessive entanglement between church and state.

Are there restrictions that can be placed on speech by the government?

Yes, but this is not an absolute freedom.

What are time, place, and manner restrictions?

Limit how the freedom of speech is exercised, but not what is said.

What do content restrictions do?

Attempt to limit the substance of what is being said.

What does the Second Amendment protect?

Citizens’ rights to keep and bear arms.

What does the Fourth Amendment protect?

Citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures and generally requires that searches by the government be done with a warrant based upon probable cause.

What does the Fourteenth Amendment protect?

Defines citizenship, protects the right of due process, and guarantees equal protection under the law.

What is Selective Incorporation Doctrine?

Applying the Bill of Rights to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, meaning the Bill of Rights applies to all levels of government.

What does the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protect?

Citizens from arbitrary government action including the right to privacy.

What does the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment generally protect?

Citizens from unequal treatment under the law.

What law prohibits discrimination based on race and other factors in public accommodations?

The Civil Rights Act of 1964.

What does the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibit?

Discrimination in voting, banning practices such as literacy tests.

What is dual federalism?

State power and federal government power and responsibility should be strictly divided with no sharing of power or responsibility.

What is cooperative federalism?

The federal government and state governments should share power and responsibility.

What are standing committees?

Permanent committees to concentrate on certain areas of policy.

What are select committees?

Temporary committees that are provided with specific tasks and then disbanded when those tasks are complete.

What is a conference committee?

A temporary committee comprised of both House and Senate members who work out language differences in a bill.

What are two theories about how a representative should come to voting decisions?

Delegate model and trustee model.

What does the delegate model stipulate?

Representatives should vote with the will of the people of the district.

What does the trustee model of representation stipulate?

A representative is in the best position to have an informed opinion on a policy issue and therefore should use their best judgment when voting for the districts they represent.

What is administrative law?

The rules created by the executive branch under the delegation of authority by Congress.

What are Quasi-legislative functions?

Mimic the legislative branch, meaning that the independent agency can create new rules and regulations within its policy areas.

What are Quasi-judicial functions

Mimic the judiciary. This means that the independent agency can decide if an individual or organization operating under its authority has acted inappropriately and provide a punishment or corrective action.

What is bureaucratic capture?

The trend of industry controlling the agencies that oversee them.

What is the literalist doctrine?

A president has only those powers specifically mentioned in the Constitution’s Article II and should not exercise any power that he is not specifically granted.

What is the stewardship doctrine?

Unless the constitution specifically prohibits a president from a certain action, then the president is free to exercise that power.

What is the unitary executive theory

The president has total authority within the executive branch to create rules and policies as he or she sees fit.

What are executive agreements?

Agreements between a president's administration and other countries or international organizations that do not have to be ratified by the Senate.

What is the bully pulpit?

The ability of the president to command media coverage and focus the public's attention on issues he or she wishes to prioritize.

What is the Executive Office of the President (EOP)?

Also known as the “West Wing” of the White House, it contains all those employees who work directly for the president and help operate the administration.

What are Cabinet departments?

Large organizations within the executive branch that bring together agencies with similar missions to coordinate their activities and provide executive oversight.

What is the civil service?

Everyday workers employed by the federal government to perform the government's duties who are not political appointees and do not change when a new president enters office.

What is the spoils system?

The practice of hiring all government employees based upon political loyalties and favors.

What protections have been added through amendments over the course of American history?

Voting was not clearly defined in the original Constitution, these protections have been added through amendments.

What did the Supreme Court declare in the case of Baker v. Carr in 1962?

That redistricting, or the drawing of legislative districts, be done based on equal population in each district, creating the “one person, one vote” rule.

What is party-line voting?

A voter may mark their ballot in one place and vote for all candidates of one party.

What is rational choice selection voting?

Voters vote based on which candidate will be best for their individual interests.

What is retrospective voting?

Making choices based on a candidate's history in office, or how a candidate has performed in the past.

What is prospective voting?

Making a candidate selection based on how a voter thinks the candidate will perform in the future.

When are Congressional and presidential elections held?

On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, also known as general elections.

What are primary elections?

Elections where members of a political party select their candidates, set on a state-by-state basis.

What are closed primaries?

Elections only open to registered members of the political party.

What are open primaries?

Elections open to any voter who wants to vote on the ballot of that party.

What are caucuses?

Used in some states to select presidential candidates, they require voters to attend a meeting on election night at their local voting location and pledge their support for a candidate.

What are Mid-term elections?

Are held when the president is not on the ballot—in other words when the president is in the middle of his or her four-year term.

What are Political parties?

Official organizations designed to bring like-minded people together in order to elect members of the party.

What is the Party in the Electorate?

Political parties help to educate voters on issues, update voters on upcoming elections and their rules, register voters, and turn out voters on election day.

What is a party coalition?

The different people, interests, and groups affiliated with a political party.

What is the Federal Election Commission (FEC)?

Regulates campaign finance and disclosure at the federal level.

What are political action committees (PACs)?

Organizations wishing to contribute directly to candidate campaigns which are regulated by the FEC.