1/72
Name | Mastery | Learn | Test | Matching | Spaced |
---|
No study sessions yet.
Declaration of Independence
Signed in 1776 by US revolutionaries; it declared the United States as a free state.
Articles of Confederation
Weak constitutional agreement ratified after the creation of the united states.
-Unicameral
-No national military
-Could not collect taxes
-No national currency
-State governments were more powerful
-Not all states represented equally
-9 of 13 states had to agree to pass laws
The Constitution of the United States
A stronger constitution formed after the articles of confederation
-Bicameral (house and senate)
-Three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial)
-5 Articles
-Bill of Rights
-Republicanism
-Checks and Balances
-Limited Federalism
-Popular Sovereignty
-Necessary and Proper Clause
-Supremacy Clause
-Due Process
Bill of Rights
First 10 amendments to the Constitution
-1st: 5 freedoms
-2nd: Right to bear arms
-3rd: No quartering of troops
-4th: No search without a warrant
-5th: Right to remain silent and be deprived of liberty
-6th: Right to speedy trial
-7th: Right to trial by jury
-8th: No cruel or unusual punishments or excessive bail
-9th: Rights to the people (implied rights)
-10th: Rights to the states
Article I
Establishes the Legislative Branch and the two chambers
Details:
-2 senators per state
-Members of the house must be 25 years old, a citizen for 7 years, and resident of the state
-Senators must be 35 years old, citizens for 14 years, and resident of the state
-President of senate = vice president
-When vice president is missing, President Pro Tempore serves
-Presidential Powers
-Limitations of the government
-The house proposes bills for revenue
-10 days for a president to veto
For impeachment…
…The House brings the charges
…The Senate tries and convicts
Article II
Establishes the Executive Branch
-Term length of 4 years for president
-President is commander in chief, grant pardons and reprieves, make treaties, and nominates ambassadors and federal judges
-President must be 25 years old, natural born citizen, resident for 14 years
-Senate approves all treaties
-President may be impeached on treason, bribery, or other high crimes
Article III
Establishes the Judicial Branch
-Court judges serve for life under good behavior
-Supreme Courts have original jurisdiction in all cases affecting ambassadors, public ministers, and consuls, and those in which a state shall be involved.
-Impeachment cases are not held by Jury
Article IV
Interstate Relations
-States bound together by Full Faith and Credit Clause
-States bound together by Privileges and Immunities Clause
-States bound together by Extradition
-New states may be added to the union but may not be formed out of existing states without permission.
Article V
Amending the Constitution
-2/3rds of Congress must propose an amendment
-3/4ths of the states need to ratify an amendment
Article VI
Supremacy Clause
Article VII
9 states are required to ratify the constitution
First Amendment
5 freedoms: speech, press, religion, assembly, petition
Establishment Clause (No establishing a primary religion)
Free Exercise Clause (One may exercise what they want)
Second Amendment
Right to bear arms
Third Amendment
No quartering soldiers
Fourth Amendment
Protects against unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant
Fifth Amendment
Rights of people accused of crimes, such as double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and grand jury.
"Right to remain silent"
Due Process Clause
Sixth Amendment
Right to a speedy and public trial, rights to be informed of charges, and right to an attorney.
Seventh Amendment
Right to a trial by jury in civil cases
Eighth Amendment
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Ninth Amendment
People's rights are not limited to those listed in the Constitution.
Implied Rights.
Tenth 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.
State-National government discernment.
Federalist 10 (Madison)
Factions are bad; large republic good
Federalist 51 (Madison)
Separation of powers, checks and balances
Federalist 70 (Hamilton)
Plural executives bad; single president good
Federalist 78 (Hamilton)
Judicial branch is not too powerful; in fact it is very very very good and balances the other 2 branches.
"it is not the purse nor the sword"
Brutus 1
Before the constitution was ratified; too much power in national government; won't be able to survive bc it's too big
Federalist 39 (Madison)
Federalism; national AND state power
Eleventh Amendment
When states sue other states, it automatically goes before the Supreme Court. Residents of one state cannot sue another state. Another country can't sue the US and vice verse.
Twelfth Amendment
Creates a ticket for the presidency where the president and VP are elected together but voted seperately.
Thirteenth Amendment
Abolition of slavery
Fourteenth Amendment
No state shall breach the privileges of United States citizens
-Equal Protections clause
-Due Process Clause
-Citizenship Clause
Fifteenth Amendment
All men can vote regardless of color
Sixteenth Amendment
Income Tax
Seventeenth Amendment
Direction election of senators
Eighteenth Amendment
Prohibition
Nineteenth Amendment
Women can vote :)
Twentieth Amendment
Shortens the lame duck period by moving the presidential inauguration from March to January.
Twenty-First Amendment
Repeal of Prohibition
Twenty-Second Amendment
President can only serve two terms.
Twenty-Third Amendment
Washington DC is not a state, but gets 3 electoral votes.
Twenty-Fourth Amendment
Prohibits poll tax in federal elections
Twenty-Fifth Amendment
Vice President can fill-in for the president under certain circumstances
Twenty-Sixth Amendment
Lowers the voting age to 18
Twenty-Seventh Amendment
Congressional pay may lower or higher
McCulloch v. Maryland
Maryland was trying to tax the national bank and Supreme Court ruled that federal law was stronger than the state law.
-Used the "Necessary and Proper Clause"
-Strengthened Federal Govt
Lopez v. United States
The Supreme Court struck down a law allowing guns in school zones
-Used the "Commerce Clause"
-Weakened Federal Govt
-Government may only regulate interstate commerce.
Baker v. Carr
Gerrymandering is bad
-Used the "Equal protection" clause under the 14th amendment
-Established one person, one vote
-Limited Federal Govt.
-Allowed courts to assess redistricting
Shaw v. Reno
NO racial gerrymandering; race cannot be the sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative boundaries; majority-minority districts.
-Used "Equal Protection" clause under the 14th amendment
-Legislature may not use race in order to gerrymander
Schenk v. United States
People denied and burnt draft cards
-Established the "Clear and Present Danger Test"
-Strengthened Federal Govt
-Govt may silence people if free speech incites danger
Wisconsin v. Yoder
Amish do not have to attend school after 8th grade - right to freedom of religion
-Used the "Establishment" and "Free Exercise" clause
-Education isn't mandated on the basis of religion
New York Times v. Sullivan
1964; established guidelines for determining whether public officials and public figures could win damage suits for libel. To do so, individuals must prove that the defamatory statements were made w/ "actual malice" and reckless disregard for the truth
-Used free speech of the 1st Amendment
-All speech and statement can be protected under the 1st amendment
New York Times v. United States
If the government wishes to censor information before it is printed or published, it must be proven in court that the information will endanger national security.
-Abolished Prior Restraint
-Used Freedom to press under 1st Amendment
-Weakened Federal Govt
Citizens United v. FEC
corporate funding of independent political broadcasts can't be limited
-Used First Amendment freedom to speech
-Weakened federal govt
Marbury v. Madison
Marbury's commission was never delivered, he begged courts to get madison to deliver the damn commission.
-Established judicial review
-(Supreme Court has the final say in the law)
Miranda v. Arizona
The accused must be notified of their rights before being questioned by the police
-5th Amendment
Engel v. Vitale
banned formal prayer in schools, goverment whould not make any religion the 'official' religion.
-1st Amendment
Gideon v. Wainwright
A person who cannot afford an attorney may have one appointed by the government. State governments MUST provide attorney; increases federalism.
-6th?/5th Amendment
Tinker v. Des Moines
Students have the right to symbolic speech at school as long as it is not disruptive
Brown v. Board of Education
1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson, declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated.
Plessy v. Ferguson
Separate but equal
Mapp v. Ohio
Established the exclusionary rule was applicable to the states (evidence seized illegally cannot be used in court)
The Virginia Plan
"Large state" proposal for the new constitution, calling for proportional representation in both houses of a bicameral Congress. The plan favored larger states and thus prompted smaller states to come back with their own plan for apportioning representation.
House of Representatives
(Adjusted every 10 years via census)
Supported by Anti-Federalists
The New Jersey Plan
A constitutional proposal that would have given each state one vote in a new congress
Senate
Supported by Anti-Federalists
Three-Fifths Compromise
Agreement that each slave counted as three-fifths of a person in determining representation in the House for representation and taxation purposes (negated by the 13th amendment)
Great Compromise
agreement providing a dual system of congressional representation
Bicameral Relationship
Full Faith and Credit Clause (Article IV)
States are required to recognize the laws and legal documents of other states. Extradition (When criminals run away from their state)
Commerce Clause (Article 1)
Congress can regulate trade between nations, between states, and among Indian tribes.
Privileges and Immunities Clause
Prevents a state from treating citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner.
Buckley v. Valeo
Believed limiting funding for campaigns limited free speech, candidates may now use as much of their own money as they'd like.
-First Amendment
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
Largely banned party soft money, restored a long-standing prohibition on corporations and labor unions for using general treasury funds for electoral purposes, and narrowed the definition of issue advocacy.
-Has been overturned
Litmus Test
An examination of the political ideology of a nominated judge
Lemon v. Kurtzman
Three tests are described for deciding whether the government is improperly involved with religion
Established Lemon Test
-First Amendment
Writ of Certiorari
A formal writ used to bring a case before the Supreme Court.