GOVT. 2305 Final

Liberal Democracy

rule of law - majority rule, due process and equal protection of law
bill of rights
election integrity
separation of powers
checks and balances

Legislative Branch

Makes laws

Executive Branch

Enforces laws

Judicial Branch

Interprets laws

Illiberal Democracy

Rule of law to punish enemies - majority dominates, due process and equal protection of laws for majorities
Stigmatizes political opponents and majority groups
Blurred Bill of Rights
Questioning elections - only if you lose

Turn-Key Authoritarianism

The party is absolute
No questioning leadership
no wide-spread elections
Mass surveillance
Social credit system to monitor citizens

US/Western Model

Freedom and liberties supersede economic and political certainty

Chinese Model

economic and political certainty override freedoms and liberties

Tenets of American Democracy

Personal Liberty
Equality
Majority rule/popular consent
Popular Sovereignty
Individualism
Religious Freedom

Political Efficacy

Belief you can influence the government

Herald Laswell

Who gets what when and how

Hannah Arendt

escaped concentration camp, became a professor in America, a political writer
Banality of Evil - someone who cannot sympathize

Populism

Representing the people; support for the ordinary people juxtaposed with elitism

Exclusive Populism

Work to exclude stigmatized groups

Inclusive Populism

Work to include stigmatized groups

Political Culture

Broadly shared beliefs about how government should work

ex: peaceful transition of power, equality of opportunity - not result, market place of ideas, meritocracy, tolerance

Laissez-faire capitalism

an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned and operated for profit with minimal or no government interference

Political ideology

Cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about government

14th Amendment

Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws
Due process needed for states

Johnson-Reed Immigration Act

(1924) No east Europeans or Asians allowed into America

Life expectancy

Declined because of COVID
Women - 80
Men - 74

Implications of change

Fosters an us-them mentality
Women and Minorities given unfair advantage
Perception that immigrants are no longer American

Self-Segregation

Homogeneity
Disagreement
Less exposed to contrary views
Technology

Cass Sunstein

Law of group polarization
Deliberation in a like minded group leads to extremism

Morris Fiorina

political elites and purple America

Statutory Constitutions

Limits Government Power

Liberal Constitutions

Flexible Constitutions

Purposes of the Constitution

Framework of three branches
Protect civil liberties
Amendment process

Framer's Goals

Strong central govt.
Restrained central govt.
Emphasize democracy with support of ordinary people
Avoid excessive democracy

Supremacy Clause

federal law wins over state law

Article 1 of the Constitution

Legislative Branch

John Locke

English philosopher who argued that people have natural rights

Thomas Hobbes

think that you need a leviathan or king
social contract theory

Bicameral System

Two houses
House reps, 435 people, 2 year term, revenue bill
Senate - 100 people, 6 year term

Article 1 Section 8

Enumerated Powers of Congress
17 specific powers
1. Power to tax
2. regulates commerce
3. Borrow $
4. Coin $

Article 2 of the Constitution

Executive Branch
Term of Office (22nd amendment, 1951)
qualifications (35 years old, 14 years us resident, natural born citizen)
Electoral college
Powers and duties for presidency
State of the Union
Impeachment (formally charging president)(Trump, Clinton, Jackson)

Article 3 of the Constitution

Judicial Branch
Supreme court
Original jurisdiction ( right of authority)
Terms ( for life/impeachment)
Judicial Review

Judicial Review

Can review the other courts for what is constitution
Declare any law/act unconstitutional
Comes from Marbury v. Madison

Marybury v. Madison

1803 Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review

Article 4 of the Constitution

Outlines the rights and expectations for all states and citizens including the adding of new states

Article 5 of the Constitution

Amendment Process

Article 6 of the Constitution

Supremacy Clause

Article 7 of the Constitution

Ratification (9/13 to approve)
Much debate between federalists (supported and didn't trust the people) and anti-federalists (didn't support and didn't trust the government)

Federalist Papers

A collection of 85 articles written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison under the name "Publius" to defend the Constitution in detail.
#10, factions, won't always have enlightened statesmen
#51, separation of powers, if all men angels, govt. not needed

Formal Methods to Amend

2/3 of Senate and House
3/4 of States

Informal Methods to Amend

Judicial interpretation
Social, cultural, legal
Technology

Arguments for Power Allocation

Prevention of Tyranny
Multiple opportunities to participate
States can be used as testing labs

Types of powers

Enumerated (tax, coin money, borrow money, regulate commerce)
10th amendment (reserves powers to states/people as long as they're not enumerated to national govt. or denied to the states
Concurrent ( shared powers)
Implied

Dockett Control

Supreme Court hears cases they want to hear

Habeas Corpus

Judicial mandate to determine the legality of your detention

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Necessary and Proper clause

the Supreme Court upheld the power of the national government and denied the right of a state to tax the federal bank using the Constitution's supremacy clause. The Court's broad interpretation of the necessary and proper clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

The Supreme Court upheld broad congressional power to regulate interstate commerce. The Court's broad interpretation of the Constitution's commerce clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers. The Steamboat case

Stare Decisis

let the decision stand

Roger B. Taney

As chief justice, he wrote the important decision in the Dred Scott case, upholding police power of states and asserting the principle of social responsibility of private property. He was Southern and upheld the fugitive slave laws.

Dred Scott v. Stanford (1857)

Says that property cannot sue in court, so Scott cannot sue
Taney declared the Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional
Narrows the scope of the national govt.
Judicial Review used

13th Amendment

1865 - abolished slavery

15th Amendment (1870)

cannot deny black men right to vote

Fransis Galton

The creator of Eugenics and the science of breeding

Racial Integrity Act 1924

requires racial description to be recorded at birth
ban on interracial marriage

Sterilization Act 1924

Forced sterilization of citizens by the government if deemed "feeble minded"

Buck v. Bell (1927)

deemed the sterilization act constitutional

Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942)

you must sterilize one group if sterilizing another, but it's still fine for the "feeble minded"

Loving v. Virginia (1967)

supreme court declared Racial Integrity Act unconstitutional

9th Amendment

the bill of rights is a partial list and others may exist

Rational Basis test

the standard used by the courts to decide most forms of discrimination; the burden of proof is on those challenging the law or action to demonstrate there is no good reason for treating them differently from other citizens

Intermediate Scrutiny Test

The middle level of scrutiny the courts use when determining whether unequal treatment is justified by the effect of a law; this is the standard used for gender-based discrimination cases and for many cases based on sexual orientation. Both the citizens and government share the burden of proof

Strict Scrutiny Test

a higher standard than the rational basis test a law must meet in equal protection cases. Burden of proof is purely on the government

Establishment Clause

government will not support one religion over another, or religion over no religion. Govt. will not excessively entangle itself in religion

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

New York decides to write a prayer to be delivered at the beginning of school
Supreme Court rules against New York, government cannot write prayer

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

Laws must serve a secular (non religious) purpose
Cannot prohibit or inhibit religion
Must not foster excessive entanglement in religion

Free Exercise Clause

prohibits government from interfering in your expression of faith

Employment Division v. Smith (1990)

Supreme Court upholds ruling that 2 Native American men cannot have work benefits because of drugs in their systems
Cannot use religious beliefs to neglect the law

Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1993)

Government cannot restrict a person from free exercise unless the government can give a clear reason why

City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)

Strikes down state and local components of RFRA
City ordinances cannot be subjected to federal regulations

Gonzales v. UDV (2006)

RFRA still applies to federal government

Gobitis (1940)

Says its constitutional to have the pledge and have to say it

Barnette (1943)

Overturns Gobitis, 1st amendment issue

When is freedom of expression denied?

Endangers national security, wrongly damages reputation of others, deprives others of basic freedoms

Fighting words

speech that directly incites damaging conduct

Chaplinsky (1942)

Chaplinsky is arrested for using fighting words, and the supreme court upholds the ruling
Fighting words are not protected

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

Flag-burning is symbolic speech with a political purpose and is protected by 1st Amendment.

Morse v. Frederick (2007)

Students rights must be balanced by schools mission
Bong Hits for Jesus

Prior Restraint

government censorship of information before it is published or broadcast

New York Times v. US (1971)

The supreme court decides that the government cannot limit the press

Bradenburg v. Ohio (1969)

Cannot limit publication unless it engages in imminent lawless action

New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)

To libel a public figure, there must be "actual malice"

Obscenity

not protected speech, but its not defined in the law

Roth v. US (1957)

US tries to define obscenity
"has no redeeming social significance"

Cohen v. California (1971)

Cohen wore a jacket during the Vietnam war with an expression on it saying 'F*ck the draft, stop the war'. He got a 30 day jail sentence for disturbing the peace. Supreme Court overturned his conviction saying 'emotions and ideas are protected'. Free speech can be indecent, symbolic, emotional. Freedom over Order

Miller v. California (1972)

LAPS test
If not literary, artistic, political, scientific, and the average person finds it objectable, it is not allowed

4th amendment

Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures

Good faith exception

an error in gathering evidence sufficiently minor that it may be used in a trial

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Exclusionary rule applied to states
bares use of evidence found in violation of constitutional rights

Riley v. California (2014)

Held that police must obtain a warrant before searching a smartphone for information.

Civil Forfeiture

a procedure in which law enforcement officers take assets from people who are suspected of illegal activity, but have not been charged with a crime

Qualified Immunity

the protection of officers against being sued for their actions under certain circumstances

5th Amendment

The Right to Remain Silent/Double Jeopardy, right to due process

Eminent Domain

Power of a government to take private property for public use.

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Established Miranda warnings of counsel and silence. Must be given before questioning. Warren Court's judicial activism in criminal rights.

6th Amendment

right to attorney