PSC101 Video Notes: Exam 1 Vocabulary Flashcards

Articles of Confederation

• Definition and Context
  • The Articles of Confederation (AoC) established a loose confederation of sovereign states (1777/1781 ratification timeline).
  • Structure: a unicameral Congress; each state had one vote; no separate executive branch or national judiciary; mechanisms required broad consensus for action.
• Key Provisions and Features
  • States retained most powers; the national government could conduct war, negotiate treaties, coin money, and request revenue from states but lacked enforcement power.
  • Major design goal: preserve state sovereignty while coordinating common interests (defense, diplomacy, western lands).
• Major Weaknesses (why it failed as a long-term framework)
  • No power to tax or regulate interstate commerce; no national income and no compulsory funding for national responsibilities.
  • No independent executive to enforce laws or a national judiciary to interpret them.
  • Amendments required unanimity among the states; articles were difficult to change.
  • No enduring national currency or stable economic policy; inability to raise a standing army easily.
• Consequences and Significance
  • Shays’ Rebellion (1786–1787) highlighted the system’s vulnerability and alerted elites that a stronger central government was needed.
  • Directly led to the drafting of a new constitutional framework at the Constitutional Convention (1787).
• Connections to Exam Themes
  • Serves as baseline for understanding federalism and the subsequent expansion of federal power under the Constitution.

The major clauses (e.g., supremacy, due process, etc.)

• Supremacy Clause
  • Location: Article VI, Clause 2.
  • Text idea: The Constitution, federal laws, and treaties are the supreme law of the land, overruling conflicting state laws.
  • Implications: Federal law preempts state law when in conflict; seed for national supremacy in federal-state relations.
• Due Process Clauses
  • Fifth Amendment (federal government) and Fourteenth Amendment (state governments).
  • Core idea: Protects individuals from arbitrary denial of life, liberty, or property by the government; incorporation doctrine grows from this.
• Other major clauses often discussed with these concepts
  • Commerce Clause: gives Congress power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with Indian tribes.
  • Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause): authorizes Congress to enact laws needed to execute its enumerated powers.
  • Equal Protection and Privileges and Immunities Clauses (14th Amendment and related provisions) and Full Faith and Credit.
• Significance and Examples
  • McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) reinforced federal supremacy and the interpretation of implied powers via the Necessary and Proper Clause.
  • Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) clarified federal authority to regulate interstate commerce.
• Exam Relevance
  • Expect questions about how these clauses interact to shape federalism, rights protections, and the balance of power.

Constitutional Convention

• Context and Purpose
  • Convened in 1787 in Philadelphia to revise the AoC; resulted in a new framework: the U.S. Constitution.
• Major Debates and Compromises
  • Virginia Plan vs. New Jersey Plan → Great Compromise (bicameral Congress with proportional representation in the House and equal representation in the Senate).
  • Three-Fifths Compromise: representation and taxation affected by counting enslaved people as 3/5 of a person, expressed as $\frac{3}{5}$.
  • The issue of the executive, judicial structure, and protections for individual rights.
• Ratification and Federalism Implications
  • Required nine of thirteen states for ratification; debates between Federalists and Anti-Federalists shaped the Bill of Rights as a condition for ratification.
• Connections to Other Topics
  • Set the stage for federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances that define American governance.

Federalism

• Definition and Core Idea
  • Division of powers between national and state governments; overlapping powers exist (concurrent powers).
• Key Concepts
  • Enumerated (federal) powers vs. reserved (state) powers; Supremacy Clause ensures federal law can supersede state law in certain domains.
  • Intergovernmental relations: grants-in-aid, mandates, and revenue-sharing influence policy in practice.
• Historical Evolution
  • From Dual Federalism (layered, separate spheres) to Cooperative/Marble Cake Federalism (interwoven responsibilities).
• Significance
  • Explains policy experimentation across states and the ongoing tension between national interests and states’ rights.

Popular sovereignty, equality, and liberty (and related attachments)

• Core Ideas
  • Popular sovereignty: political power ultimately rests with the people.
  • Equality: equal protection under the law and equal access to political processes.
  • Liberty: protection of individual rights and civil liberties.
• Attachments and Real-World Implications
  • Civil rights movements, voting rights, anti-discrimination laws, and liberties in speech, religion, and assembly.
• Exam-Related Notes
  • Expect discussions on how constitutional design translates popular sovereignty into legal protections and policy outcomes.

Republicanism

• Definition and Principles
  • Government based on the consent of the governed, elected representation, and civic virtue.
• How it Shapes Institutions
  • Separation of powers, checks and balances, and a framework that curbs tyranny of the majority.
• Relevance to Policy and Law
  • Roots of the representative structure and accountability mechanisms in the U.S. political system.

Social contract

• Philosophical Basis
  • Foundational idea from classical thought that governments gain legitimacy from the consent of the governed in order to secure order and rights.
• Application to U.S. Constitution
  • Justifies the authority of the Constitution as a voluntary agreement among the people.
• Exam Connections
  • Helps explain why constitutional limits and civil liberties matter for legitimate governance.

Sources of the expansion of federal power

• Key Drivers
  • Commerce Clause expansion (interstate and international trade regulation).
  • Necessary and Proper Clause (elasticity enabling new powers).
  • Taxing and Spending Power (federal revenue and conditional grants).
  • War powers and national security considerations.
  • Civil War and Reconstruction amendments (13th, 14th, 15th) and related federal enforcement.
• Notable Case Law and Concepts
  • Wickard v. Filburn; United States v. Lopez (limits of Commerce Clause).
  • McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden as foundational interpretations.
• Significance
  • Explains a long-term trend toward increased national policymaking capacity and federal influence on state affairs.

Nullification

• Definition and Historical Context
  • The idea that states can declare federal laws invalid within their borders.
• Key Episodes and Figures
  • Nullification Crisis (South Carolina, 1832) led by John C. Calhoun; tariff acts triggered state resistance.
  • Jackson’s administration asserted federal supremacy over state refusals to enforce federal law.
• Implications
  • Deepened the debate over federalism and prefigured later conflicts over states’ rights and constitutional authority.
• Exam Preparation
  • Understand how nullification contrasts with federal supremacy and its role in shaping federal policy enforcement.

Devolution

• Definition and Policy Context
  • Policy shift of power from national to state governments; associated with “New Federalism.”
• Mechanisms and Tools
  • Block grants, fewer federal mandates, greater discretion for states in program design.
• Examples and Effects
  • Welfare reform era changes (e.g., TANF) illustrate devolved responsibilities in social provision.
• Relevance
  • Highlights debates about efficiency, experimentation, and potential gaps in national standards.

Bill of Rights (…how many of them were there, anyways?)

• Contents and Original Intent
  • The first 10 amendments (the Bill of Rights) were ratified in 1791 to protect individual liberties from federal infringement.
• Numbers and Modern Scope
  • Original count: $10$ amendments.
  • Today: $27$ amendments.
• Incorporation and Application
  • Initially restricted to federal government; Over time, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process and Equal Protection clauses have incorporated most rights against the states.
• Notable Provisions (briefly listed)
  • 1st Amendment: speech, religion, press, assembly, petition.
  • 2nd Amendment: right to keep and bear arms.
  • 4th Amendment: protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
  • 5th–8th Amendments: criminal procedure and rights of the accused.
  • 9th–10th Amendments: undistributed rights and reserved powers.
• Exam Link
  • Expect questions about how these rights protect individuals and how incorporation changed federal-state relations.

Trigger laws

• Definition and Purpose
  • Laws that become active only after a predefined triggering event, often used in abortion policy contexts.
• Practical Examples and Implications
  • Many states enacted trigger bans to take effect if federal protections changed (e.g., post-Roe policy landscape).
• Constitutional and Legal Considerations
  • Raise questions about legislative timing, retroactivity, and the balance of state and federal authority.

Reconstruction

• Time Frame and Goals
  • 1865–1877; post–Civil War attempt to redefine rights and status of newly freed African Americans.
• Key Constitutional Elements
  • 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments; Civil Rights Act of 1866; Civil Rights Act of 1875; Freedmen’s Bureau.
• Federal versus State Dynamics
  • Military Reconstruction Acts; federal enforcement of civil rights in former Confederate states; challenges during Redeemer governments.
• Enduring Impact
  • Expanded federal civil rights protections and laid groundwork for later civil rights movements, though followed by rollback and Jim Crow in many states.

Types of state-sponsored segregation (de facto vs. de jure)

• De jure Segregation
  • Segregation mandated by law (Jim Crow laws, separate facilities by law).
• De facto Segregation
  • Segregation arising from social, economic, or geographic factors rather than law (residential patterns, schooling, private preferences).
• Historical and Legal Significance
  • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) upheld “separate but equal” until Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned it.
• Exam Focus
  • Distinguish between legally codified segregation and segregation that arises from non-legislative factors; understand implications for equal protection jurisprudence.

Shays’ Rebellion

• Who and What
  • 1786–1787 uprising led by Daniel Shays and other Massachusetts farmers facing debt and tax pressures.
• Why It Matters
  • Demonstrated the weaknesses of the AoC, especially the lack of a standing army and unified fiscal policy.
  • Helped catalyze calls for a stronger central government and a new constitutional framework.
• Relevance to Exam Content
  • Illustrates the shift from the AoC to the Constitution and the debate over central authority.

Powers of Congress (e.g., enumerated)

• Article I, Section 8: Enumerated Powers (highlights)
  1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises.
  2. To pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.
  3. To borrow money on the credit of the United States.
  4. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.
  5. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States.
  6. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.
  7. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.
  8. To establish post offices and post roads.
  9. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their writings and discoveries.
  10. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court.
  11. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations.
  12. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.
  13. To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years.
  14. To provide for a Navy.
  15. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.
  16. To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.
  17. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States.
  18. To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over the Capital.
  19. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.
• The Elastic Clause
  • Enables Congress to enact laws that are useful to execute its enumerated powers (basis for implied powers).
• Relevance
  • Explains how Congress can address new issues (e.g., modern regulatory regimes) beyond the explicit list.

Hate speech

• Constitutional Protections and Limits
  • First Amendment protections widely shield expressive activities, but there are important limits in practice (incitement to violence, true threats, fighting words, etc.).
• Key Concepts and Cases (briefly)
  • Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) set high bar for incitement analysis.
  • R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992) clarified content-based restrictions.
• Implications for Law and Society
  • Balancing free expression with protections against harassment and violence; ongoing debates about speech, platform regulation, and hate speech policies.

Proportional representation

• Definition

  • Electoral system where seats are allocated roughly in proportion to each party’s share of votes.

• Mechanisms and Districting

  • Commonly paired with multi-member districts; contrasts with single-member plurality.

• Advantages and Drawbacks

  • Advantages: better representation of minority viewpoints; more accurate reflection of voter preferences.
  • Drawbacks: can lead to coalition governments and potential policy instability.

• Mathematical Aspects (LaTeX)

  • Seat share approximation: if a party receives $V_p$ votes and there are $S$ seats, proportional allocation seeks to match seat share roughly to vote share, subject to the chosen divisor method (e.g., D'Hondt or Sainte-Laguë). A common quotient for party p and seat allocation is

  $Q(p,d) = \frac{V_p}{d}$

  where d is the current divisor.

• Exam Relevance

  • Contrast with winner-take-all systems used in the United States and discuss consequences for party systems.

Duverger’s Law

• Core Claim
  • Single-member districts with plurality voting tend to produce a two-party system; multi-member or proportional representation systems foster multi-party competition.
• Explanations
  • Mechanical effect: third parties rarely win in first-past-the-post; strategic voting reinforces two-party dynamics.
  • Psychological effect: voters prefer major parties to avoid “wasting” votes.
• Implications for American Politics
  • Explains why the U.S. has historically operated as a two-party system and why third parties have limited long-run traction in federal elections.

Protest parties

• Definition and Role
  • Third parties formed to advocate for grievances or policy issues not adequately addressed by major parties; may influence the policy agenda without winning major offices.
• Examples (historical and contemporary)
  • Populist Party (late 19th century), Prohibition Party, and more recent movements that raised specific issues.
• Significance
  • Force major parties to address issues, influence election outcomes, and shape public debate.

Polarization

• Concept and Consequences
  • Increasing ideological distance between parties and among the public; reduces cross-cutting political ties and raises legislative gridlock.
• Drivers and Implications
  • Media environment, party sorting, redistricting, and identity politics.
  • Effects on governance, policy compromise, and public trust.

Party functions and activities

• Core Functions
  • Recruit and nominate candidates; organize campaigns; mobilize voters; craft policy platforms; provide organizational resources; oversight and accountability in government.
• Activities in Practice
  • Fundraising, messaging, field operations, caucus/committee work, and legislative strategy.
• Relevance
  • Understanding how parties shape policy outcomes, electoral dynamics, and representation.

Populism

• Definition and Core Features
  • Political approach that pits “the people” against “the elite” or established institutions; charismatic leadership; often emphasizes direct appeals and anti-establishment rhetoric.
• Variants and Implications
  • Left-wing vs. right-wing populism; potential impact on constitutional norms, democratic norms, and policy agendas.
• Real-World Context
  • Populist movements have influenced political discourse, election outcomes, and policy debates in various eras.

Gerrymandering

• Definition and Purpose
  • Manipulating district boundaries to advantage a political party or to dilute the power of a particular group.
• Techniques
  • Packing (concentrating opponents’ voters in few districts) and cracking (diluting opponents’ vote across many districts).
• Legal and Political Dimensions
  • Supreme Court cases addressing racial and partisan gerrymandering; ongoing debates about fairness, representation, and the role of independent commissions.
• Implications for Representation
  • Affects how responsive districts are to voters, the degree of competition, and the overall political landscape.

Cross-cutting notes and exam-ready takeaways

• Bolded concepts from lectures are likely to be tested; review the bolded items and their interconnections.

• Understand how foundational ideas (federalism, republicanism, social contract) shape later topics (civil rights, party politics, voting systems).

• Be able to connect concepts to real-world implications (court cases, policy outcomes, electoral reform debates).

• Practice with key numbers and formulas:

  • Three-Fifths Compromise: $\frac{3}{5}$ of enslaved people counted for representation and taxation purposes.
  • Ratification threshold for the Constitution: $\frac{9}{13}$ states.
  • Bill of Rights initially: $10$ amendments; modern total: $27$ amendments.

• Formula-oriented expectations may include discussing proportional representation methods (e.g., D'Hondt, Sainte-Laguë) and the math behind seat allocation using quotients like

  $Q(p,d) = \frac{V_p}{d}$

  where $V_p$ is the votes for party $p$ and $d$ is the divisor.

• Ethical and practical implications are embedded in each topic: balancing free speech with protections against harm; ensuring equal protection while recognizing the realities of political competition; and reconciling state and federal roles in safeguarding rights.