Chapter 1: Intro

• Heimler's History AP Government Edition

• Review of AP Government Unit 1

• Topics covered: foundations of American democracy, Constitution, federalism

• AP Government review packet

• Packet includes: unit reviews, practice questions, essential questions, answers, full-length practice exams

Foundations of American Democracy

• The Enlightenment

  • European intellectual movement in the 18th century

  • Influenced the framers of the Constitution

  • Understanding of government principles

Chapter 2: ENLIGHTENMENT

Main Ideas:

• Natural rights

  • People are born with certain rights given by their creator

  • These rights cannot be taken away by a monarch

  • Influential on the framers of the Constitution

• Popular sovereignty and the social contract

  • Power to govern is in the hands of the people

  • People willingly give some power to the government to protect their natural rights

  • The state is the servant of the people

  • If the government violates the agreement, people have the duty to overthrow it

• Republicanism

  • People elect leaders to represent them and create laws in the public interest

  • Power should be separated between three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial

• Best form of government is a limited government

  • Prevented from tyranny through checks and balances and distribution of power

Enlightenment Ideas in Foundational Documents

• Declaration of Independence

  • Foundation for popular sovereignty, social contract, and natural rights

  • Clear statement of natural rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

  • Social contract: governments are instituted to protect natural rights

  • Popular sovereignty: government gets power from the people's consent

• United States Constitution

  • Blueprint for republicanism and separation of powers

Three Main Kinds of Democracy

• Participatory democracy

  • Broad participation in the political process by most, if not all, members of a society

  • Present in local manifestations like town halls and small municipalities

  • Present at the state level in initiatives and referenda

• Pluralist democracy

  • Groups of people associate with interest groups to influence public policy

  • Many interest groups exist in the US

• Elite democracy

  • More limited participation in policymaking

  • Assumption that government is complicated and needs educated people to run it

Chapter 3: INTEREST GROUPS

• Interest groups give people a voice

• NAACP and National Rifle Association as examples

• Bigger interest groups wield a disproportionate amount of power

• Elite democracy weakened by progressive era reforms

• Electoral College as an example of elite democracy

• Tension between elite, pluralist, and participatory democracy in foundational documents

• Constitution, Federalist Ten, and Brutus One as examples

• Constitution reflects elite democracy through elected representatives

• First Amendment's freedom of assembly reflects pluralist democracy

• First Amendment's freedom of speech and press reflect participatory democracy

• Amendments expanding voting rights reflect participatory democracy

• Tension between democracy models in Federalist Ten and Brutus One

• Brutus One champions participatory democracy

• Federalist Ten argues for pluralist democracy

Chapter 4: FEDERALISTS / ANTI-FEDERALISTS

• Debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists on ratifying the Constitution

• Debate on majority rule versus minority rights

• James Madison's argument in Federalist Ten

  • Mischief of factions in a republic

  • Two solutions: take away causes of factions or manage their effects

  • Appeal to size and diversity of U.S. population

  • Double protection against tyranny of factions through separation of powers

  • Arguments for pluralist system

• Anti-Federalists' argument in Brutus One

  • Concerns over centralized government

  • Wary of new Constitution's power over states

  • Issues with necessary and proper clause and supremacy clause

  • Argument against large centralized government's representation of the people

Chapter 5: THE CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

• Articles of Confederation as the first Constitution of the United States

• Federal government weak, state governments strong

Chapter 5: ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

• The Articles of Confederation had limited government power

• There was only one branch of the federal government - Congress

  • No president or federal court

  • Congress had no power to raise revenue through taxes

  • Congress had no power to raise an army

• Weaknesses of the Articles:

  • Tax law enforcement

    • Congress couldn't pay its bills

    • States proposed a resolution to grant Congress the power to collect a 5% tax on imported goods

    • 11 out of 13 states agreed, but all 13 states were required to change the Articles

    • Congress remained weak and broke

  • Shays' Rebellion

    • Revolutionary War veterans were not getting paid by Congress

    • Congress prosecuted them for not paying taxes

    • Rebellion occurred in Massachusetts

    • No national army to help

    • Made people realize the need for a stronger federal government

• Constitutional Convention (Philadelphia Convention) called in 1787

  • Official goal was to modify the Articles of Confederation

  • Ended up drafting an entirely new Constitution

  • George Washington presided over the convention

  • Hamilton, Madison, and the Grand Committee tasked with forging compromises for a new governing document

Chapter 6: GRAND COMMITTEE

• Compromises in the new governing document:

  • Great Compromise

    • Virginia Plan: Congressional representatives apportioned by population

    • New Jersey Plan: Each state represented equally with one vote per state

    • Compromise: Bicameral Congress - House of Representatives based on population, Senate with equal representation

  • Compromise on presidential election

    • Debate on who should elect the president

    • Compromise: Electoral College - state electors based on congressional representatives

  • Compromises on slavery

    • Representation of enslaved people in Congress

    • Compromise: Three-Fifths Compromise - three-fifths of enslaved population counted for representation

    • Compromise on importation of slaves

      • Congress couldn't touch slave trade for 20 years

  • Amendment process in the Constitution

    • Two-stage process: proposal and ratification

    • Proposal: by Congress or states at a special convention, two-thirds vote needed

    • Ratification: three-quarters of state legislatures or state ratifying conventions needed

• Constitution ratified in June 1788, became governing document of the United States

Chapter 7: STAKEHOLDERS

• Separation of power and checks and balances in the Constitution

  • Legislative branch (Congress) responsible for proposing and making laws

  • Access points for people to speak into laws

  • Stakeholders can write letters or emails to representatives

  • Power of Congress to check other branches

    • Senate's power of advice and consent for presidential appointments

Chapter 8: ADVICE AND CONSENT

• The executive branch is responsible for executing and enforcing laws

  • Agencies run by the executive branch can be accessed by average citizens

  • Citizens can file complaints or report crimes at these agencies

• The executive branch has the power to veto laws passed by Congress

  • If the president vetoes a law, it becomes null and void

  • Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds vote

Chapter 9: JUDICIAL REVIEW

• The judicial branch is responsible for determining the constitutionality of laws

  • Stakeholders can use the court system to challenge unjust and unconstitutional laws

  • An example of the checking power of the judicial branch is judicial review

Chapter 10: FISCAL FEDERALISM

• Federalism is the sharing of power between national and state governments

  • Exclusive powers are delegated to the federal government

  • Reserved powers are kept by the states

  • Concurrent powers are shared by both federal and state governments

• Fiscal federalism is the sharing of power through money

  • Congress establishes national standards and directs funds to compliant states

  • Grants are given to states with specific federal standards

    • Categorical grants have specific requirements on how the money is spent

    • Block grants have fewer strings attached and states have more discretion

  • Mandates require states to follow federal directives

    • States may receive funds to help comply with mandates

    • Unfunded mandates do not provide funds to states

Chapter 11: UNFUNDED MANDATE

• The federal government issues mandates without providing funding to states

  • Devolution revolution of the 1980s under President Reagan

  • President Clinton signed the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

• States have mixed feelings about revenue sharing, unfunded mandates, and categorical/block grants

Chapter 12: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT

• No Child Left Behind Act increased federal involvement in education

• Schools had to meet criteria to receive federal funding

• States argued that the law represented federal overreach

Constitutional Provisions

• Tenth Amendment: Balance of power between states and federal government

• Fourteenth Amendment: Applies Bill of Rights to the states

• Commerce Clause: Allows Congress to regulate commerce among states

• Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause): Congress can make laws necessary and proper to uphold its powers

Supreme Court Cases

• McCulloch versus Maryland (1819): Balance of power tipped in favor of federal power

• United States versus Lopez (1995): Case challenging federal power

Chapter 13: UNITED STATES V LOPEZ

• Congress used the commerce clause to ban guns on school property

  • Court decided carrying guns to school is not related to interstate commerce

  • Congress overstepped its bounds into state authority

  • Win for state power

Examples of Federalism in Action

Environmental Regulations

• In 2015, President Obama led the U.S. into the Paris Agreement

  • Carbon emission regulations imposed on states

• President Trump removed the U.S. from the agreement

  • Some states like California kept the standards

• State limitations on greenhouse gas emissions in California

Legalization of Marijuana

• Marijuana illegal by federal law since the 1930s

• In 1996, California legalized medical marijuana

  • Participatory democracy through statewide vote

• Several states followed suit, with Colorado legalizing recreational use in 2012

• Federal government does not enforce federal law in Colorado

  • States act as laboratories for democracy

  • Potential implementation of successful policies on a national scale