Final Review

  1. First students of government

  • Aristotle

  1. Features of a state

  • territory, population, government, and sovereignty

  1. Federal vs Unitary 

  • Unitary: power mainly central government

  • Federal: power distributed amongst states and central government

  1. Autocracy = one guy rule

  2. Oligarchy = small group rules

  3. Democracy = power is by the people

  4. Loose union of independent states 

  • Confederacy

  1. Effort to control or influence or control policies

  • politics

  1. Different types of democracy

  • Direct Democracy:

    • Citizens directly participate in the decision making process

    • Cant anymore cause too many people 

  • Representative Democracy:

    • Citizens elect representatives who make decisions on their behalf

  1. Communism vs socialism vs capitalism

  • Communism:

    • an economic system in which the central government directs all major economic decisions

  • Socialism:

    • an economic system in which the government owns the basic means of production, distributes the products and wages, and provides social services such as health care and welfare

  • Capitalism:

    • an economic system providing free choice and individual incentive for workers, investors, consumers, and business enterprises

  1. Plan for govt

  • constitution

  1. Man who provided philosophy of capitalism

  • Adam Smith

  1. Two treaties of government

  • John Locke 

  • Humans are born equal and govt exists to protect natural rights

  1. Signed by pilgrims for self rules

  • Mayflower Compact

  1. First legislative body in British Colonial America

  • the House of Burgesses

  1. Many Americans wanted a central govt after which event

  • Shay’s Rebellion

  1. What did the Magna Carta show for the first time

  • King was not above the law

  1. America’s first formal Constitution

  • Articles of Confederation

  1. Father of the Constitution

  • James Madison

  1. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists 

  • Federalists:

    • Strong central govt

    • Loose constructionists

  • Antifederalists:

    • Weak central govt

    • Strict constructionists

  1. Created by Article I to be the voice of the people

  • The Congress (legislative branch)

  1. This elevated the Supreme Court to higher status Balancing the power of the two other branches

  • Enumerated powers

  1. Executive agreement

  • Agreement between heads of government

  1. How to override a veto

  • Congress can override by a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate

  1. How does the constitution grow

  • Constitutional amendments

  1. How to overturn a Supreme Court Decision

  •  two-thirds of both houses of Congress to propose an amendment to the Constitution

  • Then must be ratified by three-quarters of the states

  1. Extradition

  • hand over (a person accused or convicted of a crime) to the jurisdiction of the foreign state in which the crime was committed.

  1. Agreement between states

  • Interstate compact

  1. Which Groups favor the Nationalist and State positions

  •  Nationalists:

    • Federalists

  • State:

    • Anti-Federalists

  1. Bicameral legislature

  • Two-house legislative system

  1. Qualifications for the House Senate and President

  • House:

    • 25 years old

    • 7 year citizen

    • Must live in the state

  • Senate

    • 30 years old

    • 9 years citizen

    • Must live in state

  • President

    • 35 years old

    • Natural born citizen

    • Lived 14 years in the US

  1. Who controls the standing committees of each house

  • Majority Party

  1. Constituents

  • Citizens that are represented by legislators

  1. Presiding officers of the House and Senate

  • Speaker of the House

  • Vice President / President Pro Temp

  1. How do you stop a filibuster

  • Cloture:

    • Gives a 30 hour debate limit

  1. Strict vs Loose Constructionism

  • Strict: 

    • Anti-Feds

    • Take every word literally

    • Limit federal govt

  • Loose

    • Federalists

    • Necessary and proper clause

  1. Perjury

  • Lying under oath

  1. Legislative oversight

  • the power of Congress and the 50 state legislatures to investigate the facts needed to find bipartisan solutions and carry out their legislative functions

  1. What can checks and balances do that isn’t good

  • Gridlock:

    • a situation when there is difficulty passing laws that satisfy the needs of the people

  1. Subpoena

  • commands a person or entity to testify as a witness at a specified time and place

  1. Which group tends to vote in favor of business

  • Republicans

  1. What can greatly influence the president and Congress

  • Public Opinion

  • Political parties

  • Interest groups and lobbyists

  1. PACs

  • Groups raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates.

  1. Congressional staffers who help constituents with problems 

  • caseworker

  1. Public vs Private Bills

  • public bill:

    • one that affects the public generally

  • Private Bill:

    • A bill that affects a specified individual or a private entity rather than the population at large

  1. Lobbyists

  • an individual who is compensated to communicate directly with any state, legislative or agency official to influence legislative or administrative action on behalf of his or her employer or client.

  1. Which groups tend to vote in favor of social welfare programs

  • Democrats

  • Minority

  • Labor union

  • Low income and working class

  1. Succession for the presidency (Top 5)

  • 1. VP

  • 2. Speaker of the House

  • 3. President Pro Temp

  • 4. Secretary of State

  • 5. Secretary of the Treasury 

  1. Total number of years a person can be president 

  • 10 years

  1. Group chosen by the president for advice in experienced selected areas

  • Cabinet

  1. Commander of National Armed forces

  • President

  1. Address given by President to Congress each year 

  • State of Union message

  1. Administers the Presidential Oath to office

  • Chief justice of the Supreme Court 

  1. Group that advises the president on military and foreign policy

  • National Security Council (NSC)

  1. Inner circle of the president

  • Chief of staff

  • National Security Advisor

  • VP

  1. President who was known as the Great Communicator

  • Ronald Reagan

  1. Mandate

  • Formal order given by higher authority

  1. Right of the president to refuse to testify before Congress

  • Executive privilege

  1. A group pardon

  • Amnesty

  1. US vs Nixon

  • Court held that the President does not have executive privilege in immunity from subpoenas or other civil court actions.

  1. Department in charge of foreign policy

  • Department of the State

  1. Spoils System

  • the practice of victorious politicians rewarding their followers with government jobs

  1. Hatch Act

  •  limits federal employees' involvement in election campaigns.

  • Keeps federal civil service politically neutral

  1. Office of Ambassadors in foreign countries

  • embassies

  1. Department that helps protect public lands

  • Department of the Interior 

  1. Created today’s civil service system

  • the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883