AP Review - Part 1 Flashcards
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8264609794 | limited government | one that is subject to strict restrictions on its lawful uses of power, specifically its ability to deprive citizens of liberty (1215: Magna Carta curbs the power of King John) | 0 | |
8264609795 | consent of the governed | a regime's power and legitimacy come from the approval (usually by voting) of its citizens (aka: self-government) | 1 | |
8264609796 | social contract | Locke's idea that individuals willingly submit to the authority of a government for protection, but they DO NOT give up their natural rights | 2 | |
8264609797 | natural rights | life, liberty, property - are not lost in the social contract, and if a government does not respect them, it should be overthrown (aka: inalienable) | 3 | |
8264609798 | tyranny/despotism | cruel and oppressive rule that is not responsive to the people (aka: authoritarianism) | 4 | |
8264609799 | Articles of Confederation | the first constitution of the United States, created a weak central government - gave each state 1 vote in the legislature, with no executive or judicial branch | 5 | |
8264609800 | Virginia Plan | called for a two-house legislature with proportional representation (number of representatives based on state population) | 6 | |
8264609801 | New Jersey Plan | called for one-house legislature with equal representation (1 vote for each state) | 7 | |
8264609802 | 9/13 | the number of states needed to ratify the new Constitution (also the number needed to pass laws under the Articles government) | 8 | |
8264609803 | ratify | to formally approve (like the Constitution or an amendment) | 9 | |
8264609804 | collect taxes and regulate interstate commerce | two crucial things the Articles government was unable to do | 10 | |
8264609807 | indirect democracy | rule by the people through their elected officials who make decisions on their behalf, the Founders' protection against "mob rule" (aka: representative, republic) | 11 | |
8264609808 | French and Indian War | debt incurred during this prompted the British to impose heavy taxes on colonists, violating their established norm of self-government | 12 | |
8264609809 | constitution | the fundamental law that that spells out and defines the legitimate powers of a government and how it will operate (selection of leaders, institutions, procedures) | 13 | |
8264609810 | Anti-Federalists | those who feared tyranny from a strong national gov't and opposed ratification of the constitution | 14 | |
8264609811 | Senate | originally INDIRECTLY elected - chosen by state legislatures for longer term (6 years) - intended to act as trustees (deciding for themselves) - equal representation (2 per state) | 15 | |
8264609812 | House of Representatives | the only institution DIRECTLY ELECTED by citizens (in the original constitution), shorter 2 year term - more responsive to people and act as delegates (doing what voters want) - # proportional based on state population | 16 | |
8264609813 | tax/revenue-raising bills | the House had to initiate all [ ] because they were the only group directly elected by the people | 17 | |
8264609814 | trustee model | the idea that representatives will follow their own consciences and do what is best for the public interest, not just what their constituents want (the Senate) | 18 | |
8264609815 | delegate model | the idea that representatives should be obligated to carry out the opinions/will of their constituents (the House of Representatives) | 19 | |
8264609816 | tyranny of the majority | fear that, in a democracy, an irrational people's (possibly poor) mob will trample on the (property, personal, civil) rights of the (possibly rich) minority | 20 | |
8264609817 | democracy | a government (whether direct or representative) where the will of the majority is absolute (even if it tyrannizes the minority) | 21 | |
8264609818 | republic | a government with carefully designed to protect individual LIBERTY through strong INSTITUTIONS and INTENTIONALLY SLOW, deliberative processes that are responsive to the majority but not captive to it | 22 | |
8264609819 | constituents | those living in a representative's district | 23 | |
8264609820 | state legislatures | appointed Senators until the 17th amendment made them directly elected | 24 | |
8264609821 | 17th amendment | changed method of choosing senators from appointment by state legislature to direct popular vote | 25 | |
8264609822 | Electoral College | part of the Great Compromise - made presidential election indirect - an intermediate step between the people and the executive | 26 | |
8264609823 | increased democratization | the trend over time, through constitutional amendments that enlarged the electorate (eligible voters) | 27 | |
8264609824 | Andrew Jackson | encouraged states to tie electoral votes to the state's popular vote (to better reflect the people's desires) | 28 | |
8264609825 | Progressives | early 1900s group that called for 1) representatives as delegates, 2) greater popular participation (initiatives, referendums, recalls), and 3) primary elections and direct election of Senators | 29 | |
8264609826 | Millionaires' Club | what the Senate was called (before the 17th amendment) because it was perceived to be full of agents of big business and bribed by corporations | 30 | |
8264609827 | primary elections | Progressives encouraged the use of popular [ ] to choose party candidates, rather than letting party bosses choose | 31 | |
8264609828 | initiative | state-level direct democracy where individual citizens can place prospective laws directly on the ballot (without the legislature) | 32 | |
8264609829 | recall election | allows citizens to use a petition to force an officeholder to stand for reelection before his or her term has ended | 33 | |
8264609830 | separation of powers | dividing federal powers between three co-equal branches so that no one can gain too much power | 34 | |
8264609832 | advice and consent | the process by which the Senate approves or rejects the President's appointments and negotiated treaties | 35 | |
8264609834 | unicameral | the Articles legislature (its only branch) had equal representation in a(n) [ ] body | 36 | |
8264609835 | Great Compromise | balanced the desires of large and small states by creating a bicameral congress | 37 | |
8264609836 | equal | representation in the Senate is [ ] - 2 per state | 38 | |
8264609837 | proportional | representation in the House of Representatives is [ ] based on population, with a total of 435 | 39 | |
8264609838 | judicial review | the ability of federal courts to rule on the constitutionality of laws or executive actions | 40 | |
8264609839 | Marbury v. Madison | early case that established courts' power of judicial review | 41 | |
8264609840 | divided government | when one party controls the executive but one or both houses of the legislature are controlled by the other party (often makes lawmaking difficult and lead to gridlock) | 42 | |
8264609841 | unitary system | a system in which the national gov't alone has sovereign authority - member state powers are weak or nonexistent (ex: all other nations in 1787) | 43 | |
8264609842 | federalism | division of power and authority between NATIONAL and STATE governments | 44 | |
8264609843 | confederacy | a league of sovereign states choosing to join together, creating a very limited central gov't | 45 | |
8264609844 | No Child Left Behind | a federal law that mandated standardized testing and accountability in return for continued federal aid for education | 46 | |
8264609845 | sovereignty | supreme (ultimate) authority to govern within an area | 47 | |
8264609847 | enumerated powers | those expressly given to the federal gov't by the Constitution (hence the other name EXPRESSED powers), they are also expressly FORBIDDEN to the states | 48 | |
8264609848 | delegated powers | the other name for enumerated/expressed powers - explicitly given to the federal gov't by the Constitution | 49 | |
8264609849 | supremacy clause | national law trumps state law (as long as the national gov't is acting within its constitutional limits) - Article VI | 50 | |
8264609850 | implied powers | those not directly listed for the federal gov't in the Constitution but suggested by the necessary and proper clause | 51 | |
8264609851 | necessary and proper clause | aka the "elastic clause" - allows Congress to exercise other powers in performing its enumerated duties --> origin of the IMPLIED POWERS | 52 | |
8264609852 | reserved | any power not specifically given to the national gov't is theoretically [ ] to the states by the 10th amendment | 53 | |
8264609853 | 10th Amendment | reserves all powers not delegated to the federal gov't to the states | 54 | |
8264609854 | nationalization | the long-term process or trend towards stronger federal power | 55 | |
8264609855 | McCulloch v. Maryland | when a state tried to tax a branch of the national bank (which many believed was unconstitutional because it was not specifically mentioned as a power in the Constitution), SC ruled in favor of federal gov't: that this power was implied and states can't tax federal entities | 56 | |
8264609856 | Gibbons v. Ogden | NY granted a monopoly on ferry operation to one of its residents, Supreme Court ruled it violated federal control of interstate commerce and struck down state law | 57 | |
8264609857 | Marshall Court | dramatically increased the power of the federal gov't through legal justification of the supremacy, elastic, and commerce clauses | 58 | |
8264609858 | nullification | pre-Civil War Southern belief that the states had the constitutional right to refuse to follow national laws or rulings that contradicted their own interests (what they tried to do to the tariff) | 59 | |
8264609859 | dual federalism | early system of precise division of sovereignty between national and state authorities (they do this, we do this), barrier to protecting rights of former slaves and regulating uncontrolled business interests (layer cake) | 60 | |
8264609860 | 14th Amendment | intended to protect freed slaves, but used instead to prevent "any state" from regulating business (depriving corporation-people of their rights) | 61 | |
8264609861 | Plessy v. Ferguson | Supreme Court condoned state discrimination (separation) of AAs as long as it was "equal" | 62 | |
8264609862 | laissez-faire capitalism | principle that business should be "allowed to act" without interference - led to little national gov't regulation of business | 63 | |
8264609863 | Hammer v. Dagenhart | federal law tried to prohibit interstate shipping of goods produced by child labor, Supreme Court said that manufacturing was done in one state and therefore only subject to state regulation | 64 | |
8264609864 | Great Depression | states were penniless and unable to help the unemployed, so they were forced by necessity to accept the New Deal and expanded federal assistance (and regulation) | 65 | |
8264609865 | National Labor Relations Act | federal law that successfully guaranteed employees' right to organize and collective bargain (unions) | 66 | |
8264609866 | Great Society | Pres. Lyndon Johnson's plan to end poverty and racial discrimination --> created large number of social welfare programs and used federal funds to coerce states to accept them | 67 | |
8264609867 | cooperative federalism | all levels (national, state, local) work together to solve policy problems (aka: picket fence, marble cake) | 68 | |
8264609868 | fiscal federalism | spending federal funds on programs coordinated by the states and local gov'ts (used to coerce states into accepting certain federal policy goals) | 69 | |
8264609869 | grants-in-aid | cash payments from federal gov't to the states (several forms) | 70 | |
8264609870 | categorical grants | more restrictive - can be used only for a specific designated activity (ex: school lunch program) | 71 | |
8264609871 | block grants | less restrictive - must be applied to a general area - such as health or education - but specifics are left up to states (example of devolution) | 72 | |
8264609872 | devolution | 1970-80s trend of returning authority from the national to state and local gov'ts (aka Republicans' "new federalism") | 73 | |
8264609873 | Republicans | advocated devolution as a response to what they saw as too much expansion of federal gov't during LBJ's Great Society anti-poverty programs | 74 | |
8264609874 | unfunded mandates | unpopular federal programs that force states to do things (e.g. disability accommodations, standardized testing) but do not provide sufficient funding to pay for it - Republicans passed a law limiting these | 75 | |
8264609875 | United States v. Lopez | SC struck down a federal law prohibiting guns near schools as having "nothing to do with commerce" and therefore not the federal gov'ts jurisdiction | 76 | |
8264609876 | 2009 economic stimulus bill | expanded federal policy influence by providing funds to states and localities who were struggling because of decreased tax revenues after the banking crash | 77 | |
8264609877 | commerce clause | allowed government to regulate how states interacted with each other (to prevent little trade wars) - interpreted broadly at first, then strictly in cases like US v. Lopez | 78 | |
8264609878 | tax and spend | this clause allows the government to [ ] for 2 purposes: 1) national security and 2) general welfare | 79 | |
8264609879 | responsive | Brutus I believed a smaller country (states as little republics) would be more [ ] to the people and therefore easier to control and protect against | 80 | |
8264609880 | factions | Madison's fear - rival groups that battle for power (not the public good) and seek to deprive each other of rights, destabilizing government | 81 | |
8264609881 | larger republic | Madison advocated a [ ], which would decrease the chances that a faction would be able to seize power. | 82 | |
8264609882 | ambition | Madison argued that, in addition to government structures, human [ ] would encourage individuals in each branch to keep the other in check. | 83 | |
8264609883 | concurrent powers | things that both the national and state governments can do (e.g. levy taxes, borrow money, regulate elections, establish courts, charter banks, enforce law and order) | 84 | |
8264609884 | police powers | the STATES' authority to regulate behavior and maintain order by promoting health, safety, morals (like who can marry), and welfare (Federal gov't, stay out!) | 85 | |
8264609885 | Court-Packing Plan | After Supreme Court struck down the National Industrial Recovery Act, FDR used the [ ] to push it through | 86 | |
8264609886 | smaller republic | Brutus I (and Montesquieu) believed a [ ] would be more responsive to the people (and therefore less likely to take away their rights). | 87 | |
8264609887 | Welfare Reform Act | Devolution-era legislation that gave the states greater discretion in how to use welfare block grants - decreased eligibility and benefits | 88 |