AP Gov Required Documents Flashcards

Declaration of Independence

• Introduces social contract theory emphasizing consent of the governed.
• Asserts people's right to abolish a destructive government.
• Lists unalienable rights: life, liberty, and property, highlighting government’s role in protecting these rights.
• Grievances include:
  • Taxation without representation
  • Quartering troops
  • Trial without jury
  • Dissolution of representative governing bodies
  • Control over judges

Articles of Confederation

• Served as the first governing document of the U.S.
• Established equal representation in a unicameral Congress.
• Achievements include the Northwest Ordinance for territory governance.
• Notable weaknesses:
  • Inability to tax or regulate interstate commerce.
  • No executive or judicial branch.
  • Requirement of 9 out of 13 states to pass laws and unanimous consent for amendments.
• Limited congressional powers include:
  • Borrowing money
  • Declaring war
  • Signing treaties
  • Creating a national army (unpaid).

The Constitution

• Structured into articles outlining the framework of government.
• Article 1 details legislative powers:
  • Congress is bicameral: House (2-year terms, 25 years old, 7 years a citizen) and Senate (6-year terms, 30 years old, 9 years a citizen).
  • Speaker of the House and Vice President preside over respective chambers.
  • Both chambers involved in impeachment—House impeaches with a simple majority, Senate conducts trial with a supermajority.
• Key powers of Congress include taxation, military funding, and regulating commerce, all underlined by the Necessary & Proper (Elastic) Clause.
• Article 2 outlines the executive branch, including presidential powers, qualifications (4-year terms, born U.S. citizen, resident for 14 years, at least 35 years old), and cabinet formation.
• Article 3 establishes the judiciary, including the Supreme Court with lifetime appointments.
• Article 5 details the amendment process, allowing either congressional proposal or state convention for amendments.
• Article 6 includes the Supremacy Clause, establishing federal law as the supreme law of the land.

Fed 10

• Discusses inevitability of factions and their control in a representative democracy.
• Argues against eliminating freedoms to cure faction issues.
• Promotes pluralism where diverse groups compete for power, moderating faction influence.
• Emphasizes federalism to manage faction control across state and national levels.

Brutus I

• A persuasive essay against the ratification of the Constitution.
• Critiques the Necessary and Proper and Supremacy Clauses for granting immense federal power.
• Claims representatives in a large republic are disconnected from the populace.
• Condemns extensive federal taxing power as a means to expand government authority.