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• Sovereignty is a free political authority capable of compulsory enforcement.
• Popular sovereignty means that power rests with the people and legitimate constitutions should articulate the will of the people.
• Limited government is when the government should be held back from imposing all of its directives, as the constitution prohibits.

Philosophers

• Plato viewed man as being rational by nature.
• Plato believed the goal of government should align with truth.
• Plato's seminal work was the Republic.
• Aristotle believed man must participate directly in government.
• Aristotle thought the goal of government should be a virtuous republic.
• Aristotle's seminal work was Politics.
• Locke viewed man as willing to submit to a social contract.
• Locke suggested the goal of government should be to secure liberty.
• Two Treatises of Government are Locke's seminal works.
• Montesquieu was concerned about the concentration of power.
• Montesquieu's goal of government was to secure liberty and separation of power.
• The Spirit of the Laws is Montesquieu's seminal work.
• Unitary form is the most common type of government in the world.
• Types of government in America in order were Unitary, Confederal, and Federal.
• Unitary came after British rule.
• Confederation came after gaining independence.
• Federal existed under the U.S. Constitution.
• The U.S. is best described as a constitutional democracy.
• Characteristics of the American Political System include conflict, compromise, community, corroboration, and competition.

US Government

• There are more than 89,000 active governments in the U.S.
• Political culture can be described as how we collectively view government and its processes.

Articles of Confederation

• Under the Articles of Confederation, the government had one body, one branch: Congress.
• The government structure under the Articles of Confederation was simplistic, each state had one vote.
• A unanimous consent was needed to change or pass anything.
• Congress had an inability to tax.
• Congress was also unable to either draft soldiers or pay them to serve in a standing army.
• Shay's Rebellion related to Revolutionary War soldiers returning home to Massachusetts.
• Massachusetts legislature passed laws that disadvantaged soldiers and advantaged the merchant class who had funded the Revolutionary War.
• Shay's Rebellion showed that states had become too powerful.
• Shay's Rebellion led to the shift from a confederal system to a federalism system, Constitutional Convention, and the Constitution.

Key Figures

• James Madison is considered the father of the Constitution.
• All delegates were white, wealthy, and well-educated men, and many held slaves.
• Conflicts and compromises included big states vs. small states, slave-holding states vs. non-slave states, and industrial vs. agricultural states.
• The Great Compromise meant that slavery could not be prohibited before 1808.
• The U.S. doesn't directly vote for president.
• Under the 3/5 Compromise, every 5 slaves was counted as 3 white men.

Constitution

• Congress could tax each imported person because the word slavery doesn't appear in the constitution.
• The agreement was the electoral college, we don't directly select our president Virginia plan, New Jersey plan, Connecticut (Great) compromise
• The Virginia Plan was a large-state plan on how to structure the legislature.
• The Virginia Plan proposed a bicameral legislature where the House would be based on population but the Senate, selected by the state legislatures.
• The New Jersey Plan, a small-state plan, proposed a unicameral legislature.
• The New Jersey Plan wanted it structured like the Articles of Confederation where one state had one vote.
• The New Jersey Plan granted that Congress could regulate commerce.
• The Connecticut Compromise proposed the legislature as it exists today.
• The House would be supported by population and the Senate, based on equal representation.
• The Federalist Papers were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay under the name Publius.
• The purpose of The Federalsit Papers was arguing for the ratification of the Constitution.
• Ratification is found in Article 7 of the Constitution.
• Enumerated powers are listed in Article 1 and describe what the national government can do to coin money, declare war, and regulate commerce.
• Reserved powers, found in the 10th Amendment, state that powers not granted to the national government nor denied to the states are reserved for states and the people.
• Implied powers are connected to the elastic clause (necessary and proper clause), granting Congress the power to carry out any laws they feel are needed.
• Concurrent powers are held by the national government but also by the states, such as taxing.
• Powers denied to the federal government include passing laws regarding habeas corpus, bills of attainder, and ex post facto laws.
• The first 10 amendments are The Bill Of Rights.
• Reserved powers are in the 10th amendment.
• Separation of powers and foundational governing bodies can be attributed to Montesquieu.
• There are 3 branches of government.

Federalism

• Check and balances ensures each branch watch over each other to make sure no branch has too much power.
• Federalism is the constitutional division of power between the nations and the states.
• Evolution of federalism:
• State-centered federalism
• Dual federalism looks like a layer cake
• Cooperative federalism looks like a marble cake
• Centralized federalism
• Devolution federalism (today's type)
• Problems with federalism:
• Can obstruct national action
• Obstruct or hinder policy to deal with an issue
• Cost and benefits are distributed unequally
• Fiscal federalism includes grants-in-aid to states grown to $400 billion a year.
• Maryland can't tax the federal government
• Judicial review established in Marbury v. Madison.
• Important clauses in the Constitution:
• Necessary and proper (connected to implied or elastic powers)
• Privileges and immunities and full faith (listed in Article 4, deals with state-to-state relations)
• Privileges and immunities means that one state has to provide the same privileges and immunities to the people visiting that state.
• Full faith and credit means each state has to acknowledge the other states' acts.