American Government Review Sheet Exam 1 Spring 2025 PDF

American Government Review Sheet - Exam 1 Spring 2025 1. The Supremacy Clause in the U.S. Constitution affirms that the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties are "the supreme Law of the Land." 2. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a U.S. immigration policy that allows some individ...

American Government Review Sheet - Exam 1 Spring 2025 1. The Supremacy Clause in the U.S. Constitution affirms that the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties are "the supreme Law of the Land." 2. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a U.S. immigration policy that allows some individuals who were brought to the country as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit. 3. The Me-Too Movement is a social movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault, highlighting widespread prevalence and empowering survivors to share their experiences. 4. The Anti-Federalists' primary concern about the Constitution was that it gave too much power to the national government at the expense of state sovereignty and lacked a Bill of Rights. 5. Direct democracy is best defined as a form of government in which citizens vote on laws and policies directly rather than through elected representatives. 6. Government is best defined as the institutions and procedures through which a territory and its people are ruled. 7. Civil liberties are aspects of personal freedom constitutionally protected from government interference. 8. Federalism is best defined as a system of government in which power is divided between a central government and regional governments (states). 9. Civil liberties are protections against government actions, while civil rights refer to protections against discriminatory treatment. 10. A totalitarian government is one that is not constrained by legal limits and seeks to eliminate any challenges to its authority. 11. A confederation is a system of government in which member states retain almost all of their sovereign authority and delegate limited powers to a weak central body. 12. The United States' first written constitution was the Articles of Confederation. 13. During the founding era, the Anti-Federalists were the strongest supporters of adding a Bill of Rights to the Constitution. 14. When a state grants a city the ability to govern its own local affairs, it is called home rule. 15. Oligarchy describes a form of government in which a small group, typically landowners, military officers, or wealthy merchants, controls most governing decisions. 16. An autocracy exists when one person rules with absolute power, such as a king or dictator. 17. The Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) was significant because it legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. 18. The Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) decision ruled that African Americans were not U.S. citizens and contributed to tensions leading to the Civil War. 19. Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. 20. Civil rights are legal and political rights that protect individuals from discrimination by the government and others. 21. The "wall of separation" between church and state is best found in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. 22. The Elastic Clause asserts that Congress has the power to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out its enumerated powers. 23. The Three-Fifths Compromise was the agreement at the Constitutional Convention that counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation purposes. 24. American civil liberties and rights, such as freedom of speech, worship, and trial by jury, are listed primarily in the Bill of Rights. 25. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) introduced the "separate but equal" rule, justifying racial segregation. 26. The belief that citizens can affect what government does is referred to as political efficacy. 27. The Great Compromise gave each state an equal number of senators while linking House representation to population. 28. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. 29. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. 30. The Great Depression and the New Deal were most influential in triggering a more active national government. 31. Native Americans were not considered U.S. citizens until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. 32. The principle of preemption allows the federal government to override state or local laws in specific policy areas. 33. The three branches of government created by the Constitution are the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches. 34. The Seneca Falls Convention (1848) was the first women's rights convention in the United States, advocating for women's suffrage. 35. Women's rights advocates criticized the Statue of Liberty as a hypocrisy because women were denied fundamental rights. 36. The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution are the essential documents of the American Founding. 37. Block grants are federal funds provided to states with general spending guidelines rather than specific conditions. 38. New Federalism refers to efforts by presidents Nixon and Reagan to return power to the states. 39. César Chávez was the leader of the United Farm Workers union in the 1960s. 40. The U.S. formally acknowledged the internment of Japanese Americans as a "grave injustice" in 1988 with the Civil Liberties Act. 41. The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. 42. Mendez v. Westminster (1947) was a significant case that challenged school segregation in California and set a precedent for Brown v. Board of Education. 43. The Antifederalists argued that the powers of the national government should be limited by a Bill of Rights and strong state governments. 44. The federal government expanded after 1933 in response to the Great Depression and the New Deal policies. 45. A unitary system is a centralized government system where lower levels of government have little independent power. 46. Eminent domain is the power of the government to take private property for public use with compensation. 47. Dual federalism lasted from the founding until the 1930s and emphasized state and federal government separation. 48. The Full Faith and Credit Clause requires states to recognize public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of other states. 49. Intergovernmental relations involve negotiations between local, state, and federal governments over policy responsibilities. 50. Bicameralism is the principle of dividing a legislature into two chambers, such as the U.S. Congress. 51. A "living Constitution" means its interpretation evolves over time based on contemporary needs. 52. The Declaration of Independence declared life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as inalienable rights. 53. A good U.S. citizen is most critically an informed and active participant in government. 54. The pharmacist's refusal to sell birth control on religious grounds may infringe upon a woman's right to privacy and equal access to healthcare. 55. A republic (representative democracy) is a government system where citizens elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf.