American Govt Midterm Study Guide PDF

- Political culture (classic liberalism included) - We believe in a political system thats is free democratic and respectful of minority rights - We are far more patriotic than other countries,also we believe that america is better than everyone else...

- Political culture (classic liberalism included) - We believe in a political system thats is free democratic and respectful of minority rights - We are far more patriotic than other countries,also we believe that america is better than everyone else - Generally more optimistic about our future, high birth rate, also believe that we control our own destiny - Only 1/3rd of americans believe that gov should play an active role in country - Equality = equal opportunity, not equal result - No one church or religion dominated life in the colonies - Classic liberalism: - Focused on natural rights and the gov as a social contract - Essentially people live completely free on their own until they chose to make a contract with each other to form a government to protect their n natural rights - We give up our rights and freedoms in order for the gov to protect them in return - If govt fails to secure these rights then we can get rid of the government at any time - Locque and montesquieu stressed separation of powers - Democratic egalitarianism: - the idea that political institutions should reflect majority rule - Begins with the ideal that everyone should have an equal voice in their government - the majority is mostly going to do things that help their own interests rather than for the common good - Gets kicked off with the revolution but doesn’t become a dominant idea until the 1930’s - Separation of powers / checks and balances - Can be a bad thing at times bc that means that no one person takes power and is to blame is stuff goes south - Congress makes laws, president enforces laws, courts interpret laws - Constitution helps to separate these powers - President has power to veto bills passed by congress, house of reps can veto bills passed by congress, reps can impeach the president and senate may then remove him from office, senate must confirm certain presidential appointments, supreme court can declare acts of congress and president unconstitutional - If president vetoes a bill approved by congress, both houses can vote via 2/3rd majority for it to become law - - Articles of Confederation  - nOriginally founded because individual states wanted to maintain autonomy - Adopted in 1781 - No independent executive branch, no ability to directly tax, could not deal with war via federal government - Weakened national security generally - Political independence - Created by the continental congress - Bicameral Legislature - Virginia plan called for a system of representation based upon population of each state- favored larger states - Created a bicameral legislature - Connecticut Compromise which is what we have today, a bicameral legislature with house (bigger states have more representation) and senate (each state has 2 senators) - A natural means to share power - Article 1 of Constitution - establishes the Legislative Branch of the federal government, which is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives: - Congress has the power to make laws, declare war, confirm or reject presidential appointments, and conduct investigations - Congress is bicameral, meaning it has two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. This structure was a compromise between large and small states, with large states wanting representation based on population and small states wanting equal representation. - Thomas Paine - believed the very institution of executive power as evil - Created Common Sense, series of pamphlets which advocated for independence from great britain - Written in plain language in order to reach a large audience - Allied for democratic representative government with power concentrated in a large national popular assembly - Elections would be frequent, terms short and rotation in office necessary - - Congress, constituency service - Agency officials are often open to requests from high standing congress people who want to help or give consideration to specific people in a community - Mainly congressman ask only for license applications retrieval, social security check, or via requests - 13th amendment  - abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States and its territories, with the exception of as punishment for a crime - Declaration of Independence - Does not say all americans are equal, says all people are equal - Therefore included women and slaves - The dec of independence is central to american identity, it's what makes americans american, establishing themselves as a self-determining country - The dec of independence was addressed not only to britain, but also to all of mankind - The motivation behind this was the desire for fame and greatness, they knew they had an opportunity to be the founders of something that was new and great like a country - We are gonna declare this authority on the basis of the laws of nature - Must be true everywhere all the time - Moral judgements (the sense of justice in japan will be diff than that of america) - Self evident truths- he means that it's not obvious, u cant just look at it casually, it is an insight that requires a lot of intellectual work to achieve, not just on the surface… once someone has discovered something, it lands on someone as right - Like pythagorean theorem, it's not like clear and obvious to just a random person - Like if i showed u a2 + b2 + c2 that's obvious now ofc they r true - Once u present it to someone they will have the character of being self evident - 17th amendment - established the direct election of United States senators in each state - Senators are no longer elected by state legislatures but rather by citizens - Violations of American Creed - Denied equality of people to both slaves and women - Women's rights organizers met in seneca falls to challenge equality - Manysoutherns believed that slavery was a necessary evil, like thomas jefferson - Jefferson did attempt to abolish slavery, but congress removed it - - - Article 3 of Constitution - establishes the judicial branch of the federal government, which is responsible for interpreting the law. It also defines the relationship between the judicial branch and the other two branches of government through a system of checks and balances. - Rules of Law  - Civil law establishes framework for overseeing rules that govern the relationships between private practice, individuals, associations and firms - The party bringing cil action onwards another is the plaintiff, other party is the defendant - Those who sign a contract are signatories - Criminal law involves offenses against the people as a whole - Misdemeanors are petty crimes like vandalism and theft of cheap objects - Felonies are more serious offenses like murder rape assult robbery - The government in this case acts as the plaintiff bc the crime is an offense against all of us - Constitution grants criminal defendants a right to a jury trial and the seventh amendment extends that to civil cases - Jury duty - Public law is cases in which the government or the constitutional rights of citizens are involved - Constitutional law is a form of pubic law that involved judicial scrutiny of government or private action on whether it violates the constitution - Administrative law is a form of public law that relates to conduct and rings of administrative agencies in determining whether they are conforming with congress and its rights are being protected - Advocates for strong central government at 1787 convention + federalism - Aka federalists, the constitution was in all a victory for federalists - Its central idea is a strong national government that emphasizes natural rights and places obstacles in the path of majority rule (key principle of democratic egalitarianism) - Bill of rights haltered this bc it is la constraint on the power of the national government - Mdisona and hamilton opposed BOR because they thought it was unnecessary considering the government already has expressed authority limited to its enumerated powers - Felt that enemies would make use of a bill of rights to weaken the federal government further - Inclusion of senate elected by and equal representation from the states was compromised by the federalists - Federalists supported the new constitution, argued the articles of confederation were weak, wanted to withstand foreign and domestic threats, necessary to maintain order, protect property rights, checks and balances prevents any one authority or branch from having too much power - Federalism- division of power between national and state gov, meaning states have tons of power as a check on the federal government - Checks and balances between fed gov and state - Constitutional amendments which required 2/3rds majority vote from house and senate also need to be ratified by 3/4ths of the state  - All states mimic the fed gov because they each have constitution, executive legislature, and judiciary - Aggressive efforts to aggrandize the federal government led to the growth of the republican party which believed in majority rule - Dual sovereignty - Federal supremacy via supremacy clause - The 10th amendment and the reserved powers - Congress has authority to lay and collect tax, regulate commerce (commerce clause), coin money, declare war, create courts - Congress can create any laws or establish duties that are necessary and proper - Implied powers are powers that congress has inadvertently - Some of the powers given to the states are given to local governments instead - States can regulate interstate commerce, create own taxes and legal codes, - Full faith and credit clause- each state must honor pubic acts and judicial decisions that take place in another state - Privileges and immunities clause- a state cannot discriminate with someone in another state - Supremacy clause- when federal law conflicts with state law, federal law wins - Dual federalism vs cooperative federalism vs new federalism - Views the constitution s having limited power , rest of power given towards states - States and fed gov are actively cooperating with each other rto carry out specific duties - Shift power from the federal govt to the states - Constitutional Convention 1787 - The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. - Stamp act - a tax passed by the British Parliament in 1765 to raise money for the British army stationed in the American coloniesThe Stamp Act led to a series of events that contributed to the American Revolution. Some notable events include: - The Stamp Act Congress, where delegates from nine colonies met in New York City to protest the tax. The congress passed a Declaration of Rights and Grievances that protested taxation without representation. - The Sons of Liberty, a secret organization that intimidated stamp agents who collected taxes. - Mobs in Boston and New York destroyed the homes of stamp masters and refused to pay the tax. - Anti federalists  - Believed that classic liberal principles was best protected by active citenzyr, not by the limitations of the federal government - Opposed the consitution, favoried a small republic that was based on friendship and trust aong citizens - Also feared tyranny of the majority like federalists - Better at political edxucation - Gov should support and regulate religion - Favored puritan beliefs - Communitarianism - Communitarianism: - Puritans, as odds with anglicans (the church of england) - Grounded in the thought that because humans were so deeply sinful, we could not on our own redeem ourselves to god and bring our own salvation… so they pledged to god that they would act as righteougly as possible and only be devoted to him, because one member could destroy the covenant, everyone had to accept responsibility for each other’s behavior - America appealed to puritans because it was a new land not corrupted by other forms of christianity - 10th amendment - Powers not delegated to the federal government is reserved for the states - The amendment was ratified to address the Federalists' concerns that the new national government might seek to exercise powers not granted to it - Shays rebellion - In 1776 mobs led by daniel shays tried to halt farm foreclosures and close the debtor courts - Massachusets gov appealed to congress but fed gov has no power to put down state rebellion - Mass chusets shut down rebels in war but did provide some debt relef - This helped to stregneht the federalists position because it showed the national governemtn was needed to solve issues like these - MLK - Civil rights protests broke out in the 1950’s - Jailed in birmingham alabama - Focused on peaceful protest - Federalist papers - Written by john jay, james adison and alexander hamilton using the pseudonym punlius - Federalist 10 argued that a large republic was better for maintaining liberty because it discouraged factions bc there would be such diverse ideas and opinions that no one could dominate - Feared tyranny of the majority but arguwed trhat could be solved by abolyshing factions  - Federalist 51 argued in favor for checks nd ablances and separation of powers - Protects citizens from tyranny by national govenrment and factions - Federalist 39 - The main point is to clarify that the new government is a combination of federal and national elements. Madison argues that the system is republican because it derives its power from the people and is administered by representatives elected by the people. Additionally, he emphasizes that the Constitution balances power between the states and the national government, reflecting both federal and national characteristics. - Federalist 45, written by James Madison, discusses the division of powers between the federal and state governments. The main point is to reassure that the powers granted to the federal government by the Constitution are not a threat to the states. Madison argues that the federal government's powers are limited and focused primarily on external affairs, such as defense and commerce, while the states retain significant authority over domestic matters. He emphasizes that this balance is essential for the union's stability and prosperity. - State constitutions - Each state has its own constitution and they differ vastly - States can levy taxes, educate colleges students, build/maintain roads, have their own law codes, regulate hospitals and insurance companies, etc - Enduring principles