Ideals & Models of Democracy
This principle, famously drafted in the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, states that people are born with fundamental rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that no government can take away.
What are Natural Rights?
This 1786–1787 armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers exposed the central government's inability to maintain order or raise a standing army under the Articles of Confederation.
What is Shays' Rebellion?
In Federalist No. 10, James Madison argues that this type of government structure across a large, extended territory is the best mechanism to control the "mischiefs of faction".
What is a Large Federal Republic?
This constitutional amendment declares that powers not delegated to the federal government, nor prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states or the people.
What is the Tenth Amendment?
Famous for explaining human nature and constitutional structure, this paper asserts that "If men were angels, no government would be necessary," and famously argues that in a system designed to protect liberty, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition" through a balance of divided powers.
What is Federalist No. 51?
This model of democracy is characterized by non-governmental interest groups competing to influence public policy so that no single group dominates.
What is Pluralist Democracy (or Pluralism)?
This agreement at the Constitutional Convention solved the debate over legislative representation by establishing a bicameral legislature with a proportional House and an equal Senate.
What is the Great (Connecticut) Compromise?
This Anti-Federalist essay warned that the Necessary & Proper Clause and the Supremacy Clause would grant the federal government "absolute and uncontrollable power" and annihilate state sovereignty.
What is Brutus No. 1?
In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had the implied power to charter a national bank based on this Article I clause.
What is the Necessary and Proper Clause (or Elastic Clause)?
This 1776 revolutionary text asserts that governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed" and are instituted to secure unalienable rights.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
Town hall meetings, citizen initiatives, and popular referendums are prime examples of this model of representative democracy.
What is Participatory Democracy?
Article V of the Constitution outlines this process, which requires a 2/3 vote in both houses of Congress to propose and ratification by 3/4 of the states.
What is the Formal Amendment Process?
Famous for the quote "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition," this essay explains how checks and balances preserve liberty within a separation-of-powers system.
What is Federalist No. 51?
This 1995 Supreme Court decision struck down the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act, ruling that gun possession in a local school zone is not an economic activity under the Commerce Clause.
What is United States v. Lopez?
This Anti-Federalist paper warns that a broad national territory makes it impossible to select representatives who can accurately reflect the genuine views and feelings of the population.
What is Brutus No. 1?
This principle holds that a government's legitimacy and political power derive strictly from the "consent of the governed" ("We the People").
What is Popular Sovereignty?
This Constitutional Convention compromise resolved disputes between Northern and Southern states regarding population counts for representation and direct taxation.
What is the Three-Fifths Compromise?
In Federalist No. 39, James Madison asserts that the proposed Constitution is a hybrid system: its foundation (ratification) is federal, while its operation on individuals is this.
What is National?
In McCulloch v. Maryland, Chief Justice Marshall famously asserted that "the power to tax involves the power to destroy" when striking down Maryland's tax under this Article VI clause.
What is the Supremacy Clause?
This 1787 essay maintains that political factions are deeply rooted in human nature and that expanding the size of a republic offers the most effective way to manage their influence.
What is Federalist No. 10?
The original selection of U.S. Senators by state legislatures and the creation of the Electoral College are historical examples of this model of democracy.
What is Elite Democracy?
This constitutional principle explicitly divides governmental authority among three distinct branches—Legislative, Executive, and Judicial—to prevent the concentration of power.
What is Separation of Powers?
Anti-Federalists argued that this specific addition to the Constitution was necessary to protect individual freedoms from potential federal tyranny.
What is the Bill of Rights?
This system allocates sovereign political authority between a central national government and regional state governments.
What is Federalism?
This Federalist paper explains that the proposed constitutional system is a hybrid structure—federal in how it is ratified and limited in scope, but national in how its authority applies directly to individual citizens.
What is Federalist No. 39?