Principles of Gov't
Institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies.
What is a government.
The primary reason (overall) that the Articles of Confederation failed.
What is a weak central government.
Article II, Section 2, defines of the powers and duties of the President. Although limited, the first line in Section 2 gives the President this broad, significant power of the U.S. military.
The President is Commander-and-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States
These powers are those written directly within the Constitution.
What are expressed powers?
This amendment sets minimum voting age at 18
What is the 26th Amendment?
A body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically, and with power to make law without consent of any higher authority.
What is a state.
After the proposal of the Virginia and New Jersey Plans at the Constitutional Convention, the framers came to this agreement: Congress would bicameral (two houses); in the 'upper' house the states are represented equally, while in the 'lower' house the states would be represented based on population.
What is the Connecticut Compromise (or Great Compromise).
This Article created the judicial branch of government
What is Article III (Judicial Department).
These powers are those powers that the Constitution does not grant to the National Government and does not, at the same time, deny to the States. (Protected by the 10th Amendment).
What are Reserved Powers.
In order to Amend the Articles of Confederation, this many states would have needed to agree to the change.
What is 13/13 states (or, all of the states).
In this type of government there is an alliance of independent states with a weak central authority.
What is a confederation.
An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods
Free Enterprise System
This Article establishes the executive branch of the federal government (President, Vice-President, & Cabinet), which carries out and enforces federal laws.
What is Article II (Executive Department)
These powers belong to the National Government because it is the government of a sovereign state within the world community
What are inherent powers?
These were the meetings of colonial delegates; first, after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774, and then again in 1775, after the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
What are the 1st and 2nd Continental Congress
Direct and Representative are types of this.
What is a Democracy.
One of the purposes of government in the Preamble, it helps insure our safety by calling for a strong military
Provide for the Common Defense
Clause in the Constitution (Article I, section 8, clause 18) that has allowed Congress to expand its powers, and is the basis for most of the "Implied" powers of Congress.
What is the Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic clause).
Collecting taxes and maintaining law and order are examples of this aspect of Federalism.
What are Concurrent Powers.
In early 1776, this publication made a persuasive, and impassioned case for independence; which had not yet been given wide-spread, serious intellectual consideration in either Britain or the American colonies.
What is Thomas Paine's "Common Sense".
List two of the five foundations of democracy.
I. Individual Worth
II. Equality
III. Majority Rule and Minority Rights
IV. Compromise
V. Individual Freedom
The services our government provides are designed to benefit all or most of our citizens (one of the six purposes of Government outlined in the Preamble)
Promote the General Welfare
This Clause, in Article VI section 2, ensures that laws of the U.S. National government will always override the laws of the state and local governments.
What is the Supremacy Clause.
Powers not expressly stated in the Constitution, but are reasonably suggested, and often necessary to carry out, the expressed powers.
What are implied powers.
The 1st Amendment protects these five freedoms.
What are the freedoms of Press, Religion, Speech, Assembly, and Petition.
Restricting unjustified exercise of power by ensuring that everyone (including those in power) follow well-defined and established laws.
What is Rule of Law.
An event in 1787 that highlighted the American government's inability to respond to a crisis; exposing fundamental weaknesses in the government under the Articles of Confederation.
What was Shay’s Rebellion.
There are 18 separate clauses in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution that define this.
What are the Powers of Congress.
This clause ensures no state can draw unreasonable distinctions between it's own citizens and those who happen to live in another state
What is the Privileges and Immunities Clause.
John Locke, an Enlightenment Philosopher, authored the Two Treatises of Government, a book wherein he argues for the natural rights of man, and for this theory of how a state should be formed.
What is the Social Contract Theory