Flawed Foundations
This first government document of the United States lasted less than a decade
What are the Articles of Confederation?
This intellectual movement emphasized reason, individual rights, and government by consent
What is the Enlightenment (or, Age of Reason)?
This branch of government is explicitly in charge of carrying out laws
What is the Executive Branch?
These are the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution
What is the Bill of Rights?
A sudden, severe threat to democracy
What is an acute threat?
A crucial flaw of the Articles was the government's lack of authority to impose this, which meant it couldn't compel states to pay for its duties
What is the power to tax?
John Locke proposed these fundamental protections: life, liberty, and property
What are natural rights?
The power of the Judicial Branch to declare a law or executive action unconstitutional
What is Judicial Review?
This amendment protects freedom of speech, press, religion, and assembly
What is the First Amendment?
Threats to democracy that are continually present throughout time, lacking a hard start or end point
What are chronic threats?
The government structure under the Articles of Confederation lacked both National Courts and this position of authority
What is an Executive Leader (or, the President)?
This French philosopher inspired the U.S. system of checks and balances and the Separation of Powers into three branches
Who is Montesquieu?
The President holds this military title, as noted in the executive branch description
What is Commander-in-Chief?
This amendment has a similar name to this game show and protects a citizen from being tried for the same crime twice
What is the Fifth Amendment?
The period of suppression of free speech and the abuse of government power during the Red Scare
What is McCarthyism?
To amend the Articles of Confederation, this level of agreement was required from the states, making changes nearly impossible
What is a unanimous vote (of the states)?
William Blackstone's idea of the Rule of Law informed the Supreme Court’s judicial structure and this clause in Article VI
What is the Supremacy Clause
The Legislative Branch uses the two powers to check the Judicial Branch
What is approving the appointment of Supreme Court justices and impeachment?
This ensures citizens retain rights even if they are not explicitly listed in the Constitution
What is the Ninth Amendment?
This chronic issue, which involves drawing census lines, leads to the stripping of representation for many voters
What is Gerrymandering?
The structural flaws of the Articles led to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, which was written to "form a more perfect union" by establishing this balance of power between the states and the national government
What is Federalism?
This idea, emphasized by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, means that a legitimate government should reflect the will of the people it governs
What is the consent of the governed? (or, the general will)?
This principle, reserving powers not given to the federal government to the people or the states, is a cornerstone of Federalism
What is the Tenth Amendment?
The Magna Carta inspired the Bill of Rights because it served this primary purpose in England
What is to put limits on the government's power and protect citizens' rights?
The dominance of money in politics undermines equal representation because corporations and outside groups can spend unlimited amounts via these entities after the Citizens United ruling
What are Super PACs?