The first constitution of the United States which provided for a very restricted federal government.
What is Articles of Confederation?
100
The constitutional doctrine that establishes separate branches of government with distinct powers, staffs and basis for selection.
What is Separation of Powers?
100
The form of federalism firmly established after the introduction of the New Deal that increased the power of the federal government?
What is Cooperative Federalism?
100
An unconstitutional action by the government in which it attempts to prevent publication by a member of the media as the Nixon Administration did with the Pentagon Papers.
What is Prior Restraint?
100
The principle established by the Supreme Court in Plessey v. Fergusson that effectively made African-Americans 2nd class citizens.
What is Separate but Equal?
200
A system of government in which both the national and local levels of government are sovereign with elected officials who can adopt and enforce their own laws.
What is federalism?
200
The constitutional doctrine that gives overlapping powers to each branch of government to insure that no one branch becomes too powerful.
What is Checks and Balances?
200
The court case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the US Federal Bank did not have to pay state taxes thereby establishing the Doctrine of Supremacy?
What is McCulloch v. Maryland?
200
A ranking of the levels of protection under the First Amendment with thought being the highest, followed by speech and finally action.
What is Hierarchy of Protections?
200
The form of discrimination that can continue to exist despite legal protections as a result of continuing social and/or economic factors.
What is de facto (v. de jure) discrimination?
300
A doctrine in a federal system in which the sub-national level of government retains certain powers that cannot be infringed upon or taken away by the national government.
What is States' Rights?
300
A clause in the Constitution that permits Congress to pass laws beyond the explicit areas stated in Article I.
What is Necessary and Proper Clause? (Elastic or Implied Powers Clause)
300
The court case in which the Supreme Court ruled that Congress could pass legislation regarding intra-state transportation if it related to inter-state commerce under the Doctrine of Implied powers?
What is Gibbons v. Ogden?
300
The two clauses associated with Freedom of Religion in the First Amendment.
What are the Establishment and Free Exercise Clause?
300
The Supreme Court case that established reverse discrimination as unconstitutional.
What is University of California v. Bakke?
400
A political context in which government is captive to the will of majority and sways with its whims much as in the case of Shea's Rebellion.
What is Tyranny of the Majority?
400
A clause in the Constitution that establishes national laws, court rulings and executive decrees to be superior to those adopted at the state or local level.
What is Supremacy Clause?
400
The Congressional agreement overturned in Dred Scott v. Sanford case that permitted Maine to enter as a "free state."
What is Missouri Compromise?
400
A civil liberty not explicitly stated in the Bill of Rights but derived from the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 9th Amendments.
What is Right to Privacy?
400
Proposed amendments to a federal or state constitution that would in effect only permit the civil unions of heterosexuals to be recognized as marriage.
What are the Defense of Marriage Amendments?
500
A political philosophy upon which American politics was founded in which government is based on consent from the governed and must therefore protect their interests or they have a right to rebel.
What is Social Contract Theory?
500
An agreement made at the Constitutional Convention that established a bicameral legislative system with a new chamber based on proportional representation?
What is the Great Compromise?
500
The form of federalism in which the influence of the federal government was reduced through the introduction of block grants that provided states and localities with federal funds without as many ties and restrictions.
What is New Federalism?
500
A civil liberty established in the Constitution by denying the right to infringe upon "unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety requires it.”
What is Right of a Writ of Habeas Corpus?
500
The concept that an active Supreme Court can establish American public policy through its rulings rather than merely interpreting laws passed by the political branches of government.