Foundations of American Democracy
Basic rights everyone is born with - life, liberty, and property
What are natural rights?
2. Call out the military
3. Create courts/establish jurisdiction
4. Borrow money
5. Tax
What are enumerated powers?
4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments have to deal with this
Survey of public opinion
What is an opinion poll?
The tendency for the current office holder to win re-election. Bigger influence in the House.
What is the incumbency advantage?
Case where the court had to answer the following:
Can Congress make a national bank?
Can the state tax the bank?
What is McCulloch v. Maryland?
This foundational document supported the ratification of the Constitution and discussed ways to control factions
What is Federalist #10?
Sets rules for debate on bills, headed by the Speaker of the House
What is the Rules Committee?
Freedom from illegal search and seizure
What is the Fourth Amendment?
When an event causes a shift in the beliefs of the population - example could include 9/11.
What is the generational effect?
Person who chooses best candidate for the future
Who is a prospective voter?
SCOTUS case that established Judicial Review
What is Marbury v. Madison?
One of the compromises - Congress will be divided into two houses - 1 divided by state population and the other equal
What is the Great Compromise?
A way for Senators to end a filibuster by putting a time limit on how long a bill can be debated. Requires a vote of 60 senators
What is cloture?
What is selective incorporation?
The process by which a person acquires their political viewpoints/ideology
What is political socialization?
A group that organizes to influence the government on a policy area
What is an interest group?
Set the precedent of "one man, one vote"
What is Baker v. Carr?
What is a pluralist democracy?
Foundational Document that argues for an independent judiciary with lifetime appointments and the power of judicial review
What is Federalist #78
The government can tell people who want to speak between certain times, in certain locations, and place certain limitations like no seditious speech
What are time, place, and manner restrictions?
someone with mainstream positions avoiding extreme views and major social change.
Who is a moderate?
Big party meeting to choose candidates--gives more power to the party bosses than the electorate.
What is a caucus?
Decision: ...that because the district was shaped in such a clearly odd way, it was enough to prove that there was a very apparent effort to separate voters racially
What is Shaw v. Reno?
Type of Federalism where feds and states work together to carry out join programs (since the Great Depression)
What is cooperative federalism?
Let the decision stand (the ruling in the earlier court case is upheld)
What is Stare Decisis?
Foundational Document that argued the impact of segregation is that it limits opportunities and harms the mental well being of the segregated people and is equally damaging to society as a whole.
What is the Letter from Birmingham Jail?
a mistake in the selection method of a group to poll
What is a sampling error?
When people can benefit from the work of a group without doing any work
What is the free-rider problem?
QUESTION: Was the voluntary, non denominational prayer a violation of the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment?
What is Engel v. Vitale?
Money given for a general purpose and can be spent in any way the state wants under a broad area of spending
What are block grants?
If the Executive Branch has power of the sword, Congress would have this power
What is Power of the Purse?
Whether a law applies unequally to different groups of people
What is Substantive Due Process?
must meet an income qualification for a benefit
What is means tested?
Groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions. Groups cannot spend more than half of their funds on political activities.
What is a 501c group?
SCOTUS cases that created a limit for the use of the commerce clause by the federal government
What is United States v. Lopez?