Foundations of American Democracy
What is limited government?
A government that is prevented from tyranny through a system of checks and balances and the distribution of power (separation of powers) among several acting members.
What are natural rights?
Rights people possess by natural law from BIRTH aka not given to them by any government. Can also not be taken away from a government.
What did the Federalists want? What did the Anti-Federalists want?
The Feds wanted to ratify the Constitution. The Anti-Feds wanted to prevent that.
Which event led people to start believing the AoC was not up to shape?
Shay's rebellion where poor veterans banded together to ask for better money conditions (lower taxes, printing more money etc.) and with the federal government having no power to make an army? Nobody could oppose them.
What constitutional clauses were expanded on with McCullough v Maryland?
Commerce Clause-regulating interstate commerce
Necessary and proper Clause-Elastic Clause, giving Congress the ability to have implied powers.
What is republicanism? Think the government, not the political party.
A form of government where people elect leaders to represent them and create laws in the public interest. Additionally, power should be separated between three branches of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial.
What is popular sovereignty and how does it relate to social contract? Bonus: Which part of the Declaration of Independence does this relate to?
Popular sovereignty says that the power to govern is in the hands of the people. Governments are controlled by the people. Social contract means that in order to protect their natural rights, people willingly give away some of that power to a government.
Bonus: This is mostly referred to in the Preamble as the social contract was broken, and that is why it was the duty of the people to overthrow Britain and replace it with a better government.
Explain what majority rule versus minority rights means in relation to Brutus 1 and Fed 10.
The majority should rule, but the minority shouldn't just be tyrannized.
Fed 10- Factions fighting together and reaching compromise would allow the majority's get what they needed and the minority to have a voice.
Brutus 1- A large central government would be separated from the views of the people, so nobody's rights could be well represented. The government wouldn't know what the people wanted, let alone accounting for minority voices.
Why did the AoC give so much power to the state governments?
People were worried that if the federal government had too much power, it would be like Britain's monarchy all over again where the people had no government power to oppose the big central government.
Which governments did McCulloch v Maryland and US v Lopez tip power in favor of? How?
McCulloch-Federal government, Necessary and Proper Clause
US-State government, Limitations to Necessary and Proper Clause
What is devolution?
The transfer of powers and responsibilities from the federal government to the states.
What are separation of powers and checks and balances? Why are they different?
Checks and balances are how a branch of government can limit another, but separation of powers is about each branch only having a specific jurisdiction.
What is each Article in the Constitution about?
Article 1-Legislative
Article 2-Executive
Article 3-Judicial
Article 4-How the states interact.
Article 5-How to amend the Constitution
Article 6-Supremacy Clause "supreme law of the land"
Article 7-Ratification of the Constitution
Explain the four compromises in the Constitution.
Great Compromise-How people would be represented in Congress (combining the Virginia Plan: by population and the New Jersey Plan: equal no matter the size) in a bicameral Congress.
Electoral College-Each state is given the amount of electors that says how many congressional reps they have in the house, and states get to decide who.
Three-fifths compromise-Southern states wanted slaves to be counted as people to increase Congress power, so three-fifths of the enslaved population would count towards reps.
Importation of slaves: Congress couldn't touch slave trade until after 20 years when it would be abolished.
Explain US v Lopez. What happened?
Alfonzo Lopez carried a concealed weapon into his high school. He was charged under Texas law with firearm possession on school premises.
The Court found the 1990 Gun-Free School Zones Act unconstitutional for overstepping the congressional boundaries of the Commerce Clause.
Name the four philosophers and their main ideas.
Hobbes- Unalienable rights (those cannot be taken away by a government).
Locke- Natural rights (life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness).
Montesquieu- Separation of powers.
Rousseau- Social Contract (if broken, duty of the people to overthrow).
What is federalism, and what are exclusive, reserved, and concurrent powers?
Exclusive powers are specifically given to the federal gov (Only Congress can make foreign treaties), reserved powers are kept by the states (10th amendment, education powers), and concurrent powers are shared by both (income taxes).
Compare and contrast the models of democracy Brutus 1 and Fed 10 liked.
Brutus 1 wanted a broad, participatory model. GO STATES! Feared that civil liberties would be taken advantage of in a big republic.
Fed 10 said competing factions? not a problem if there are enough for competition with a large federal government. You can't stop them, so the best thing to do is make them fight and compromise, so tyranny never occurs.
Name some problems of the AoC. How did the Constitution fix them?
Only one branch (Congress) Fix: Three branches with separation of powers and checks and balances.
No power to raise taxes and had no money. Fix: allowed to raise taxes.
No power to raise an army. Fix: allowed to raise an army and given the power to do so.
All 13 states had to ratify an amendment. Fix: Only a certain majority of states had to ratify.
Explain the McCulloch v Maryland Case. What happened?
Congress chartered The Second Bank of the United States. The state of Maryland passed legislation to impose taxes on the bank.
The Court held that Congress had the power to incorporate the bank and that Maryland could not tax instruments of the national government employed in the execution of constitutional powers.
Explain the three types of democracy. Give some examples from the Constitution.
Participatory democracy - emphasizes broad participation by the most people. Ex: freedom of speech, press, voting rights amendments.
Pluralist democracy - groups of people compete to influence policy (Think interest groups, political parties, freedom of assembly).
Elite democracy - emphasizes limited participation because government is complicated and only the most educated (and rich) people need to run it. Ex: electors vote on behalf of the people.
Define fiscal federalism, categorical grants, block grants, and mandates.
Fiscal federalism-governments interact with money.
Categorical grants-given to states as long as they comply with federal standards. Very Specific.
Block grants-given for a broad purpose, states can use it as they see fit.
Mandates-federal requirements where sometimes money is given to help reach that and sometimes not (unfunded mandate).
Which two amendments apply when talking about federalism?
14th-selective incorporation (applying bill of rights to the states)