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Chapter 1
What are the different definitions of government? o Government is the hierarchy of organizations that guide and run society o A monopoly on the legitimate use of force over a specified territory o The formal institutions through which a land and its people are ruled o The means of overcoming “Collective Action Problem” o The means by which citizens attempt to enact some version of the “good life” o Distribution of resources o Codification of natural laws and rights What are theories of governmental legitimacy? o No one is above the government, rule by force, Divine Right, Collective Action Problem o Government enforcement to prevent negative outcome Raising the price of gas to prevent pollution Republicanism o A government where decisions are made by elected or appointed officials who are ultimately answerable to the people Direct Democracy o All of the people have a say in all of the issues Majoritarian o When each individual is able to exercise the same degree of influence over governmental actions. Under such conditions, government would do whatever the majority of the citizens wanted done. (16) Pluralist
o A political system where many elites, not just one, influence government. The members of this open elite serve the public good by competing among themselves for the attention of government, as well as for control of public offices. (17)
Chapter 2
Declaration of Independence o (^) Statement written up by Thomas Jefferson on July 2, 1776 declaring that the colonies were free and independent states. (32) o (^) Denounced British for abusing the rights given to colonists under the British constitution. (32) o (^) Proclaimed intention of the colonial revolutionaries to sever their ties with England and explained the reasons for doing so. (33) o (^) Declared that governments had two fundamental purposes Protecting the unalienable rights of its citizens Governments derive their power from “consent of the governed” - the people Popular Sovereignty o (^) A theory publicized by philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau around the time of the laying of the seeds of the American Revolution that said the best form of government is the one that reflects the general will of the people, or popular sovereignty, which is the sum total of the interests that all citizens have in common. (31-32) Articles of Confederation o (^) America’s first constitution (written in 1777 and ratified in 1781) o (^) Established “firm league of friendship” between the states o (^) Encouraged a relatively weak national congress Consisted of a single body in which each state had only one vote
Separation of Powers o (^) The effort to control factions; by splitting governmental authority among several branches of government and giving each an area of primary responsibility so that one faction may not gain total control. o (^) The idea was to distribute powers among the three branches not in order to increase the efficiency of the government, but to prevent efficiency, which they regarded as potentially dangerous. (56) Checks and Balances o (^) The distribution of shared powers among the three branches of government o (^) Each branch depends on the others to accomplish its objectives, but each also acts as a counterweight to the others. (57) The president’s veto power checks and balances the power of the Congress, which can in turn be overridden in Congress Federalist 10 o (^) One of James Madison’s editorials where he argues that democracies that the problems of government can be traced to the “mischiefs of faction.” o (^) He claims all factions pose a risk to the general well-being of society. (55) Federalist 51 o (^) The purpose of No. 51 is to “form a more correct judgment of the principles and structure of the government planned by the Constitutional Convention.” In the paper, this is done by informing the reader of the safeguards created by the convention to maintain the separate branches of government, and to protect the rights of the people. Delegated Powers o (^) Not inherent, but assigned to national policy for cohesion and interaction between the states (39)
Concurrent Powers o (^) Powers that are integral to national sovereignty (39) Conduct foreign policy Declare war Make and enforce treaties Reserved Powers o (^) Specified in the Tenth Amendment, the “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people.” (42) Providing public education Building local roads Regulating intrastate commerce Implied Powers o (^) The ability of Congress to go beyond the powers stipulated elsewhere in the Constitution (40) Writ of Habeas Corpus o (^) A court order that individuals can seek in order to protect themselves against arbitrary arrest and detention o (^) By issuing a writ, a court can bring a suspect before a judge to determine if they are being held on legal grounds. o (^) Can be suspended during a time of “rebellion or invasion” It is a debacle when the category of “enemy combatants” comes up Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus during the Civil War Bill of Rights o (^) A term that is usually used to describe the first ten amendments to the Constitution o (^) Guarantee the fundamental liberties of citizens (44)
o Fire department, education, law enforcement, taxes, public works, state and local roadways, election laws (marriage laws, licenses, public acts of records), local zoning, property laws, estate and inheritance, intrastate commerce, banking and credit laws, morality law, civil service, public health, eminent domain, construction codes, land use, water and mineral laws, local governments Interstate Commerce Clause o Trade across state lines (71) 10 th^ Amendment o “Powers not delegated to the United States constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people.” (40) o Provides reserved powers to the states Zero Sum Game o Taking away power from the states to give a 50/50% power for states and federal Non-Zero Sum Game o Keeping the same percent for the states but adding % to make it even Dual Federalism o It sees the national and state governments as equal but independent partners, with each responsible for distinct policy functions and each barred from interfering with the other’s work Vertical Federalism o Relations between states and federal government Horizontal Federalism o Relations between states
Cooperative Federalism o A period of cooperation between state and national government that began during the Great Depression. o The national government began to take on new responsibilities, and state and local officials accepted it as an ally, not an enemy (73) o Feds give “subsidies” money to states to accomplish certain goals (grants in aid) Competitive Federalism o Competition between states o An argument between the states over given land, monuments, boarders, utilities, and transportation. 1937 o Housing Act of 1937 decreed that local governments could obtain funds to build public housing (74) D.O.M.A. o Defense of Marriage Act o States do NOT have to recognize same sex marriage which takes place in another state, nor will the federal government o In 1996 passed by legislature and signed by Clinton Grants-In-Aid o Federal appropriations that are given to states and localities to fund state policies and programs (72) o Categorical or conditional grants Formula Grants o Grants given to states and localities on the basis of population, the number of eligible persons, per capita income, or other factors (73)
Chapter 4
Civil Liberties o Freedoms, most of which are spelled out on the Bill of Rights, from excessive or arbitrary government interface. (96) o Freedom from government action – government is the threat Civil Rights o Guarantees of government protection of individuals against discrimination or unreasonable treatment by others, individuals, or groups. (96) o Government has to act on your behalf to insure your civil rights Barron v. Baltimore o Barron, claiming that the government needed to pay restitution to provide just compensation under the Fifth Amendment. (97) The case was overturned because it was decided that the Bill of Rights did not apply to the States, only the Federal Government. Dual Citizenship o A citizen is a citizen of the United States as well as their State 14 th^ Amendment o Includes Dual Citizenship as well as guarantees Civil Rights and Civil Liberties o Forbids states to deny individuals the rights guaranteed under the Constitution Selective Incorporation o The Supreme Court practice of making applicable to the States only those portions of the Bill of Rights that a majority of justices felt to be fundamental to a democratic society. (98) o Application of the Bill of Rights protection one by one to the states
Plessey v. Ferguson o Court case that declare that the Fourteenth Amendment did not prohibit racial segregation but instead meant Separate But Equal. (119) Separate But Equal o Segregation can be legal as long as the facilities are equal (119) Brown v. Board of Education o Overturns separate but equal (119) De Jure o Something that exists by law NAACP fought for the de jure law. De Facto o Something that exists by circumstances other than law Blacks riding in the back of the bus, blacks having to step aside onto the street if not enough room was present for a white person to walk down a sidewalk without running into a black person, and "separate but equal" facilities are instances of de facto segregation.
