American Government Test 1

Total Flash Cards » 31
Text Size: S | M | L
What's John Locke's stance on politics? He believed in the pursuit of property, that the governments major responsibility was the preservation of private property; he also believed that those writing the law should have more power than those enforcing them.
What are some of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? Congress could not regulate tax or trade Congress could not coin money Congress could not raise and army There was no national court system Congress could not regulate foreign and interstate commerce A unanimous vote was required Congress had no executive branch to enforce the Acts they passed
What is Democracy and what are it's two types? Democracy is when people gain their power by election
Indirect Democracy is when the people don't participate, but they elect representatives to make laws for them
Direct Democracy is when the people participate and make laws together

What is Article One? And what are it's Qualifications? The Legislative Branch: The Great Compromise
It has a Bicameral Legislature: The House of Representatives and the Senate
The Qualifications of the House of Representatives are: 25 years of age, 7 years U.S. citizen, must be resident of district living in, and a term of 2 years
The Qualifications of the Senate: 30 years of age, 9 years U.S. citizen, must be resident of state represented, and a term of 6 years with 1/3 up for re-election every 2 years
What is Section 8 , 9, and 10 of Article One about? Section 8 is about the powers of commerce where there are 17 powers of Congress listed, Only Congress has the power to call war, The president can move troops where needed, and Clause 18 give Congress more power over the air force-STRENGTH
Section 9 is limits of Congress where they're not allowed to pass a bill of attainder, can't tax Articles exported from any state, and no money can be taken from treasury-WEAKNESS
Section 10 is limits on the states where they can't enter any treaty, alliance, or confederation, and they can't coin money -WEAKNESS
What are the strengths of the Articles? Congress can now trade as an nation Congress can regulate commerce with foreign nations and among several states Congress can now coin money National Court System now in place-Federal Judiciary Congress can now raise an army
What is Article Two AND Section 1 of it? What are it's Qualifications? Strength: Executive Branch where the President of the U.S. has the power: chief executive There's a term of 4 years There are two electors and both electors return to their state capitol
Qualifications: 35 years of age, Natural Born U.S. citizen, must live in U.S. 14 years prior to running, and a term of 4 years

What is section two about in Article Two? Section one talks about some of the constitutional powers/duties of the president like, being commander and chief over the U.S. military
What was the Great Compromise? The Great Compromise was a final decision made by the Constitutionals Convention consisting of a committee to settle the disagreements between the Virginia and New Jersey plans. There was a bicameral legislature with the lower house elected by the people and the powers divided among the two houses It made national law supreme
What was the Virginia Plan? It was written by James Madison. It was the first in the Constitution to be offered in Philadelphia It's where the National Government derives it's power from the people instead of the member states It has a bicameral legislature It has a executive and a judiciary branch chosen by national legislature
What was the New Jersey Plan? It was proposed by small states It's a one-house legislature, one vote for each state A congress with the ability to raise revenue A Supreme Court with members appointed for life
What was the Three-Fifths Compromise? It was a compromise that came as a result of the problem of determining state populations so the Constitutional Convention reached an agreement where each slave would count as 3/5 of a person to determine population as purposes of the representation of the House of Representatives
What was the Committees of Commerce,1772? It was suggested by Samuel Adams, and colonists created it so that they could be updated on British Developments
What was the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts), 1774? Acts as a result of the Boston Tea Party, that blockaded Boston Harbor preventing Bostonian's from getting many foods, and citizens were forced by another provision using the Quartering Act, to house British soldiers, allowing Britain to send more troops to patrol Boston
What was the First Continental Congress, 1774? 56 delegates met in Philadelphia to settle things with the king and on behalf of the intolerable actions against the now united citizens. They came up with a series of resolutions to oppose the Coercive Acts, including the boycotting of British goods, and they also developed Declaration of Rights and Reserves in hope that the King would redress the grievances placed on the citizens, but he rejected it They had sent a letter to Parliament asking that the taxes be repealed or they would meet again and take more measures.
What was the Second Continental Congress, 1775?
As a result of King George III refusing to cooperate, the delegates reunited on increased hostility, and adopted the Olive Branch Petition as another attempt to end conflict,asking the king once again to end hostilities, but the King rejected it, causing a colonial war, moving towards independence and the adoption of the Declaration They had created a 5 man committee to write a declaration of freedom, made Washington the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army,AND organized a Cont. Army and Navy.
What was the Separation of Powers? A way to divide out power among the three branches of government, the legislative, executive and judiciary Each branch was staffed separately with equality and independence ensured by the Constitution
What is Article Three? And what is it's Qualifications? It's the Judiciary Branch where the Supreme Court is Created The only court specifically named in the Constitution
Qualifications: There are no written qualifications Only the Senate approves A term of life with good behavior
What is Article Four's two main points? Full Faith and Credit: States must accept all legal documents from other states (ex. drivers license)
Extradition Clause: A state governor must deliver a fugitive from justice to the state from which they fled
What is Article Five's Formal Amending Method? That one house can write an amendment to the Constitution. When 2/3 of each house of congress approves of the opposed amendment, it is sent to the states When 3/4 of the states approve it , it becomes law
What's the Informal Methods for Amending? Judicial Interpretation: Includes a series of court cases -Marbury v. Madison where when one person sues another would originate in the Supreme Court according to Article 3, this type of case must come to the court on appeal. Also in this case Marbury develops the Judiciary review where the Supreme Court was given the power to determine the constitutionality of law -Plessey v. Ferguson, an African American case, where there was the separate but equal law stating that as long as facilities were separate they could be equal -Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka Kansas, where because they were separate, they're unequal -Dred Scott case where an African American who lived in a free state moved to a slave state and the judge ruled him property and free to be carried to any state free or not
Social and Cultural Change: Women's roles and African Americans
What is the Article Six's Supremacy Clause? That the Constitution, all the treaties, and all U.S. law are supreme law of the land
What is Article Seven's Ratification of the Constitution? That a 3/4 of a state must ratify the Constitution in order for it to become law
How did the Federalist's Papers happen? Federalists wanted the state of NY to ratify the Constitution, so James Madison got with his cohorts, Hamilton and Jay, and wrote a series of essays explaining the Constitution to the people and stating that they weren't trying to take any powers away
Who were the Anti-Federalists? Were against ratifying the Constitution and favored weak national governments and strong state ones
How was Finding a Political Ideology? You had Conservatives who wanted less government and favored local and state actions over federal, and were more with private You have Liberals who supported a well-funded government and valued equality And you have Moderates who were centrist viewers, they were in the middle on politics
What are the Four Functions Of Government? Insuring Domestic Tranquility: protecting against terrorism Common Defense: protecting against foreign aggressorsPromoting General Welfare: Homeland Security: Napolitano Securing the Blessings of Liberty: free to criticize or petition government
What are the Four Political Ideologies? Explanation: where ideologies can provide an explanation on why social and political conditions are the way they are Evaluation: where ideologies can provide standard evaluation on social conditions and political interventions and events Orientation: Ideologies provide an orientation toward issues and a position in the world Political Programs: Ideologies help people make political decisions and guide their political actions
What was the problem with Ideological Labels? Those who called themselves conservatives of liberals took opposite sides Libertarians believed in limited governments interference in personal liberties
Define Totalitarian? A leader with "total" control supported by his military
What did Thomas Hobbes write and what was did it state? Leviathan,and it stated that we, the people give the leaders the consent to govern