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Government
Semester 1 Final Exam Study Guide
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| House of Burgesses | The lower house of the colonial Virginia legislature. |
| Parts of the Declaration of Independence | The four parts of the Declaration of Independence are the Preamble, the Declaration of Natural Rights, the List of Grievances and the Resolution of Independence. |
| From where does the power come from stated in the Declaration of Independence? | The government gets its power to govern from the people that it governs. |
| Legislative Branch | The legislative branch makes all laws, declares war, regulates interstate and foreign commerce and controls taxing and spending policies. |
| Why did Federalist agree to add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution? | The Federalists made this compromise to get enough support for the Constitution so that is would be ratified. They agreed that when the first Congress was held, it would draft a bill or rights. |
| U.S. Constitution v. Articles of Confederation | Article of Confederation: - Congress could request states to pay taxes. - No system of Federal Courts U.S. Constitution: - Congress has the right to levy taxes on individuals. -Court system created to deal with issues between, citizens, states. |
| Differences between the Anti-Federalists and the Federalists | Those who supported the Constitution and a stronger national republic were known as Federalists. Those who opposed the ratification of the Constitution in favor of small localized government were known as Anti-Federalists. |
| A major reason why the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution | The most important reason the Bill of Rights was created was to protect individuals from the abuse of the government. The Bill of Rights was created to protect freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of press. |
| “Father of the Constitution” | James Madison |
| Checks and Balances (2 questions) | Counterbalancing influences by which an organization or system is regulated, typically those ensuring that political power is not concentrated in the hands of individuals or groups. |
| First Amendment | The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the freedom of speech, religion and the press. It also protects the right to peaceful protest and to petition the government. |
| Where did the Anti-Federalists believe the power was given in the original draft of the Constitution? | Similar to how they felt about the rest of the proposed federal government, the Anti-Federalists believed the Constitution granted too much power to the federal courts, at the expense of the state and local courts. |
| Federalists beliefs on the Constitution | Federalists argued for counterbalancing branches of government. |
| Some main areas for which the Constitution provides? | First it creates a national government consisting of a legislative, an executive, and a judicial branch, with a system of checks and balances among the three branches. Second, it divides power between the federal government and the states. |
| Election of 1800 | It resulted in the 12th amendment. It was also the last political "war" between jeffersonians and Federalist |
| Veto | A constitutional right to reject a decision or proposal made by a law-making body. |
| Judicial Review | review by the US Supreme Court of the constitutional validity of a legislative act. |
| What court case established Judicial Review | The Court established this doctrine in the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803). |
| Central idea of democracy | According to American political scientist Larry Diamond, democracy consists of four key elements: a political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections; the active participation of the people |
| According to the Declaration of Independence, from where should the government derive their legitimacy? | That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” On this, the anniversary of our Independence, Jefferson's words remain as true today as they were 241 years ago. |
| One goal of the American Revolution | The goal of the Revolution was simple; the colonists wanted to be independent from Britain. |
| Political Machines | In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a political group in which an authoritative leader or small group command the support of a corps of supporters and businesses, who receive patronage as reward for their efforts. |
| Reapportionment of the Constitution | “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. |
| The concept in the opening words of the Preamble | "We the People of the United States, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." |
| Procedures for a president to be removed from office | The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. |
| Pocketbook Vote | voting on the basis of one's own economic circumstances |
| Cloture Motion | Mechanism requiring sixty senators to vote to cut off debate. (only way to to end a filibuster.) |
| Formal qualifications to run for President and/or Congress | The U.S. Constitution's Requirements for a Presidential Candidate: At least 35 years old. A natural born citizen of the United States. A resident of the United States for 14 years. |
| Due Process | Fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a citizen's entitlement. |
| How many amendments are in the Constitution today? | 27 amendments |
| What are the Bill of Rights? | The Bill of Rights is the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion. |
| Double Jeopardy | Double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following a valid acquittal or conviction in the same jurisdiction. |
| Refugees v. illegal aliens | Refugee: A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. Illegal Aliens: A foreign national who is living without official authorization in a country of which they are not a citizen. |
| Biggest entitlement program | Social Security and Medicare are the government's largest entitlement programs. |
| Magna Carta | The first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law. It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits of royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself. |
| Progressive Tax v. Flat Tax | Progressive tax systems have tiered tax rates that charge higher income individuals higher percentages of their income and offer the lowest rates to those with the lowest incomes. Flat tax plans generally assign one tax rate to all taxpayers. |
| What do Article I, II, and III establish in the Constitution | The first three articles of the Constitution establish three branches of government with specific powers: Executive (headed by the President), Legislative (Congress) and Judicial (Supreme Court). Power is separated and shared. |
| What did the framers of the Constitution intend to establish? | The framers of the Constitution created the United States Senate to protect the rights of individual states and safeguard minority opinion in a system of government designed to give greater power to the national government. |
| Establishment Clause | The clause in the First Amendment of the US Constitution that prohibits the establishment of religion by Congress. |
| Federalism | Federalism is a mixed or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (provincial, state, cantonal, territorial or other sub-unit governments) in a single political system. |
| Steps for an amendment to be adopted | Step 1: Two-thirds of both houses of Congress pass a proposed constitutional amendment. Step 2: Three-fourths of the states ratify the proposed amendment, either by their legislatures or special ratifying conventions. |
| Articles of Confederation | The original constitution of the US, ratified in 1781, which was replaced by the US Constitution in 1789 |
| Civic Duty v. Jury Duty (2 questions) | Civic duties ensure that democratic values written into the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are upheld. Jury duty or jury service is service as a juror in a legal proceeding. |
| Closed Party v. Open Party | Closed list is where voters can (effectively) only vote for political parties as a whole, and thus have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters have at least some influence, then it is called an open list. |
| Who is responsible for forming the boundaries of the US congressional districts? | The house of representatives. The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population. |
| Know what the 14th, 15th, 19, and 21st amendments were all about. (2 questions) | 14th Amendment: Grants citizenship to everyone born in the U.S and equal protection under the law also know as Civil Rights Laws. Used throughout history to point out inequalities |
| 15th Amendment: Rights to vote regardless of race | |
| 19th Amendment: Women's Suffrage (right to vote) | |
| 21st Amendment: Repeal of Prohibition | |
| Marbury v. Madison | The 1803 case in which Chief Justice John Marshall and his associates first asserted the right of the Supreme Court to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. |
| Roe v. Wade | Addressed womens right to terminate a pregnancy, resulting in woman being given total control over the first trimester and giving the states control over the second and third trimesters |
| Plessy v. Ferguson | A case in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregated, "equal but separate" public accommodations for blacks and whites did not violate the 14th amendment. |
| McCullouch v Maryland | Defined the scope of the U.S. Congress's legislative power and how it relates to the powers of American state legislatures. |
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maggie319
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