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AP Gov Unit 1: Foundations of Government

Terms in this set (45)

Federalism
System of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of government. Delegation of powers between levels of government, controlled by Constitution.
Checks and Balances
A system in which the different parts of an organization (such as a government) have powers that affect and control the other parts so that no part can become too powerful.
Separation of Powers
An act of vesting the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government in separate bodies.
Nullification
Legal theory that a state has the right to nullify, or invalidate, any federal law which that state has deemed unconstitutional, or the act of nullifying a federal law. This practice has always been viewed as unconstitutional by the Federal government.
Implied Powers
Powers authorized by a document (from the Constitution) which, while not stated, seem to be implied by powers expressly stated.
Express Powers
Powers explicitly stated in the Constitution and granted to the Federal government.
Reserved Powers
Powers not explicitly written down or stated in the Constitution. Generally in the United States reserved powers are delegated to the states.
Concurrent Powers
Powers shared by both the Federal and state governments
Federal System
Powers are delegated to Federal and State governments
Unitary System
Power is concentrated in one central authority and everything revolves around that authority
Confederate System
Multiple states/smaller bodies come together in a Confederation, which is headed by a National government. The states have more power than the national government.
Articles of Convederation
First Constitution of the United States, adopted Nov. 15, 177. However it created a weak national government that was frequently bullied by the state governments. Events such as Shays' Rebellion further helped emphasize that the Articles would not be a sufficient form of government. It was revised and turned into the Constitution that we know today.
Federalists
Favored rich elite. Argued only a rich elite would be educated enough to successfully run the country. Favored strong central government.
Anti-Federalists
Favored small, rural farmers. Argued a ruling elite would only serve to manipulate the common people and result in a situation not much different from that of pre-Revolutionary War era. Favored strong state governments.
The Federalist Papers
Papers written by Madison, Jay, and Hamilton to garner public support for the passage of the new Constitution
Supremacy clause
National power is supreme
Virginia Plan
Demonstrated Montesquieu's influence on Madison, as it called for separation of powers among three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. Created a bicameral legislature with both houses based on proportionate representation. Adopted by Convention and written into Constitution.
New Jersey Plan
Response to Virginia Plan and presented at the Constitutional Convention. Congress has additional powers of setting and collecting taxes. Federal laws were supreme over state laws. It called for Congress to select an executive council, which would serve one four-year term, and which would be subject to recall by state governors. The judiciary would be appointed by the executive and would serve for life. Many delegates from small states feared that under a system of proportional representation, which was favored by most of the delegates large states would become too powerful. New Jersey Plan attempted to give small states powers in Congress equal to those of large states.
The Great Compromise
The Connecticut Compromise of 1787 was an agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. It retained the bicameral legislature as proposed by Roger Sherman, along with proportional representation in the lower house, but state who would have two representatives in the upper house.
Three-Fifths Compromise
Slaves would count as 3/5ths of a person in determining state populations for senator/representative counts
Article I
Legislative Branch - organizations, powers, and restraints
Article II
Executive Branch - Powers, duties, restraints, and election of the President
Article III
Judicial Branch - powers, duties, restraints, and election of president
Article IV
Relation of the states to each other and to the federal govt., guarantees to the states, and government of the territories.
Article V
Method of amending the Constitution. Guarantee of equal representation of the states in the U.S. Senate.
Article VI
Provision for national debts. Supremacy of the United States Constitution, federal laws and treaties. Pledge of national and state officials to uphold the Constitution. No religious test required as qualification for public office.
Article VII
Method for ratification of the Constiution
Full Faith and Credit Clause
States must take the laws of another state with full faith and credit
Necessary and Proper Clause (elastic clause(
Federal govt. is justified in making laws that are deemed necessary and proper for the country.
Shay's Rebellion
Uprising of poor veterans, who owed substantial debt. Led by Daniel Shays, a Massachusetts veteran. Had to be put down by militia and national forces. Showed that the Articles would not be a sufficient form of government because the national government was too weak to reliably stop uprisings.
Bill of Rights
At the urging of the Anti-Federalists, the Bill of Rights was passed to protect the rights of the states and the people from abuse by the federal government.
Dual Federalism (layer-cake federalism)
Two systems co-exist at the same time with equal powers (federal and state)
Cooperative Federalism (marble-cake federalism)
Two systems co-exist at the same time and mingle in terms of powers (Federal and state)
New Federalism
Devolution. A more supreme authority can devolute, or defer power to a lesser authority. (e.g. National Government can relinquish some power to the state governments)
Categorical grants
Grants provided by the federal government to the states for a specific purpose. States must meet the requirements set by the federal government in order to receive the categorical grants. Sort of like "holding bags of money over the states' heads".
Block Grants
ck Grants
Large amount of money given to the state governments by the federal government without many specific instructions on how to spend it. States are generally free to spend it on whatever they choose.
Unfunded Mandates
The federal government will set a rule that the states must follow. The federal government does not provide any funding for the states to accomplish the desired goal.
Programmatic Requests
Sums of money set aside ("earmarked") for a specific purpose
Sixteenth Amendment
Congress has free power to tax income
Seventeenth Amendment
Direct election of senators
Political Ideology/Spectrum
Radical (Communist) to Ultra-Conservative (Reactionary). People have varying political opinions and the political spectrum accurately captures all political ideologies.
Ex post facto law
A law punishing somebody for an action that was declared illegal AFTER the person had committed the action
Bill of attainder
Bill declaring a person or a group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without trial or due process
Writs of habeas corpus
A person must be officially under arrest before they can be brought into court before a judge and tried
Equal Protection Clause
No state can deny any citizen equal protection of the laws. This clause was a part of the Fourteenth Amendment.
THIS SET IS OFTEN IN FOLDERS WITH...