EXAM 1 - Review Flashcards
(49 cards)
Autocracy
A form of government in which a single individual – a king, a queen, or dictator – rules
Oligarchy
A form of government in which a small group – landowners, military officers, or wealthy merchants – controls most of the governing decisions
Constitutional government
A system of rule in which formal and effective limits are placed on the powers of the government
Authoritarian government
A system of rule in which the government recognizes no formal limits but may nevertheless be restrained by the power of other institutions
Totalitarian government
A system of rule in which the government recognizes no formal limits on its power and seeks to absorb or eliminate other social institutions that might challenge it
Political Efficacy
The belief that one can influence government and politics
Government
Institutions and procedures through which a territory and its people are ruled
Representative Democracy (republic)
A system of government in which the populace selects representatives, who play a significant role in governmental decision making
Articles of Confederation
America’s first written constitution; served as the basis for America’s national government until 1789
Confederation
A system of government in which states retain sovereign authority except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government
Annapolis Convention
The continuation of international weakness and domestic economic turmoil led many Americans to consider whether their newly adopted form of government, Articles of Confederation might not already require revision.
In the fall of 1786, many state leaders accepted an invitation from the Virginal legislature for a conference of representatives of all the states to be held in Annapolis, Maryland.
Delegates from only 5 states actually attended, so nothing substantive could be accomplished.
The one positive thing that came out of the Annapolis Convention was a carefully worded resolution calling on Congress to send commissioners to Philadelphia at a later time “to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the Constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the demands of the Union.”
But the resolution did not necessary imply any desire to do more than improve and reform the Articles of Confederation
Shay’s Rebellion
A series of events that highlighted the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation included Shay’s Rebellion.
Shay’s Rebellion was led by Daniel Shays a former army captain who led a mob of farmers in a rebellion against the government of Massachusetts. The purpose of the rebellion was to prevent foreclosures on their debt-ridden land by keeping the county courts of western Massachusetts from sitting until after next election. This event helped bring about the Constitutional Convention as many worried that similar events would happen unless there were changes
Congress did not regain control until several days later. They showed that they were not able to act decisively in a time of crisis. This was the ammo that critics of the Articles need to push the Annapolis resolution to congress
Virginia Plan
A framework for the Constitution, introduced by Edmund Randolph, that called for representation in the national legislature based on the population of each state
New Jersey Plan
A framework for the Constitution, introduced by William Peterson, that called for equal state representation in the national legislature regardless of population
Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)
The agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that gave each state an equal number of senators regardless of its population but linked representation in the House of Representatives to population
Three-Fifths compromise
The agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that stipulated that for the purposes of the apportionment of congressional seats only three-fifths of enslaved people would be counted
Federalist
Those who favored a strong national government and supported the Constitution proposed at the American Constitutional Convention of 1787
Anti-Federalist
Those who favored strong state governments and a weak national government and who were opponents of the Constitution proposed at the American Constitutional Convention of 1787
Federalism
A system of government in which power is divided, by a constitution between a central government and regional governments
Full faith and credit clause
Provision from Article IV, Section 1, of the Constitution requiring that states normally honor the public acts and judicial decisions that take place in another state
Dual federalism
The system of government that prevailed in the United States from 1789 to 1937 in which most fundamental government powers were shared between the federal and state governments
McCulloch v. Maryland
The first time the necessary and proper clause was interpreted was in McCulloch v. Maryland, one of the most famous Supreme Court decisions ever made.
The case represented an ideological division over the powers of the national government and the place of the state in the Union.
McCulloch v. Maryland, Congress enacted legislation to charter the Second Bank of the United States. Two years later, the Maryland legislature imposed a tax on all banks within the state that were not chartered by the state legislature. James McCulloch, an official at the Baltimore branch of the federally chartered Bank of the United States refused to pay the tax.
Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the creation of the Bank of the United States was “necessary and proper” as a means to carry out other powers that the Constitution explicitly granted to Congress, such as the powers to collect taxes, coin money, and regulate commerce. Marshall opinion also rejected Maryland’s efforts to impose taxes on the federal government agencies. “The power to tax, is the power to destroy.”
Cooperative federalism
A type of federalism existing since the New Deal era in which grants-in-aid have been used strategically to encourage states an localities ( without commanding them) to pursue nationality defined goals; also known as intergovernmental cooperation
Regulated federalism
A form of federalism in which Congress imposes legislation on states and localities, requiring them to meet national standards
