Foundations of American Democracy Flashcards
(30 cards)
Participatory Democracy
Model of democracy where citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their lives
(Ex: Citizens vote for government officials that represent citizens’ ideas and concerns in government)
Pluralist Democracy
Model of democracy where no one group dominates politics and organized groups compete with each other to influence policy
(Ex: Trade unions, interests groups etc)
Elite Democracy
Model of democracy in which only a small number of people that are educated and wealthy influence political decision making
(Ex: Electoral college, Supreme Court..)
Representative Democracy
Principal of elected officials representing a group of people
(Ex: U.S. Congress and State Legislatures)
Contains Participatory, Pluralist, and Elite Democracy
Republicanism
The belief that all governmental power is derived from the people
Popular Sovereignty
The notion that the authority of a government is created and sustained by the consent of its people
(Rulers are the servants and the people are the superiors and sovereigns)
Articles of Confederation
Success: Established federalism, treaty that ended Revolutionary War, and Northwest Ordinance (created methods by which new states would enter the union)
Failures (main)
- Congress had no power to tax
- No Executive Branch, Supreme Court, Judicial Branch
- National Government could not gather military
- No national currency
- Approval from 9 out of 13 states to pass legislation
Federalism
Distributes power between national government and state governments (each has its own power to do certain things)
Northwest Ordinance (1787)
Success of Articles of Confederation, outlined the process for admitting a new state to the Union and guaranteed that newly created states would be equal to the original thirteen colonies
Shay’s Rebellion
A six-month rebellion in which more than 1000 armed farmers attacked a federal arsenal to protest the foreclosure of farms in the western part of the state.
Constitutional Convention
Debates of whether legislative branch should be:
Unicameral - Existing of a single house
Bicameral - Existing of two houses
Virginia Plan
Called for a bicameral legislature based on population size
- supported by large states as they would be afforded by greater representation
- strong government in which each state represented proportionally to its population
New Jersey Plan
Called for unicameral legislature in which each state would have a single vote (similar to Articles of Confederation)
- supported by small states, worried that a government dominated by large states would be overly strong
- Each state would be represented equally
The Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)
Created the solution for the Virginia and New Jersey Plan
- A bicameral (two-house) legislature with a House of Representatives based on population and a Senate with equal representation for all states
Three-Fifths Compromise
Enslaved people would count as 3/5ths of a person when apportioning seats in the House of Representatives
Federalist Papers
A series of newspaper articles supporting the Constitution, designed to persuade the states of the wisdom of a strong central government coupled with autonomous political power retained by the states
Bill of Rights
The first 10 amendments of the Constitution, protects the rights of individuals from government infringement
Brutus No. 1
First publication that began the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers
- Anonymous author posed a series of questions about and critiques of the proposed Constitution
- Anti-Federalist views claiming that the national government had too much power, diminishing liberty and representatives would not truly represent the people
Federalist No. 10
James Madison addresses the dangers of factionalism and how to protect minority factions in a nation founded by majority rule.
- Argues that a large republic ensures multiple factions so as to avoid any one faction taking control, which could lead to a suppression of minority opinion.
Federalist No. 51
James Madison argues that separation of powers and checks and balances would guarantee that no one faction would take total control of the national government and Separation of Powers would make the national government more efficient as each branch had their own specific responsibilities.
Federalist No. 70
Alexander Hamilton argued that the executive branch should consist of a single person (President), taking examples from the British monarchy and how they were checked by the House of Commons. Hamilton also proposed term limits
Federalist No. 78
Alexander Hamilton addressed Anti-Federalist critiques on the power of the federal judiciary arguing under the Constitution, the judicial branch would have the power of judicial review acting as a check on Congress
Necessary and Proper Clause
Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution that allows Congress to make all laws that appear “necessary and proper” to implement its delegated powers
Elastic Clause
Another name for the Necessary and Proper Clause, because it is to “expand” the powers of Congress
