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POLS 1101 American Government Exam 1
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What does it mean for a government to be a republic? - ✔✔A form of government in which power is explicitly vested in the people, who in turn exercise their power through elected representatives. What are the 5 liberties guaranteed by the 1st Amendment? - ✔✔ Freedom of Religion Freedom of Speech Freedom of the Press Freedom to Assemble Freedom to Redress the Government What are the differences between a unitary, confederal, and federal government? - ✔✔Unitary- Central Government holds most of the power. Federal- Good Balance of power between state and central government. Confederal- Weak Central Government, and the States holds must of the power.
- What was the name given to those who favored strong state governments during the debate over ratifying the Constitution? - ✔✔Anti-Federalist
- What is new federalism and which president was its primary advocate? - ✔✔New federalism is a return to dual federalism a attempt created by President Ronald Reagan. Dual Federalism involves the state exercising their power without the federal government interfering in affairs.
- What is the Articles of Confederation and what were the problems with it? - ✔✔The Articles of Confederation is a form of government set in place by 13 states of the U.S. in 1777. in There were many weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation. Congress had trouble passing laws due to the fact that 9 of the 13 states had to agree before any laws could be passed. Since there was no president or an executive branch, there was no way to make sure that laws passed by Congress were carried out. There were no courts to interpret laws or to judge those that broke them because a national court system did not exist. To make matters worse, changing the Articles of Confederation was nearly impossible. A unanimous vote of all 13 states were required before any changes could be made.
- What is limited government and how do federalism, republicanism, the separation of powers, and the system of checks and balances limit government activity (that is, how does the American political system seek to limit a "tyranny of the majority")? - ✔✔(Republicanism) is one possible ideology of governing a society or state as a republic. The key point is that the people hold popular sovereignty, rather than the people being subjects of a king. Which were the Civil War (aka the Reconstruction) Amendments and what did they do? - ✔✔( 13, 14, 15th ) The Reconstruction Amendments are the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments to the United States Constitution, adopted between 1865 and 1870, the five years immediately following the Civil War The 13th Amendment banned slavery and all involuntary servitude, except in the case of punishment for a crime. The 14th Amendment defined a citizen as any person born in or naturalized in the U.S., overturning the Dredd Scott V. Sandford (1857) Supreme Court ruling stating that Black people were not eligible for citizenship. The 15th Amendment prohibited governments from denying U.S. citizens the right to vote based on race, color, or past servitude. What is the Lemon Test? What are the three prongs of the Lemon Test? - ✔✔First, the statute (law) must have a secular legislative purpose; second, its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion;
Explain the process through which the U.S. Constitution can be amended. - ✔✔1. Purpose Amendment, 2/3rds congress must agree to amend the amendment or 2/3rds of state legislatures must can constitutional conventions to propose an amendment.
- Rafity Amendment. 3/4ths of states legislatures have to agree on amendment or 3/4ths of state constitutional conventions must ratify the amendment
- What are the limitations on free speech rights? On the freedom of the press? - ✔✔Can't shout fire in a public place is an example.
- Describe the process by which Amendments are proposed and ratified. - ✔✔1. Purpose Amendment, 2/3rds congress must agree to purposed the amendment or 2/3rds of state legislatures must can constitutional conventions to propose an amendment.
- Rafity Amendment. 3/4ths of states legislatures have to agree on amendment or 3/4ths of state constitutional conventions must ratify the amendment. What is the exclusionary rule? - ✔✔a law that prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence in a criminal trial. What is eminent domain? - ✔✔the right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation. Where is the right to privacy found in the Constitution? - ✔✔The Constitution does not explicitly guarantee any "right to privacy" Over time, however, courts have established some privacy rights The constitutional right to privacy "is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy" (Roe v. Wade, 1973). Roe has come to be known as the case that legalized abortion nationwide.
- What was the significance of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision? - ✔✔States Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal"... helped Jim Crow Laws What was the significance of the Brown v. Board decision? - ✔✔A landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. How did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 put a stop to Jim Crow laws in the American South? - ✔✔Image result for what was the civil rights act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) is a landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the United States that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Voting Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson (1908-73) on August 6, 1965, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States.
- What are the Judicial Standards of Review for Civil Rights cases? - ✔✔Rational Basis- Rational basis review, in U.S. constitutional law, refers to the default standard of review that courts apply when considering constitutional questions, including due process or equal protection questions under the Fifth Amendment or Fourteenth Amendment. Intermediate scrutiny- In order to overcome the intermediate scrutiny test, it must be shown that the law or policy being challenged furthers an important government interest in a way that is substantially related to that interest Strict Scrutiny- weigh the government's interest against a constitutional right or principle Explain the difference between equality of opportunity and equality of outcome. - ✔✔equality of opportunity- everyone has an opportunity to be successful.
Political culture - ✔✔A political culture is a set of attitudes and practices held by a people that shapes their political behavior. It includes moral judgments, political myths, beliefs, and ideas about what makes for a good society. Implied Powers - ✔✔Powers not named in the constitution. Articles of Confederation - ✔✔An agreement among the thirteen original states, approved in 1781, that provided a loose federal government before the present Constitution went into effect in 1789. Virginia Plan - ✔✔.states got a number of representatives in Congress based on their population..............was a proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch. (a Congress composed of two separate chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives.) New Jersey Plan - ✔✔Opposite of the Virginia Plan, it proposed a single-chamber congress in which each state had one vote Great Compromise - ✔✔Compromise made by Constitutional Convention in which states would have equal representation in one house of the legislature and representation based on population in the other house 3/5 Compromise - ✔✔Slave counts as 3/5ths for a person. Bicameralism - ✔✔A bicameral legislature is one in which the legislators are divided into two separate assemblies, chambers or houses Judicial review - ✔✔review by the US Supreme Court of the constitutional validity of a legislative act Enumerated powers - ✔✔Powers given to each branch of the government. Double Jeopardy - ✔✔the prosecution of a person twice for the same offense.
Due process - ✔✔fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a citizen's entitlement Concurrent power - ✔✔National and State Powers, which include: Enforce the laws, establish courts, collect taxes, Borrow money, provide for the general welfare Reserve power - ✔✔powers which are not "enumerated" (written down, assigned) Full Faith and Credit Clause - ✔✔states within the United States have to respect the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state." Necessary and Proper Clause - ✔✔"To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the [enumerated] Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution." Supremacy Clause - ✔✔stating that all laws made furthering the Constitution and all treaties made under the authority of the United States are the "supreme law of the land." Interstate Commerce Clause - ✔✔The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." Selective incorporation - ✔✔ensures states cannot enact laws that take away the constitutional rights of American citizens that are enshrined in the Bill of Rights. Civil liberty - ✔✔the state of being subject only to laws established for the good of the community, especially with regard to freedom of action and speech. Civil right - ✔✔the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality. The Bill of Rights - ✔✔First Amendment - Freedom of speech, press, religion, peaceable assembly, and to petition the government
De jure segregation - ✔✔means racial separation forced by specific laws. All such laws were eliminated in the U.S. by the mid-1960s. De facto segregation - ✔✔especially in public schools, that happens "by fact" rather than by legal requirement. The Emancipation Proclamation - ✔✔seizing property to make states cooperate. The Supremacy Clause - ✔✔stating that all laws made furthering the Constitution and all treaties made under the authority of the United States are the "supreme law of the land." Symbolic speech - ✔✔used to describe actions that purposefully and discernibly convey a particular message or statement to those viewing it.
