APG Unit I Review 2013

1. APG Unit I Review2013

2. Identify a few key aspects of the British legal tradition that influenced our Constitution. • Magna Carta (limit power of monarch, guarantee rights to nobles), Growth of Parliament, English Bill of Rights extends rights

3. What two other influences did this tradition combine with to shape our Constitution? • Enlightenment ideas and our colonial experiences, especially those preceding the Revolutionary war

4. What philosophe argued in favor of a three branch government and a system of checks and balances? • Montesquieu

5. Who was the first to introduce the idea of natural rights that should be protected? What are these rights? • John Locke; life liberty and property

6. What was Locke’s social contract? • The people had the right to overthrow a government that did not protect these rights

7. What were the two primary purposes of the Declaration of Independence? • Establish ideology for new nation and list grievances against King George III

8. What document defined the first gov’t of the U.S.? Who drafted it? • Articles of Confederation; 2nd Continental Congress (same as D of I)

9. What were three key weaknesses of this document? • no executive, no power to tax, coin money, regulate trade, pay for a military

10. Identify three of the men who stood out as early leaders of the Constitutional Convention. • George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson, James Madison

11. What is the key difference between direct and representative democracy? Which do we have? • Direct: People vote directly on issue, representative: people choose those who make decisions for them; we have Representative (Republican Democracy)

12. What theory of democracy holds that the policy agenda is largely influenced by interest groups that compete for influence? What theory holds that these groups are too powerful? • Pluralist theory, Hyperpluralist

13. Who controls the government, according to the elite theory? The bureaucratic theory? • Elite: a small group of wealthy and powerful individuals exert control • Bureaucratic: It’s the people who carry out the work of the government who have actual control

14. Which section of the Constitution establishes its purpose? Who did it say the Constitution would serve? • The Preamble, the people

15. How many articles does the Constitution have? What do the first three cover? • 7, the 3 major branches

16. Which part of our government is most directly responsive to the people? • The House of Reps, members elected by their district every two years

17. What are two ways that the original Constitution took some of the electoral decision making further away from the people? • Senators were chosen by their state legislature, Electoral College (members chosen by state legs) chooses the President

18. What is the “supremacy clause”? • Makes it clear that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land

19. What is the last section of the Constitution made up of? Why is this so important? • Amendments, which allow the Constitution to be changed – makes it a flexible “living” document

20. The Constitution is based on rule of the people, also known as ______. • Popular sovereignty

21. What are delegated powers? What are two other names for them? • Powers specifically assigned to the federal gov’t in the constitution; expressed or enumerated

22. Powers derived from the general terms of the constitution, but not specifically listed there are known as ________ powers. • Implied

23. Powers of the government that come from the fact that the government is sovereign are known as ______ powers. • Inherent

24. Powers left to the people and the states, or denied altogether are often referred to as __________ powers. Denied powers include ________ and _________. • Reserved, ex post facto laws and bills of attainder

25. Powers shared by state and federal governments are called __________. • Concurrent powers

26. How does the Constitution handle the question of political parties? • It doesn’t, parties have emerged and reshaped their coalitions (who supports them) over time

27. What is the name for a system in which power is divided and shared between national and state governments? • federalism

28. Why did the founders choose a federalist approach? • Even though the weak union of the A of C failed, they still feared putting too much power in the hands of the central (or national) gov’t

29. What is dual (layer cake) federalism? When was it most in practice? • When state and federal governments worked in coexistence but not cooperation, 1789-1932

30. What is cooperative (marble cake) federalism? When was it most in practice? • When national and state governments both work on common policy areas (law enforcement, welfare, etc.); New Deal to Great Society

31. When the federal government cedes more specific policy making powers to the state governments it is called _____. • devolution (power being passed down)

32. The governments thinking, strategy, plan, and actions related to a particular issue are known as ___________. • Public policy

33. What is a block grant? A categorical grant? • Block grant is money given to state by fed with a general purpose, categorical is money given with a specifically designed purpose and guidelines

34. What is the primary purpose of separation of powers? • Limit overall power of central gov’t by dividing powers between branches

35. What is judicial review? What case established it? • The power of the courts to declare laws invalid if they violate the Constitution, Marbury v. Madison

36. Define the concept of limited gov’t. • The Constitution limits gov’t by specifically listing the powers it does and does not have

37. Which branch did the founders believe would be the most powerful? Why did they fear its power? • Congress, bad experiences with Parliament’s abuses of legislative power

38. What gives Congress the power to make all laws “necessary and proper”? • Elastic clause

39. In what way do we have a “dual court” system in the U.S.? • We have both Federal and State courts, each of whom has different jurisdictions

40. What is the only way to overrule the Supreme Court on a constitutional issue? • Amend the Constitution

41. Which early plan became the basis for the new constitution? Who was its primary author? • The Virginia Plan, James Madison

42. Define the concept of limited gov’t. • The Constitution limits gov’t by specifically listing the powers it does and does not have

43. Why was limited gov’t so important to the framers? • They wanted to protect states rights, they feared an overly powerful national government (bad experiences with King & Parliament)

44. Which plan was devised to represent the needs of the small states? • The New Jersey Plan

45. Why did the New Jersey Plan want to keep the unicameral legislature? • Because it made representation equal for all states, regardless of size

46. After the New Jersey Plan was rejected, what question deadlocked the Convention? • Whether representation should be equal for all states or determined by population

47. What was the name of the compromise that resolved this issue? What did it do? • Connecticut Compromise, provided for 2 houses - the House (by population) & the Senate (equal for all states)

48. What issue was resolved by the 3/5 Compromise? How did it resolve the issue? • How to count slaves in a state’s population, 1 slave = 3/5 of a free man (for both representation and taxes)

49. What 2 groups quickly formed during the debate over ratification • Federalists (for the Cons.) and Anti Federalists (against the Cons.)

50. Identify two reasons the Anti-Federalists opposed the new Constitutions. • Drafted in secret, the convention had overstepped it’s bounds, main reason: had no Bill of Rights, limited popular participation