Chapters 1-4 Study Guide 

What does political efficacy denote?

America is based on the ideas of Liberty, Equality, and Democracy 

Liberty : the freedom from government control ; Linked to the concept of "limited government"  Ex: Abortion rights  

Equality: equality of opportunity (but not equality of outcome) & political equality – the right to  participate in politics equally  

To treat people fairly

Democracy: Americans' commitment to democracy is based on three principles  Popular sovereignty: the people ultimately has political authority Ex: vote  

Majority rule: the majority preferences are followed by the government's  

decisions  

Minority rights: Some minority interests must be protected even in front of majority  thoughts. Ex: The Tea Party  

What is the government made of?

Political Efficacy 

-The belief that a person has the ability to influence what the government does is called political efficacy.  

Citizenship 

Citizenship: participation in public affairs ; "enlightened political engagement"  

∙ Voting – building block of citizenship  Don't forget about the age old question of What does utility rate measure?

∙ Citizens can influence their government by jury duty, rallies, etc.  

Which type of government is controlled by only one person?

Don't forget about the age old question of What is the job of glial cells in the body?

∙ Effective participation requires knowledge  We also discuss several other topics like Why do late adolescents experience a tension between ego identity and role diffusion?
Don't forget about the age old question of What do the domains bacteria and archaea consist of?

Government 

Government: the institutions and procedures through which a territory and its people are ruled.  ∙ It is hard to build a gov. that lasts and promotes liberty, equality, and democracy.

Types of Government : Inclusiveness 

Governments can be categorized in ascending levels of inclusiveness Different forms of governments  are defined by power and freedom  

Autocracies : gov. Controlled by one person (monarch or dictator)

Oligarchies: gov. Controlled by a small group (military officers, wealth merchants, landowners)  Democracies: citizens play a significant part in the governmental process

Representative: citizens have the opportunity to elect gov. Officials

Direct: citizens vote directly for policies and laws  

*America is a representative democracy*  

Types of Government: Limits 

Governments can be categorized in descending levels of the limits they have on their own authority.  

Totalitarian governments: government recognizes little or no limits on their authority Authoritarian  governments: recognizes no formal limits on their authority , constrained by social If you want to learn more check out What are the stages of psychosocial development according to freud?

institutions We also discuss several other topics like How much of our economy is driven by production?

Constitutional governments: recognizes and codifies effective limits on their authority  

Politics 

Politics - Conflicts over leadership, character, membership, structure, and policies of any organization to  which people belong.  

*Common American Concerns: Immigration and Religious Affiliations*  

Goal of politics is having a say in what happens; having a share in what happens is called power or  influence  

The First Founding: Ideas, Interests, and Conflicts 

Americans had different financial interests prior to the Revolution depending on if they were  

o New England Merchants

o Southern Planters

o Royalists

o Shopkeepers, artisans, & laborers o Small farmers  

Problems with Britain 

"No taxation without representation"  

Stamp Act , Sugar Act, Boston Massacre , Boston Tea Party  

Declaring Independence 

∙ First Continental Congress – boycott of all Britain taxes  

∙ Second Continental Congress – decided to draft Declaration of Independence  

Jefferson and The Declaration 

∙ Jefferson was the "sole" originator  

∙ The Declaration was written by Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress  ∙ Asserted that certain rights ("unalienable rights") could not be infringed upon by the  governments.  

The Articles of Confederation & Perpetual Union 

∙ Adopted in 1777, ratified 1781  

∙ Americas governing document until 1789  

∙ Issues : Weak central gov. , legislative dominance, no executive branch, execution of laws was  left to individual states  

-John Adams and Britain  

∙ Shay's Rebellion – involved farmers and merchants who rebelled against possible seizure of  land  

∙ Shay's rebellion showed the weaknesses of a nation w/ no central government , inability to  ∙ protect internal and external borders, lack of respect internationally  

Constitutional Convention 1787 

∙ Established central government and strong executive branch  

∙ Congress  

∙ Power to declare war, power to raise national military , bicameral legislation

∙ Separation of powers

- system of checks and balances  

Test question – Congress has 2 chambers ( House: 435 members; based on population and Senate:100  members; 2 per state)  

Large-Small State Compromise/Great Compromise  

The Virginia Plan  

Representation according to population Supported by the large states  

The New Jersey Plan  

Equal Representation Supported by small states  

Three-Fifths Compromise  

The population of slaves in a state would count three-fifths of a white person. Southern states – count  slaves to increase representation

Northern states – slaves not citizens , should not be counted  

The Constitution 

The Constitution: elaborate checks and balances, Bill of Rights

Constitutionalism : idea that there are lawful restrictions on governments power; restraints on majority  power

Judicial action: the use of courts as a means of asserting rights and interests; this is the way ordinary  citizens can exercise power  

The Seven Articles of the Constitution 

Article I: sets forth the powers and structure of the legislative branch

Article II: wanted to provide a strong and "energetic" executive branch  

Article III: deals with the selection and powers of the federal judiciary : promote national unity and  power  

– states must give "full faith and credit" to acts of other states; guarantees citizens of any state the  "privileges and immunities" of every other state

Article VI: supremacy clauses states that the Constitution are the supreme law of the land  Article V: tells the steps that are needed to amend the Constitution  

- Amendments can be proposed by 2/3 votes in the House and Senate OR by passed in a national  convention called by Congress in response to petitions by 2/3s of the states.  

Federalists - Property owners, creditors, merchants , wanted stronger central government, Feared  excessive democracy and promotion of political elites

of political elites  

Antifederalists -small farmers, debtors, shopkeepers, wanted to retain power in the state governments ,  more democracy

Madisonian Model 

Many bills die in the Committee  

∙ To place as much of government beyond direct control of the majority o Only the House is  directly elected by people.  

∙ Separation of powers, yet powers are shared between branches  

∙ Checks and balances, requires consensus. EX: veto, judicial review, etc.  

∙ Federalism, sharing power between states and national government  

Implication of Madison's Model 

∙ Slow Policy Change

- favors the status quo change requires winning at all points in the process

- small minorities in the government can block majorities (Ex: president's veto) - results in  limited or smaller government

- enhances minority rights which is often frustrating the majority

- often seen as extremely inefficient  

Federalism 

∙ Federalism- the division of powers and functions between the state and national governments.  ∙ The Federalists and Antifederalists had different opinions on the structure of the national  government and the balance of power between the central government and the states.  

∙ Governments organize the balance of power between the central government and the states in  different ways : Confederations, Federal Systems, Unitary Systems :

∙ - Confederations- power within the states

- Federal Systems- Central government and the states

- Unitary Systems- mostly in the central government

National Government Powers – 

∙ - Expressed powers: collect taxes, coin money, declare war, regulate commerce (powers  specifically listed in the Constitution  

∙ - Implied powers: "the necessary and proper" (elastic clause) ; powers the national government  has from their implication in the Constitution (not specifically listed in the Constitution)  

State Government Powers – 

∙ reserved powers: police powers(powers to regulate health, safety, and morals of its citizens)  

∙ Share Concurrent Powers: regulate commerce, affect currency, licenses, etc. (powers shared  between the states and the national government)  

∙ 10th Amendment: powers not given to the federal government are reserved for the states  

*Antifederalists were against a strong national gov. So they wanted this to become ratified  immediately*  

The 4 Faces of Federalism throughout History 

I.Dual Federalism II. Cooperative Federalism III. Regulated Federalism IV. New Federalism  

∙ Stage I: Dual Federalism (1789-1937) "layer cake"- most powers were shared between the  federal and state governments, central gov. Focused on promotion of commerce and  distribution of resources, but states had most of the power  

∙ Stage II: Cooperative Federalism "marble cake"- National gov. Began expanding its role into  matters that had been reserved to the states, began offering grants-in-aid to make sure that  states cooperated.  

∙ Block grants- given to states for general reasons , gave state officials discretion on how money  would be spent  

∙ Formula grants- a formula is used to determine how much money would be given to states

∙ Categorical grants- given to states for specific reasons , and gave the federal officials the  discretion on how the money would be spent  

∙ Stage III: Regulated Federalism – When the state and local governments became dependent on  the grant-in-aid support from the national government, the national government began to  threaten the local and state governments to withhold those grants which is known as Coercive  Federalism. 

∙ The national government began reaching into matters that normally had been states matters in  order to try to increase control and impose more uniform national standards.The best way to

exemplify the transfer of federal power is by unfunded mandates, where the national  government compels state and local governments action but does not provide them funding.  

∙ Stage IV: New Federalism & State Control – Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal coalition and program  starts a counter – federal trend, known as New Federalism.  

Devolution – federal government should return powers to the states  

∙ The removal of a program from one level of government by passing it down to a lower level of  government.  

o Ex: PWRA 1996 Personal Work and Responsibility Act of 1996  

Bill of Rights 

∙ The Bill of Rights are the 1st ten Amendments to the Constitution  

∙ Made to protect the basic freedoms of American citizens  

∙ Over time, the meanings and applications of these Amendments have changed over  time as judicial interpretations of these problems have changed.  

 - Bill of Rights include: the right of free speech , free exercise of religion, prohibits unreasonable  searches and seizures, guarantees due process of law, and the right to privacy  

Rights and Liberties  

Civil liberties: are protections of citizens from unwanted government action  

Civil Rights: describes the governments duty to protect its citizens  

 *The Bill of Rights is more like a bill of liberties*  

There are at least 2 kinds of civil liberties in on to put restraints on government action:  

1. Substantive liberties: restraints on what the government shall and shall not have the power to  do .  

2. Procedural liberties: restraints on how the governments is supposed to act when it acts.  The 9th Amendment was made in partial response to Hamilton's 3rd objection to the Bill of Rights.  

9th Amendment: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall be construed to deny or  disparage others retained by the people."

The 14th Amendment was made after the Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of Rights limited only the  actions of the national governments and not the state governments.  

14th Amendment: incorporates the Bill of Rights into the states  

Selective incorporation: the process of different protections becoming incorporated within the  14 Amendment, thus guaranteeing citizens' protection from the state as well as national governments.

Freedom of Religion 

The Establishment Clause 

∙ The government may not favor one religion over another

∙ "wall of separation" versus "excessive entanglement"

The Lemon Test – conditions for acceptable government action

The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)that the  

government aid to religious schools should be constitutional if it met three criteria  which is the Lemon Test.  

1. The government action must have a secular purpose

2. The effect should neither advance not inhibit religion

3. It does not lead to excessive entanglement with religion

The Free-Exercise Clause 

∙ The government is prohibited from interfering with the practice of religion ∙ The government is allowed to interfere with the practice of religion only when there is a belief  that conflicts with other valid laws.  

1st Amendment: protects the freedom of speech

∙ Speech that is not protected by the 1st Amendment is speech that presents a clear and present  danger to society, libel and slander, obscenity OR fighting words

2nd Amendment: the right to keep and bear arms

Rights of the Criminally Accused 

4th Amendment: protects against unreasonable search and seizures  

∙ Requires probable cause  

∙ Warrants are not always required

∙ Exclusionary Rule – Mapp v. Ohio (1961) 

5th Amendment: the right to a grand jury, protects against double jeopardy(a person cannot be subject  for the same offense more than once), self incrimination, and protects eminent domain (private  property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation)  

∙ "I plead the 5th" , witness immunity

∙ Miranda v. Arizona (1966) - suspects must be read their rights

6th Amendment: right to a speedy and public trial, and the right to have the assistance of counsel for his  defense (lawyer/attorney).  

8th Amendment: protects against excessive bail , fines, or cruel and unusual punishment

Privacy Rights 

Controversy of today is about abortion  

∙ Roe v. Wade (1973) 

9th Amendment: protects against certain rights becoming construed to deny or disparage others  retained.  

∙ Lawrence v. Texas (2003) - Gay Rights

Civil Rights 

*Different from civil liberties as civil rights citizens appealing to the government to protect them from  other citizens, or some aspects of the government itself. *

Equal Rights: the concept of "equal rights" poses complicated legal and policy questions.  Discrimination: the use of any unreasonable or unjust exclusion.  

The use of legal discrimination against blacks and women went on throughout history.  ∙ Scott v. Sanford(1857) 

1865-1877 Reconstruction – an effort to improve the post-bellum South

1. Congress passed the reconstruction Act  

2. Established the Freedom's Bureau

3. 13th,14th, & 15th Amendments  

13th Amendment – abolished slavery

14th Amendment- granted citizenship to all people born in the U.S. , including freed  slaves

15th Amendment- guaranteed voting rights for black men

End of Reconstruction- Reconstruction reverses  

After Reconstruction- full citizenship of blacks were shattered

∙ U.S. laissez-faire policy

∙ Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) 

Jim Crow Laws were created which caused mas mob violence, murders, lynching, & second class  citizenship.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) 

The use of separate but equal became not allowed in public education.  

De jure- means literally by law or legally enforced

De facto- means by fact , where races were still segregated even though the law didn’t require  so.  

Equality through Law 

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 – granted Hispanic Americans and farm workers migrant workers'  rights. Later on in 1924, Native Americans were granted citizenship

The Voting Rights of 1965 – allowed federal agents to oversee voter registration  

Civil Rights : Blacks and Women 

∙ Most rights were mostly limited to white males , but white women had significantly more rights  than black men and black women

∙ "Naked Rights"- white women had rights through their fathers, husbands, or trustees.  

Asian Americans 

∙ 1877- Congress declares Chinese ineligible for citizenship

∙ 1882- Chinese Exclusion Act , Japanese Internment

∙ President's Ronald Reagan and George Bush authorized reparation payments to survivors and  descendants

Disabled Americans 

∙ 1973 Rehabilitation Act – outlawed discrimination against people with disabilities ∙ Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 – guarantees equal employment, housing, health care,  etc.