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What two attributes allow government to function?
- Means of coercion(force)
- Collective revenue(taxes)
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What does government do?
- Maintain order
- Provide goods/services
- Protect property
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What is government?
A set of institutions that rule a land and it's people.
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What is politics?
- Who gets what/when/how
- Conflicts/struggles/actions to influence decisions/resources/etc.
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Direct democracy
- All citizens decide on public business in small assemblies
- Found in small societies
- Has an assembly and council
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Representative democracy
Indirect democracy in which the people rule through elected officials
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Benchmarks of Rep. democracy
- Popular sovereignty- ppl are source of gov. authority
- Political Equality- everyone is treated equal(civil rights)
- Political Liberty- ppl have the right to freedoms(social contract-gov. is the result of an agreement among the ppl)
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Key issues in Dec. of Ind.
- All men are created equal
- Gov. gets pwr from the ppl
- If gov. fails, the ppl have the right to set up another one
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Who wrote the Dec. of Ind.?
- Thomas Jefferson
- Influenced by John Locke's ideas of life, liberty, and property
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The Articles of Confederation problems
- National government could not finance activities
- Had a very weak central government
- States has most pwr
- States could impose taxes on goods from other states
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Shay's Rebellion
- Led by Daniel Shay
- Went to prevent the courts from working
- Farmers has unpaid taxes and their farms were going to be taken away
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"Who Were the Framers?"
- Wealthy bankers, lawyers, merchants, plantation owners
- Well educated- used western philosophy and political science(quote Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Montisque)
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Historian Charles Beard
- Wrote An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution(1913)
- Constitution is a conspiracy to protect their immediate and personal economic interests
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Virginia Plan
A proposal by the larger states to be represented based on population.
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New Jersey Plan
A proposal by the smaller states to be represented with an equal number of representatives from each state.
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Connecticut Compromise
- Know as the Great Compromise
- Has 2 chambers
- The House of Representatives=435 (based on pop.)
- The Senate=2 each state (=reps)
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Article 1
- Legislature
- Explains how people would be elected (Congress, H of R, Senate)
- Make laws
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Article 2
- Executive
- The President
- Of lower importance
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Article 3
- Judicial
- Supreme Court
- If a law is unconstitutional
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Supremacy Clause
- Article VI
- Laws and treaties of the National Government are the supreme law and take precedent over state constitutions
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Elastic Clause
- Article 1 section 8
- Congress can make laws that are necessary and proper to carry out its enumerated responsibilities.
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The Bill of Rights
- The first ten amendments to the Constitution
- In order to be ratified, the Bill of Rights was made at the first Congress
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First Amendment
The freedom of speech, religion, press, assemble, and petition
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Second Amendment
- The right to bear arms
- A controversial topic
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Fourth Amendment
Right against unreasonable searches and seizures
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Fifth Amendment
- Criminal proceedings
- Due process
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Sixth Amendment
Right to a speedy, public, and impartial trial.
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Seperation of Powers
- Madisonian Model
- Distribution of government btwn the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
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Checks and Balances
Each branch has the pwr to hinder the actions of the other branches as a way to prevent tyranny
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18th Century Republicanism
- Rule by ppl is indirect through multiple layers of reps.
- Term "ppl" is narrowly defined
- Office holding=only privileged
- Government is limited
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Federalist Papers
- Alexander Hamilton
- James Madison- #10- Repub. over direct democracy
- #51- checks & balances/different branches
- John Jay
- What the framer's were doing and why:Human nature=selfishan argument in favor of a Republic
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McCullock vs. Maryland (1819)
- Maryland imposed a tax on Bank of U.S.
- Law was unconstitutional
- Justice Marshall gave a broad reading of the necessary and proper clause
- This led to the expansion of what the national government could do
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