Study Sheet for Test 1
Chapter 1--American Government and Civic Engagement
1.1 What is Government?
Definition of a Government
Democracy
Oligarchy
Private Goods
Public Goods
Toll Good
Common Goods
**Tragedy of the Commons**
**Collective Action Problem**
Different Types of Government
Political Power
Representative Democracy
Majority Rule
Minority Rights
Direct Democracy
Monarchy
Totalitarian
**Authoritarian**
1.2 Who Governs?
Elitism v. Pluralism
Elite Theory
Pluralist Theory
C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite
**E. E. Schattschneider, The Semisovereign People**
Robert Dahl, Who Governs
Tradeoffs Perspective (**I think this is a copout section--only works if you accept the premises of elite theory)
1.3 Engagement in a Democracy
Why Get Involved?
Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone
Social Capital
Civic Engagement and Activism
Pathways to Engagement
Contacting representatives
Voting
Donating money
Volunteering for the Community
Marches and Protests
Factors of Engagement
Age
Partisanship
Relevance
Ideology
Latent v. Intense Preferences
Chapter 2--The Constitution and Its Origins
2.1 Pre-Revolutionary Period
Political Thought in the American Colonies
John Locke, Second Treatise
Natural Rights--State of Nature
Social Contract
Consent of the Governed
American Revolution
End of Benign Neglect
Objection to Taxation
Boston Tea Party
Intolerable (Coercive) Acts
Declaration of Independence
2.2 The Articles of Confederation
Putting a New Government in Place
Articles of Confederation
Relinquishment of Land Claims
Confederation
What Went Wrong with the Articles?
National Government Must Request Money
Fiscal Crisis
Worthless Continental Dollar
Inability to Borrow Money
No Ability to Put Tariffs on Foreign Goods
States Putting Tariffs on One Another
No Standing Army or Navy
Shays's Rebellion
2.3 Development of the Constitution
Points of Contention
Small States v. Large States
Bicameral v. Unicameral Legislature
Virgina Plan v. New Jersey Plan
Slavery v. Freedom
Federal Supremacy v. State Sovereignty
Individual Liberty v. Social Stability (Freedom v. Order)
Compromise and the Constitutional Design of American Government
The Great (Connecticut) Compromise
Senate with equal representation for all states
House of Representatives dominated by the large states
Three-Fifths Compromise
**Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise**
Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Federal Power v. State Power
Enumerated Powers
**Implied Powers**
Reserved Powers
The Supremacy Clause
Necessary and Proper ("Elastic") Clause
2.4 Ratification of the Constitution
The Ratification Process
Article VII
Bypassing of State Legislatures with Ratifying Conventions
Too Much Power to Tax?
Scary Federal Judiciary?
No Bill of Rights
The Ratification Campaign
Federalists v. Antifederalists
Arguments about the benefits and drawbacks of a strong central government
Essays and Pamphlets
The Federalist Papers
Federalist 51
Federalist 35
Federalist 10
Federalist 68 and 70
2.5 Constitutional Change
The Amendment Process
Proposal
1. By 2/3 of both houses of Congress
2. By a nations convention called by Congress due to a petition from 2/3 of state legislatures
Ratification
1. By 3/4 of state legislatures
2. By 3/4 of specially convened state Ratifying Conventions
The Bill of Rights
Key Constitutional Changes
**Memorize the Preamble**
**Know all seven articles**
**Know all 27 amendments**
Chapter 3--American Federalism
3.1 Division of Powers
Federalism Defined and Contrasted
Two Levels of Government
Written national constitution that can't be changed without assent of the states
Each with its own semiautonomous government
Some degree of interaction
Federal courts to resolve disputes
States represented in upper house
Unitary v. Federal v. Confederal Systems
Devolution
Federalism and the Constitution
The Elastic (Necessary and Proper) Clause
10th Amendment
Concurrent Powers
Denied Powers
Mostly can't suspend Habeas Corpus
No Bills of Attainder
No ex post facto laws
Interstate Relations
**Interstate Compacts**
Full Faith and Credit Clause (Comity)
Federal Defense of Marriage Law (DOMA)
United States v. Windsor (2014)
Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
Privileges and Immunities Clause
Distribution of Finances
3.2 Evolution of American Federalism
Struggle Between National and State Power
Bank Wars
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
"The power to tax in is the power to destroy"
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
Expansive definition of "interstate commerce"
The Sedition Act
Virginia and Kentucky Resolves
Nullification and the Nullification Crisis
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Dual Federalism
"Layer Cake" Federalism
Industrialization
Trusts
Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890
United States v. E. C. Knight (1895)
Lochner v. New York (1905)
Cooperative Federalism
"Marble Cake" Federalism
FDR and the New Deal
Court packing, "switch in time"
NLRB v. Jones and Laughlin Steel (1937)
**Wickard v. Fillburn (1942)**
LBJ and the Great Society
Nationalization of Poltics
New Federalism
General Revenue Sharing
United States v. Lopez (1995)
Has the pendulum swung back?
Creation of the Department of Homeland Security
No Child Left Behind
Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
3.3 Intergovernmental Relationships
Grants
Categorical Grants
Block Grants
Popularity of Categorical Grants
"Devolution Revolutions"
Conversion of AFDC to TANF
"Creeping Categorization"
Unfunded Mandates
Crosscutting
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (1995)
3.4 Competitive Federalism Today
Contending Issues
Immigration federalism
Arizona v. United States (2012)
DOMA (see above)
Strategizing About New Issues
National Minimum Drinking Age Act
Venue Shopping
Anti-abortion (pro-life) efforts
3.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Federalism
The Benefits of Federalism
Policy Innovation--"Laboratories of Democracy"
Two levels means backups and backstops
State and Local Latitude
Drawbacks of Federalism
"Race-to-the-Bottom" Dynamic
Huge economic disparities
**Redundancy and administrative Sprawl**
NOTE: Double asterisks indicate items not covered in the text that I still want you to know.