American Government First Quarter Exam Review Sheet

Chapter 1

• Dictatorships are not responsible to their citizens and can not be limited by them.
• Direct democracy is practiced in some parts of the world today. Examples would be the New England town meeting and in some areas of Switzerland. It would be impossible for any government larger than a small town to function as a direct democracy
• The basic functions of any government are to
  • Maintain Social Order
  • Provide Public Services
  • Provide for National Security
  • Provide for and control the economic system
• The theories of the origin of the state are
  • Social Contract - Philosopher was John Locke - Most heavily influenced the democratic form of government
  • Force Theory - through intimidation and the use, or threat of use, of violence.
  • Evolutionary Theory - Governments formed from family units.
  • Divine Right Theory - God chose certain people to rule
• The different ways to classify governments on the basis of geography are
  • Unitary - All governmental authority is located in one place
  • Confederate - Many local governments have most of the power while the one central government has relatively little power. Often called a loose association of states
  • Federal - Many local governments have relatively little power to one central powerful government.
• Different ways to classify governments based on the number who may participate
  • Democracy - Almost everyone gets a say so in the government - human rights and freedom are important
    • Direct Democracy
    • Representative Democracy also called a republic
  • Oligarchy - All governmental power rests in the hands of a small group
  • Autocracy - All governmental power is in the hands of a single ruler - Human rights and civil liberties are not as important as the will of the ruler. The ruler has Absolute Authority
    • Dictatorship - Leadership is gained through personal power and loyalty of those you govern.
    • Monarchy - Leadership is inherited by passing it down within a family.
• Different ways to classify governments on the basis of economic system
  • Capitalism
    • Private ownership of the major means of production
    • Profit motive
  • Socialism
    • People collectively own the major means of production
    • Run for them by the government
    • People still have basic human rights and keep some private property
  • Communism
    • People collectively own the major means of production
    • Run for them by the government
    • People lack basic human rights and keep virtually no private property
      
      

Chapter 2

• The original purpose of the Philadelphia ( Constitutional ) convention was to recommend revisions to the Articles of Confederation.
• The Constitution went into effect after it was ratified by nine states.
  • Really waited for states # 10,New York, and #11, Virginia, before launching the new government.
• The group that opposed the ratification of the Constitution because it lacked a Bill of Rights and gave the federal government too much power were the anti-federalists.
• The group that wanted the Constitution ratified as it was presented to the states were the federalists.
• Some ideas that influenced the government of the American colonies are :
  • Magna Carta
  • English Bill of Rights
  • Representative Government
  • Limited Government
  • Ordered Government

Chapter 3

• Principles of the Constitution ( or American Democracy )
  • Checks and balances means that each branch can block the other two branches as a safeguard.
  • Separation of Powers - All governmental power given to the federal government by the people is split between the three branches of government.
    • Executive Branch - Enforces Laws
    • Legislative Branch - Makes Laws
    • Judicial Branch - Interprets Laws
  • Popular Sovereignty - All governmental power ultimately rests with the people.
  • Federalism - Also called the Federal System - The division of power between the federal government and the state governments.
  • Judicial Review - The federal courts have the power to declare laws and actions of government to be unconstitutional.
  • Limited Government - The government can only do what the people allow it to do. The government is not all powerful.
• The Preamble to the Constitution lists the six basic reasons for the creation of the Constitution of the United States of America.
• The Constitutional guideline for the four year presidential term is located in Article II of the Constitution.
• A written change to the Constitution is called a Formal Amendment.
• A change in the interpretation or understanding of the Constitution is called an Informal Amendment.
• The tenth Amendment to the Constitution is different from the rest of the Bill of Rights because it is not a specific right, instead it gives the states the reserved powers under the federal system.
• A 2/3 vote of both houses of congress or a 2/3 vote in a national convention is required to propose a formal amendment.
• A ¾ vote of the state legislatures or votes in conventions held in ¾ of the states is required to ratify a formal amendment.
  
  
  
  

Chapter 4

• The system of sharing power between the national and regional governments is called federalism.
• To allow prisoner transfers between basically independent states, extradition was introduced into the justice system.
• Federalism allows for national control of national matters and local control of local matters.
• The supremacy clause says that The Constitution overrules any law, federal or state ( It is the supreme law of the land ). It also says that Federal laws take precedence over state laws.

Chapters 8 and 10

• Traditionally, third parties in American politics have supported ideas that were initially unpopular or hotly debated.
• Mainstream political parties have a few main functions
  • Keep the public informed on key issues.
  • Monitor the conduct of its successful candidates in office.
  • Nominate Candidates for Office
  • Point out what the other political parties are doing wrong.
• The main difference between a political party and a pressure group is that pressure groups do not seek to control government by nominating candidates to run for public office.
• A Few national interest groups are
  • National Rifle Association (NRA)
  • American Association of Retired People (AARP)
  • United Auto Workers (UAW)
  • American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
• Some effective methods used by pressure groups are
  • Lobbying elected officials
  • Drafting Bills
  • Providing Election Support
  • Letter Writing
• Political Parties are generally concerned with the whole range of public affairs rather that just one issue.

Chapters 13-15

• The term "majority party" refers to the political party who holds the most seats in Congress.
• Congress' most important job is the consideration of bills as possible laws
• Representatives to the House of Representatives are determined on the relative population of each state.
• Two Senators are given to each state, regardless of its population.
• The Senate rejects or approves all treaties negotiated by the Executive branch.
• The President can reject proposed legislation with a veto.
• Congress can override a presidential veto with a 2/3 vote of each house.
• Congressmen themselves propose most new legislation and amendments to the Constitution.
• Being a Senator is generally considered to be more prestigious than being a member of the House of Representatives.
• Any member of Congress can sponsor and introduce a bill.
• The Congress of the United States of America is bicameral, which means it has two houses.
• Senators and Congressmen work for the people who elected them. Those people are called constituents.
• All Presidential appointments must be confirmed by the Senate.
• Senators serve six year terms
• Representatives serve two year terms
• The most common way for a bill to become law is for the President to sign it.

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