question

What is the difference between direct democracy and representative democracy?

answer

Direct: A method of political decision making in which the public business is decided by all citizens ▪ Meeting in small open assemblies ▪ Includes face-to-face deliberations Representative: Indirect democracy, in which the people rule through elected representatives

question

What are the three fundamental principles of representative democracy?

answer

-Popular sovereignty -Political equality -Political liberty

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What is the deliberative will of people?

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-One of the 6 conditions of popular sovereignty -Close correspondence between what government does and what the people want it to do. "Deliberative will" is what the people want after they have had a chance to deliberate or after some period of time.

question

How might majority tyranny threaten political liberty? What is a recent example?

answer

-James Madison thought majority rule bound to undermine freedom and threaten the rights of the individual. -Freedom of speech and assembly have been restricted Ex: McCarthyism and the "red" scare

question

What standards are typically used to measure how democratic a country is?

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The fundamental principles of representative democracy are: -Popular sovereignty -Political equality -Political liberty -Government policies reflect the wishes of the people -Government leaders are selected in Competitive Elections -Elections are Free and Fair -People Participate in the political process -High Quality Information is Available -The Majority Rules

question

How would you answer the critics of majority rule?

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-Majority rule can lead to bad outcomes. -However, no evidence that majority rule consistently any worse than outcomes of other governments. -Rule by one, or the few allows for unequal political power.

question

Identify the four categories in the authors' analytical framework.

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-Structural Level -Political Linkage Level -Government Level -Governmental Action

question

Provide examples of actors/ influences in the political linkage level.

answer

-Political parties -Interest groups -Social movements -Elections -Media

question

Define "Jim Crow."

answer

-System that prevented African-Americans from exercising full citizenship rights in the South. -Poll tax -Literacy test

question

According to Struggle for Democracy, _________ is an unfinished project.

answer

Democracy

question

The Greek root of the term democracy means_________.

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rule by the people

question

Before the eighteenth century, most political thinkers advocated rule by the___________________.

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few

question

By____________ democracy, we mean a system in which the people select others to act in their place.

answer

representative (indirect)

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_________ means that the ultimate source of all public authority in a democracy rests with the people.

answer

Popular sovereignty

question

One of the great fears concerning democratic government is that the majority will tyrannize a ________ of the population.

answer

minority

question

The nature of the U.S. economy, the population, the constitutional rules of the game, the political culture, and the place of the United States in the international system constitute the _________ in the authors analytical framework.

answer

Structural Level

question

According to Struggle for Democracy, often the most fundamental and enduring factors are at the ________ level of their analytical framework.

answer

Structural

question

What did Shay's Rebellion reveal about the national government under the Articles of Confederation?

answer

-It reinforced the fears of national leaders about the dangers of ineffective state governments And of popular democracy out of control. -Showed the need to correct flaws in our first constitution.

question

According to Struggle for Democracy, what were three main political ideas from the Declaration of Independence?

answer

-People have inalienable rights -People create government to protect these rights -If governments fails to protect these rights people can overthrow the government

question

Why was the central government ineffective under the Articles of Confederation?

answer

-Most power was lodged in the states and little in the central government. -The central government could not enforce its laws, etc. See list of defects.

question

The founders were republicans. What did republicans believe?

answer

-Government based on popular consent -Limited government with protections against tyranny -Concerns about popular democracy so put roadblocks in the path of the majority.

question

What was the general attitude of a majority of the framers toward democracy?

answer

The framers feared democracy and wrote the constitution to avoid the dangerous swings of "popular passions."

question

Briefly summarize Charles Beard's views on the Constitutional Convention and its delegates.

answer

The Framers were engaged in a conspiracy to protect their personal economic interests.

question

According to Struggle for Democracy, what issues at the Constitutional Convention evoked the greatest debate?

answer

3 Issues -- -Representation - big states wanted representation chosen by population, small states wanted equal representation -Slavery -How to select the President

question

The Connecticut Compromise was a compromise between what two other plans submitted for consideration at the Constitutional Convention?

answer

-New Jersey Plan -Virginia Plan

question

What were the Federalist Papers?

answer

-85 articles; -Written in defense of the constitution for New York newspapers, under the name of "Publius" -Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay. -Collected later and published as The Federalist Papers .

question

Why do we sometimes refer to the Constitution as "the living Constitution"?

answer

-Because it can change to meet the changing needs of the country. It can change in 3 ways - -formal amendment, -judicial interpretation; and -political practice.

question

______ was a rebellion of farmers in western Massachusetts who took up arms in 1786 to prevent courts from carrying out foreclosure proceedings

answer

Shay's Rebellion

question

"_________ laws" forbade farm foreclosures for nonpayment of debts.

answer

Stay

question

The first Constitution, which bound the states in a "loose confederation" among states, was the ____________.

answer

Articles of Confederation

question

In a __________, each state retains most of its powers and independence.

answer

Confederation

question

The delegates at the convention in Philadelphia agreed that a substantially strengthened ____________ government was needed to protect American interests in the world.

answer

central

question

The _______ Plan proposed the creation of a strong central government controlled, in the main, by the wealthiest and most populous states.

answer

Virginia

question

The set of proposals to the Constitutional Convention calling for a unicameral legislature in which each state would have one vote, regardless of population size, was known as the _______.

answer

New Jersey

question

The _________Compromise, or Great Compromise, basically gave us the form of legislative government used in the United States.

answer

Connecticut

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For purposes of determining how many representatives a state was entitled to in the House of Representatives, slave states got to count _________ of all slaves.

answer

3/5ths

question

The Framers finally agreed that the President would be elected by __________.

answer

an Electoral College

question

The Constitution, federal laws, and treaties are given precedence over state laws in the _________ clause in Article VI, Section 2, of the Constitution.

answer

Supremacy

question

Each branch of government has power, but none is able to exercise all of its powers on its own. This feature of American government is known as _________.

answer

Checks and Balances

question

Article VII provides that the Constitution will be established when ratified by _______ state conventions.

answer

nine

question

_________ were a series of newspaper articles written in defense of the Constitution by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.

answer

The Federalist Papers

question

People like Patrick Henry and George Mason, who opposed the Constitution, were called ____________.

answer

Anti-Federalists

question

Freedom of assembly is guaranteed in the ________ amendment.

answer

First

question

Prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures is found in the _____ Amendment.

answer

Fourth

question

According to the authors of Struggle for Democracy, the U.S. Constitution can be considered one of the major _____________ factors that has influenced the evolution of American government.

answer

Structural

question

How is federal system different than confederation?

answer

Federal: Significant government powers divided between a central government and smaller units, such as states. Confederation: A loose association of states formed for a common purpose. States retain ultimate authority.

question

Why are some nations more likely than others to have federal systems?

answer

-Most federal systems are found in nations that are geographically large, and that have regions that differ in religion, ethnicity, language or economic activity

question

Countries, cities, towns, and special districts are legal creations of ______ governments.

answer

State

question

The division of ____ between the national government and the states is what we call federalism.

answer

Power

question

In a unitary system, all power resides in the ___________ government.

answer

central

question

The present-day United Nations is an example of a ________ system of government.

answer

Confederate

question

What is the "reservation clause"?

answer

-The tenth amendment to the Constitution, -Declares powers not delegated to the national government by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states or people.

question

The "reservation clause" in the Tenth Amendment reserves power to the ______ or the _______.

answer

-States -People

question

The constitution can be amended only when the legislatures or conventions in ____ of the states ratify an amendment.

answer

Three-quarters of the states

question

An old, simple metaphor for federalism is that of a ________ cake, in which the federal government and state government act in their own spheres of authority, and occasionally fight with one another.

answer

layer

question

One crucial question about federalism in the early years of the United States concerned who, if anyone, would enforce the ________ Clause.

answer

Supremacy

question

The constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was based upon the national power to regulate _______ .

answer

Interstate Commerce

question

In the court case _____ , the Supreme Court first acted to hold a state law unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution.

answer

Fletcher v. Peck

question

Justice Marshall's broad reading of national power in the case of ________ paved the way for expansion of national power.

answer

McCulloch v. Maryland

question

The _______ clause of the Fourteenth Amendment eventually became the vehicle by which the Supreme Court ruled that many civil liberties in the Bill of Rights were also protected against the states.

answer

Due Process

question

The _____________ Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment eventually became the foundation for protecting the rights of blacks, women, and other categories of people against discrimination.

answer

Equal Protection

question

How do categorical grants differ from block grants?

answer

Categorical Grants: Federal aid to states and locations clearly specifying what the money can be used for. Block Grants: Federal grants to the states to be used for general activities. Have less strict rules governing how the states and local governments use the money.

question

How is a mandate different from a condition on aid?

answer

Mandate: A formal order from the national government that the states carry out certain policies. Can be completely separate from grant money. Condition: Provisions in federal assistance requiring that states and local governments follow certain policies in order to obtain federal funds.

question

The doctrine known as _____ asserts that states are excluded from acting in certain areas where they might interfere with federal statutes or authority.

answer

preemption

question

_____ grants do not allow sub-national governments much discretion in how grant funds can be used.

answer

categorical

question

Revenue sharing was ended in the late 19_____ .

answer

1980's (1987)

question

Congress regulated new "unfunded mandates" during the 19___.

answer

-1990s -1994 - Contract with America

question

When the federal government demands that states carry out certain policies, like civil rights or environmental protection, even if little or no aid is offered, it is imposing a _______.

answer

Mandate

question

The oldest and most important argument in favor of federalism is that, in a large and _________ country, needs and wants and conditions differ from one place to another.

answer

diverse

question

An argument against federalism asserts that diversity and experimentation among the states creates spillover and _______.

answer

competition

question

Describe some of the important waves of immigration into the United States.

answer

-Catholic immigrants from Germany and Ireland arrived in the 1840s and 1850s. -Then many Chinese came to the West Coast in the 1870s. -At the turn of the century, millions of Southern and Eastern Europeans settled in the U.S. -Finally, many immigrants have come to the U.S. in the last two decades from Asia and Latin America.

question

What are some of the major ramifications of the shift in location of the population from rural areas to cities and from cities to suburbs?

answer

-The continued drain of population from rural areas has sapped the vitality of small-town life and diminished the power of the rural voice in state and national politics. -Suburbs have become the stronghold of conservatism and Republicans. -Cities of Democrats. -Cities find it more difficult to provide high levels of public service

question

How does the U.S. compare with other industrialized countries on inequality and poverty?

answer

-Inequality of income and wealth has always been higher in U.S. than other industrialized countries. -Also poverty is higher than in other countries

question

What is meant by the phrase the "angry middle class"?

answer

-Figures on declining wages and salaries among all Americans without advanced degrees, as well as among workers in manufacturing, imply that the middle class is finding it ever more difficult to participate in what many have called the "American dream."

question

Who are America's poor?

answer

-Poverty is concentrated among racial minorities -Female-headed households; and -Children

question

In what way is "free enterprise" part of the American political culture?

answer

Americans tend to support the basic precepts of free enterprise capitalism: -private property and -the inefficiencies of the free market.

question

______ reactions were nineteenth-century, anti-immigration movements.

answer

Nativist

question

Central-city dwellers are more likely to vote for a candidate of the _____ party.

answer

Democratic

question

People who live in the "Sun Belt" are more likely to vote for a candidate of the _____ party.

answer

Republican

question

The U.S. population has steadily moved _____ and South.

answer

West

question

Americans are among the richest people in the world on a ____ basis.

answer

Per Capita

question

Between 1973 and 1993, median family income ____ .

answer

hardly changed at all

question

Beginning in the mid-1990s, the number of people below the_____ line began to fall.

answer

Poverty

question

_____ inequality is high in the United States compared to other Western democratic nations.

answer

wealth or income

question

Among Americans, _____ is even more unequally distributed than income.

answer

wealth

question

According to the authors, ____ equality in America is affected by material inequality.

answer

Political

question

Economic power is almost always related in one way or another to social and/or_____ power.

answer

Political

question

The United States is undergoing a relative ___ from its lofty position as the world's preeminent economic power.

answer

Decline

question

Fundamental beliefs that have political consequences make up the American political ______ .

answer

Culture

question

The philosophy of _____ government means that government should be restricted in its power and responsibility.

answer

Limited

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