AP GOV

• Participatory democracy


  Stresses the ability of the individual to impact political system
• Pluralist democracy


  Stresses the ability of a group action to impact the political system
• Elite democracy


  Stresses the ability of the most educated and wealthy to sustainly impact the political system
• The Enlightenment impacted the development of the American government by placing less emphasis on tradition and more on reason
• Political culture


  Shared attitudes, beliefs, values, ethics which influence thoughts politically
• Essential elements of American political culture


  • Natural rights
  • Popular sovereignty
  • Republicanism (Rules supposed to serve for people)
  • Individualism
  • Distrust
  • American exceptionalism
• Liberal political ideology


  More government involvement on the economic freedom, Less Government involvement on the personal freedom
• Conservative political ideology


  Less Government involvement on the economic freedom, More Gov involvement on the personal freedom
• Libertarian political ideology


  Greater economic freedom, More personal freedom, Less gov involvement in total
• Political socialization


  Process by which an individual acquires their political thoughts and beliefs
• Influential factors on political socialization


  • Family
  • Media
  • Peers
• Articles of Confederation


  • Weak National Gov: All separate state govs (No leader)
  • No national court, unicameral congress, each state had own money, weak military
• The Declaration of Independence reflects the ideas of natural rights and consent of the governed, meaning people can control the government and how it works
• The Declaration of Independence was influenced by John Locke's Social Contract theory, where the obligation to obey civil government was conditional upon the protection of the natural rights of each person, including the right to private property
• Virginia Plan


  Each house would be based on population. Large states get more reps.
• New Jersey Plan


  Each state would have one vote. Small states would have no disadvantage.
• Great Compromise


  Bicameral system: House of Reps based on population. Senate composed of 2 senators per state.
• The current process of adding an amendment to the Constitution involves multiple steps and approvals
• Federalist 10 argues that democracy will work in a larger geographic area because it can control the effects of factions
• Brutus 1 argues that the government created by the Constitution is dangerous because in a big country people cannot connect
• Federalist 51 argues that the design of the Constitution, with its system of checks and balances, will prevent the abuse of power because men aren't angels
• Unitary government


  National gov dominates, local governments are very weak
• Confederate government


  National Gov is weak, state/local govs dominate
• Federalist government


  Power distributed between the national government and state governments
• Types of government powers


  • Enumerated powers (national gov)
  • Reserved powers (state gov)
  • Concurrent powers (shared)
• The necessary & proper clause undermined the 10th amendment by giving the national government more power and weakening the states
• McCulloch v. Maryland increased federal power by ruling that the national government had the authority to establish a national bank, even though it was not explicitly listed in the Constitution
• US v. Lopez limited federal power by ruling that the Gun Free School Zones Act was unconstitutional because it exceeded the federal government's authority under the Commerce Clause
• Ex post facto laws


  Laws used to punish people for something they did at the time was legal but now illegal
• Bills of attainder


  Laws passed by congress that declare person / group guilty
• The Supremacy Clause gives the national government more power by allowing federal law to override state law when there are conflicts
• Clauses impacting state interactions


  • Full Faith & Credit Clause
  • Privileges & Immunities Clause
  • Extradition Clause
• The national government uses grants to influence the states by shaping policies and programs that they cannot control themselves, but use the states to control them
• Block grant


  Money given to states to spend on their own decision - states have more power
• Categorical grant


  Money given to states to spend on specific issue - national gov has more power
• Unfunded mandates, like the Americans with Disabilities Act, give the national government more power by requiring states to enforce new regulations without providing funding
• Devolution is the transfer of power from the national government back to the states, which is typically supported by the Republican party for greater state power
• The 16th Amendment allowing the federal government to collect income tax and the 17th Amendment providing for the direct election of Senators both increased the power of the national government relative to the states
• Exit poll


  Sampling citizens opinions after voting
• Politicians and the media increasingly rely on polls because they provide a quick and easy way to figure out what people want and how to allocate resources during a campaign