POS1041 American Gov Exam 2 Study Guide PDF

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C. Weissart POS1041 exam 2 study guide...

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Us Gov & Constitution  Sept 17, 1787 is when the constitution was written  Pre Existing Conditions o Founding fathers had experience with self-government, the colonies were governed by themselves o First representative assembly in 1620 to start thinking and governing themselves o First continental congress was in 1774; they came together to form a union o Second continental congress in 1775; they made the declaration of independence o Attitudes: distrust of monarchy/strong central gov, dislike of taxes, valued private property because they quartered british troops  Declaration of Independence o Written in second constitutional congress o Values –  All people are created equal  Endowed with rights that cannot be taken away  Rights include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness  People form government to protect these rights  Government derive their power from consent of governed o John Locke developed the notion of compact {agreement between government and people}; people contract with each other to secure safety and freedom  Second Part of the Declaration o Contains 27 grievances  10 grievances were about representation (people felt they weren’t a part of the decision process)  5 were about the standing army (didn’t like soldiers standing in towns)  6 about loss of independent court  17 were about taxes  Confederation – highly decentralized governmental system in which national gov derives limited authority form states rather than directly from citizens. Didn’t want a strong national government, so the states had main authority. States came together to make decisions  Articles of Confederation – were not successful, in effect from 1777 to 1789 o States are key actors o No national revenue source – had to go state to state asking for money o Nine states’ support needed for any action and unanimous support for important decisions o No chief executive o No judicial branch, only one house o Every state had a vote o No punishment for inaction  Shays’ Rebellion {1786 in MA}– revolutionary war veterans were unhappy with courts and MA not funding veterans the way they said they would, so they rebelled to get what they wanted. MA asked for help, no one would help, and there was no national gov to rely on for help. Showed the weakness of confederation

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Annapolis Convention {1786} – needed to come together to figure things out, but only 5 states sent reps to show up. Showed the problem with confederation Philadelphia Convention {May-Sept 1787} – 12 states showed up (not Rhode Island). James Madison was the “father” of constitution, took notes everyday and rewrote them at night. Madison came to the constitution with a plan and made this possible by going to George Washington. Told people they would come and amend the articles of confederation, then once people came told them they were gonna write a new one The Virginia Plan – o Representation in legislature based on population – every state having one vote wasn’t fair o Three branches of government (legislature, executive, judiciary) o Two legislative chambers – so that they can balance each other o Changing the constitution could only be done by ratification by the people o President should be elected by legislature – he didn’t win this one o Legislature could also veto state laws o Council of revision could veto legislation Key General Issues – o Representation – large state/small state, should larger states have more power? Big states wanted representation by population, small states didn’t o Slavery – southern vs northern o Power – limiting power of one branch/government Four Major Principles – republicanism, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism o Checks and balances – wanted to make sure no branches were more powerful than others o Federalism – states have their own rights and constitutions but also a strong federal national government Checks and Balances o Congress – balanced by veto and judicial review, congress was viewed as most important o Executive – balanced by legislation and judicial review o Judiciary – balance by congressional responsibility for creating courts and senate confirming judges; president nominates justices and judges Compromises: o Small state/large states – we have senate o Slaves representation – slaves would count, but not fully o Election of president – electoral college Design of congress o Population of state – Virginia Plan (VA was biggest state) o Each state represented – New Jersey Plan Slavery o 3/5 compromise, slaves count for 3/5 of a person o Slave trade permitted for 20 years o Req that runaway slaves would be returned to owners o Did not deal with problem

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Selecting the President o Options – congress can pick, popular election (whoever has most votes wins) each state gets one vote o Compromise – electoral college balanced by population Final Design – o Three branches of government o House members popularly elected o Senators appointed by state legistatures o House 2 year terms; senate 6 year terms o Taxes passed and spent by congress Amendment Process o 2/3 vote of House and Senate o Vote of ¾ state legislatures o States can call a constitutional convention (but never have) o Very hard to amend constitution Ratification of Constitution o Each state constitutional convention – wanted people to talk about it o Would be successful with 9 states o Two big issues – bill of rights and power of the national government...