First Quarter Review American Government

Types and Forms of Gov’t Democracy (direct and indirect) Non-Democracy (dictatorships, theocracy, communism, etc. How are leaders chosen? Forms: Unitary Confederate Federal How is power distributed?

Dictatorship People are controlled by force or threats One leader or a small group of leaders Also: totalitarian, authoritarian, absolute power, tyranny NOT: participation, equal, individual rights, representative, democracy, liberty

Democracy The people participate in government Direct: the people make the decisions themselves Indirect: the people vote for leaders who make the decisions Most democracies (ours included) are INDIRECT.

FEDERAL Also: federalism, anti-federal Power of government is divided and shared between national, state, and local levels NOT: confederate, unitary

Confederate Power is SPREAD OUT among states. Each is SOVEREIGN. It has complete control inside its own borders. The South during the Civil War called itself the “Confederacy.” They believed each state should be able to make its own laws without DC telling it what to do. The laws they were worried about concerned slavery.

Unitary Power is CONCENTRATED in one government that controls the whole country. There might be local governments, but they are much weaker. They take directions from the national gov’t.

Purposes of Gov’t Stated in the Preamble to the Constitution We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Principles of Gov’t A principle is a basic idea, a foundation 1. Limited government 2. Majority rule 3. Separation of powers 4. Checks and balances 5. Consent of the governed 6. Republicanism/representative democracy 7. Rule of law 8. Equality of opportunity 9. Individual rights and responsibilities 10.Federalism 11.Judicial review

Limited Government Gov’t is limited by a set of rules Our Constitution limits gov’t in many ways: Can’t pass laws making criticism illegal (freedoms of speech, press) Officials must be elected, can’t stay in office forever (term limits)

Majority Rule A small group can’t control the gov’t Majority= 50% +1 Large group makes decisions, like who to elect President, which laws to pass in Congress

Separation of Power Idea that the branches of government share power separately; no one can get too powerful President, Congress, and Court all have their own jobs Also: checks and balances (veto, confirming, ratifying, judicial review) EX: Bush wanted to fight Iraq, had to ask Congress for the money ($87 billion)

Checks And Balances Related to separation of power Means that each branch has a “check” blocking some power of the other branch President: veto laws Congress: “power of the purse (the money), reject appointments Supreme Court: judicial review of laws, lifetime terms

Consent of the Governed Officials need agreement from the people they work for They get elected Sometimes they can get un-elected (recall) Power comes from the agreement. If the agreement goes away, so does the power; a new person gets elected

Republican/Representative Democracy Not everyone gets to make gov’t decisions, new laws That would be DIRECT democracy Everyone gets to VOTE on leaders, The LEADERS make the important decisions

Rule of Law Laws are more important than people Even the most important people (the President, Congress, Supreme Court) are not allowed to break laws

Equality of Opportunity Older: Gov’t can’t use power to make unequal opportunities Modern: Gov’t must use its power to create more equal opportunities

Individual Rights and Responsibilities Gov’t can never overpower a few specific individual rights With those rights come responsibilities: if you vote, you might have to serve on a jury; Individuals have freedom of speech, but must be responsible not to threaten or lie

Federalism The national government is in charge There are state gov’ts sharing some powers: Taxes Making laws Also, local gov’ts share powers, esp. taxes

Judicial Review Judges (usually the Supreme Court) get to review laws to decide if they fit under the Constitution

Due Process Legal (court) procedures—the process that gov’t MUST use, especially where a citizen might lose some freedom

Some words I saw on the test . . . Justice: fairness, esp. in court (“under the law”) tranquility: peace, order Sovereignty: complete control over your own land Parliament: elected group of lawmakers (like Congress).

Debate: argument with rules Criticism: point out strengths and weaknesses, (especially of a gov’t) Absolute: complete, total Uninformed: not having important info

Domestic: in the US; opposite of foreign, or outside the US Constituent: person represented by a leader in Congress Constituency: all the people represented by one Congressman (or woman) International: outside the US, also foreign Constitution: a written document setting out the “rules” for a gov’t

Indispensable: too important to do without Guarantee: promise that can’t be broken Nullification: cancel, stop Geography: physical characteristics of a place

Unanimous: getting 100% of the votes Unconstitutional: against the “rules” of gov’t Foreign policy: gov’t dealings with other countries Principle: basic idea Oligarchy: small group rule

Judicial: concerning judges, deciding whether laws are OK Congressional: concerning Congress, making laws Oversight: watching over something (usually to make sure $$ is spent well) Executive: concerning presidents or other leader who Enforce laws Executive privilege: keeping president’s decision process secret

Multiple Choice Read each answer!!!!! There are only 20 questions. Try to eliminate the ones that are clearly wrong Double check scantron to make sure numbering agrees

Final Words of Wisdom Stay relaxed; move on through things you don’t know . . . find things you do! If you’ve NEVER heard of it, it’s probably NOT the right answer. Don’t worry . . . it’s only 10% of your grade. Answer everything so you take every possible chance to get points.