Government Quarter 1 Country Assessment Review:

Abby Kim, HUM II. October 30th, 2012. Forms of Government: Geographical Distribution of Power: how much power concentrated in central/subunits o Unitary: Centralized government all power held by one single central agency. Local governments (ie. City councils) exist, but power is granted by the central gov. and can be changed by central gov. Can be democratic (with central gov. being congress or parliament) or may be dictatorial. Basically, sub-governments are executive units, and power is at the national level. o Federal: power is shared between central/subunits. Some power exclusive to each level. The division of power is fixed and cannot be changed without consent from both the central and local governments. o Confederation: alliance of independent states, power in subdivisions, central government for cooperation (military, economy) o Organization/division of Executive/Legislature Presidential System: independence of function/bodies (Exec/Leg), president is independently elected by popular election, president cant be in Legislature, and holds office for a fixed term; has broad power and cant be controlled by legislative branch. Two branches are independent of one another and coequal. The two branches have powers which can check, or restrain, the other. Parliamentary System: bodies/functions directly tied together, Prime minister is indirectly elected: elect parliament, parliament elects prime minister. Lead to multi-party systems (no two party system). The executive (Prime Minister) is a member of the legislative branch, or parliament. Subject to legislatures direct control b/c he is elected of and through the parliament. The Prime Minister remains in office only as long as they have the confidence of a majority. Should the Prime Minister receive a vote of no confidence, then they must resign. Parliament would then choose another Prime Minister or hold a general election for all seat of Parliament before doing so. A majority of the worlds state use this government system. In Great Britian: Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democratic o Coalition: two parties together make majority Mixed: president and prime minister (Russia), one has power over domestic, one has power over foreign policy Level of Democracy: o Authoritarian: all power is held by government: dictator/oligarchy (benevolent does not try to involve itself in all aspects of life) o Totalitarian: government tries to involve itself in all aspects of life o Procedural Democracy: democratic, no true competition o Consolidated Democracy: political competition, majority rule/minority rights, open fair-contested elections, civil liberties/protection o Monarchy: when the ruler ascends to the throne via heredity o Direct Democracy: people participate directly in government o Representative Democracy: people elect representatives who share their beliefs o Anarchy: Absence of government and absolute freedom of the individual, regarded as a
political ideal.

Government Quarter 1 Country Assessment Review:

Abby Kim, HUM II. October 30th, 2012. John Locke: Two Treatises on Government o Refute divine right o State of nature (hypothetical situation where man exists, but the institutions of society/gov. dont) = everyone is born equal and free. No laws because people are reasonable to not hurt each other. No known and indifferent judge. No enforcements of laws/rules Reason=the law of nature, no judge, no way to enforce things, no established law o Social Contract=to preserve lives, liberties, and property governed must give up natural liberty (unrestrained actions) for civil liberty (ordered laws) o State of nature is not secure, full of fears and dangers they must consent to leave the state of nature o Everyone agrees to give up freedom and power and bow to authority, people will judge=majority rule o Secure protection of rights under civil liberty o People can rebel if government is not as it should be, they have the right to institute a new government

Thomas Jefferson: wrote the declaration of independence English Bill of Rights: Terms: o No royal interference with law. King cannot be Supreme Judge/avoid law o No religious courts o No tax w/o rep. / consent of Parliament o Right to petition the king o No standing army in peace (without consent of Parliament) o Protestants can have arms o Free/fair elections no interference in election of members of Parliament o Free speech in parliament o No cruel and unusual punishments/excessive bail o Jurors are peers, are constantly cycled, and arent prejudiced in decisions o Due process o Frequent parliaments must be held

Declaration of Independence: - idea proposed by Richard Henry Lee; adopted July 4th, 1776 Lists philosophy behind doc., evidence (like file for divorce)/lists grievances against king No reference TO king/British uses us and our maybe for colonists o But also may be for the British people by isolating arguments against the king, maybe win over the British people buttering up complimentary

Government Quarter 1 Country Assessment Review:

Abby Kim, HUM II. October 30th, 2012. The tone becomes more emotional/severe from more formal/not as important to more commonly known/violent things o Brilliance of philosophy/ Jefferson can connect to many groups of people o Give the world an explanation for actions Colonists, British people, British government In reality directed toward everyone; to colonists to explain why they want to revolt; to the British to explain their reasons for seceding; to the British monarch as a big middle finger; to France to show why they should support the revolt (b/c the French don't like the British either); to the world to say why we feel like making a new country and why everyone should acknowledge the US as an independent entity

Equality of Opportunity (pertaining to the economy): American belief that if you work hard, you MUST succeed- Protestant Work Ethic i think? ex: public schools provide equal oppurtunity Separation of Powers: each branch has specific jobs Checks and Balances: each branch has powers over the other branches Judicial Review: legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the Supreme Court to make sure that such actions do not violate the Constitution- NOT DIRECTLY STATED IN CONSTITUTION, SOME CASE SSET A PRECEDENT I DONT REMEMBER WHICH Limited Government: "combat ambition with ambition;" asserted by the Federalist papers that the branches of government must be independent of each other and resist temptations Popular Sovereignty: idea that political power is comprised of the will of the people; legitimacy of the state comes from the consent of the people, and this idea is found in Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke Rule of Law: The king can't do whatever he wants. Even he must bow to the rule of law. Articles of Confederation: Challenges: o Colonies saw themselves as distinct entities as each was chartered individually o Making sure America was strong enough in areas such as defence _ economics (areas of common concerns) without giving the central government excessive power/overruling states rights doomed to fail 16 months to draft, 5 years to ratify National government doesnt have power to enforce Unicameral legislature 9/13 states needed to agree to create a law, but 13/13 to modify articles nearly impossible to do anything Congress: coin money, military, foreign relations NO executive branch: comities for executive duties/issues

Government Quarter 1 Country Assessment Review:

Abby Kim, HUM II. October 30th, 2012. States enforce law nothing gets enforced National government cannot regulate trade within the states No supreme court This is what the government can do, no power to do said things Issues (from case studies): unanimous consent, national government cant tax, national government cant enforce, national government could not ban states from printing money

Shays Rebellion: Uprising in western Massachusetts during the winter of 1787 and 1787. Soldier comes back from war, borrows lots of money foreclosures soldiers mad at bankers, lawyers and judges Seize courthouse and wait for something to happen National/state government cant do anything March to seize armory, militia meets them Then get scared

Constitutional Convention: Key disputes and solutions: o Addition of new states (Western territory): Article IV, Section 3: Admission of New States- New states can be admitted but cannot be formed/broken off from other states, no states can combine to make a new state without national consent, Congress has the power to regulate states. o Regulation of currency: Article I, Section 8: Powers Delegated to CongressCongress has power to coin money and regulate the value of foregin coin. o Executive composition/selection: Article II, Section 1: Composition- The executive power is given to the president. Article II, Sections 2,3: SelectionChosen by election. The number of electives are chosen by state, and the electives themselves are chosen from 2 houses. The number from each state depends on number of representative states. Electors vote for president, and the president is selected to by popular vote. o War powers: Article I, Section 8 & Article II, Section 2: Powers Delegated to Congress- the president is the commander of the army, but Congress holds the power to declare war, raise and support armies, provide and maintain a Navy, and military regulation. Congress also has the job to provide for the organization, arming, and discipling of the Militia. o Judicial structure/selection: Article III, Section 1: Structure/Organization- one Supreme Court with many inferior courts, judges. Article II, Section 2: Selection- Judges are nominated and appointed by president and approved by the Senate. o Ratification: Article VII: Ratification- (for the Constitution) 9/13 of the states must consent to ratify the Constitution. Delegates vote at the convention.

Government Quarter 1 Country Assessment Review:

Abby Kim, HUM II. October 30th, 2012. o Amending the constitution: Article V- when 2/3 of both houses decide that amendments are needed, will propose amendments to the Constitution and call a convention for the amendments. Another less common method is 2/3 of the state legislature proposing amendments. 3/4 of the state legislature or the state ratifying convention (less common) must agree to pass the amendment. o Veto power over congress: Article I, Section 3- The President can veto and pass bills, but 2/3 majority against the veto can repeal the President's decisions. Overiding a veto means that 2/3 of each house must be against the President's veto. The president's veto was meant to be used only against unconstitutional bills, but Andrew Jackson used the veto against disliked policies. This lead to presidents using the veto not only against unconstitutional bills, but also against disliked policies.

The Great Compromise: Lower house: House of Representatives (1 for 40,000 free residents), elected by popular vote Upper house: Senate, state legislature appoints, 2 per state Committee meets during the July 4th holiday (1 from each state): resolve representation issue Preamble: summarizes the goals of the Constitution. ~We the people, in order to form a more perfect union, etc.... Full Faith and Credit: every state must recognize the legal proceedings of other states Article 2 section 2: extradition: fugitive cannot flee state for justice (cooperation in returning fugitives) Bill of Rights: insisted on by the Antifederalists who were afraid that individual/minority rights would not be protected. Federalists and Anti-Federalists: Federalists: coherent o Federalist papers: 1st published individually in NY newspapers o 85 originally o By Publius (Alexander Hamilton , James Madison 1/3, John Jay <1/6) #10: biggest threat to orderly government is factions Share a common interest adverse to others interests Destroy causes or control effects o Causes: take away liberty or make everyone thing the same Democracy=tyranny of the majority Republic- scheme of representation, over large geographical area #51- 3 independent branches of government Each dept. must have a will of its own

Government Quarter 1 Country Assessment Review:

Abby Kim, HUM II. October 30th, 2012. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition Separation of powers, checks and balances o Internal checks (ex. legislature can impeach)

Anti-Federalists: o Mainly farmers o Radicals: old-school limit power o States rights o Abolitionist (no slavery)- Const.=hypocritical o No bill of rights in constitution

Federalism: System of government where power is shared between state governments and a national government. Delegated Powers: central powers directly stated in the Constitution Implied Powers: central powers not stated in the constitution, but can be deduced from the text Concurrent Powers: Powers shared by national/local governments Reserved Powers: powers specific to each level of government: national/subunits