Other things to know for Pols 110 Exam #1
Terms
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- Establishment Clause
-
Government can not favor one religion over another or favor religion over no religion.
Prohibits Congress from passing laws respecting the establishment of religion. - Free Exercise Clause
- Prohibits the government from interferring with the practice of religion or prohibiting the free exercise of religion.
- Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Equal access to public facilities, no job discrimination
- Voting Rights Act of 1965
- Ended racial barriers to voting
- Reasonable Basis Test
-
AGE, INCOME
Can be justified
Examples: when you can drive, vote, drink, get drafted, etc.
Laws are constitutional. - Strict Scrutiny Test
-
RACE, ETHNICITY
Can NOT be justified.
Laws are unconstitutional. - Intermediate Scrutiny Test
-
GENDER
May be justified.
Example: firefighters
Some are constitutional, some are not. - De Jure Discriminaion
- Based on the LAW
- De Facto Discrimination
- Based on SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, and CULTURAL practices
- Civil Rights Movement
- Seeks equal rights
- Civil Liberties
- Focuses on personal/individual freedoms
- Civil Rights
- Focuses on groups and discrimination and equal opportunities
- Block Grant
- Does not have to specify what it will be spent on, but must be spent on a certain category of things.
- Cetagorical Grants
- Must specify beforehand what the money will be spent on.
- Revenue Sharing
- Does not exist anymore.
- Enumerated Powers
-
Powers to NATIONAL government
-Provide for a common defense
-Declare war
-National currency
-Regulate foreign commerce
-Create a national court system
-Postal system - Implied Powers
- Powers to NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
- Reserved Powers
-
Powers to STATE government
-If the powers are not yet enumerated to the nation
AND
-If the powers are not prohibited from the state
Examples: Education, traffic laws... are are up to the states. - Prohibited Powers
-
Both levels
-Granting titles of nobility
-ex post facto laws
-states coining their own money - Democracy
- People govern
- Oligarchy
- A few people control
- Autocracy
- One person controls
- What are the core values in American political culture?
-
Liberty
Equality
Self-government -
Americans vs. Europeans:
-College-education population
-Tax rates
-Attitudes on success -
-College-eduaaction population: American % > European %
-Tax rates: American tax < European tax
-Attitudes on success: Americans have limited access - Definition of political culture
- The characteristic and deep-seated beliefs of a particular people.
- Majoritarianism
- The idea that the majority prevails not only in elections, but also in policy determination.
- Pluralism
- A theory of American Ploitics that holds society's interests are substantially represented through the activities of groups.
- Elitism
- The view that the United States essentially is run by a tiny elite (compopsed of wealthy or well connected individuals) who control public policy through both direct and indirect means.
- Thomas Hobbes
-
SOCIAL CONTRACT- A voluntary agreement by individuals to form government, which is then obliged to act within the confines of the agreement.
-Ordinary people surrender the freedom they would ahve in a state of nature for their protection of a soverign ruler can provide
-Give up freedom to have one ruler, even if the ruler is bad. - John Locke
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Natural rights: Life, liberty, and property
-If government takes these away, you can create a new government. - Jean Jacques Rousseau
-
-Opposed absolute rule
-The only legitimate government is one that serves the general will (the people's common interest)
-People are innocent and happy in their natural state - Articles of Confederation
- States should have more power vs. national government
- Shay's Rebellion
- People realized their government wasn't strong enough.
- Anti-federalists
-
Didn't want the new constitution.
-Wanted the Bill of Rights so that the states would hold power instead of the national government.