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67 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What was the articles of confederation? |
governed our country from 1781-1789
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Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? (4) |
- Very weak central government - Limited power of Continental Congress - Could not raise an army or tax citizens - Limited Executive and Judicial power |
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What did the Connecticut Compromise do? |
-Established the modern congress - Compromised the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan (each state gets one vote) |
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How did the Connecticut Compromise settle the House of Representatives and Senate? |
House of Representatives- representation proportional to state population Senate- represented equally |
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What was a Federalist? |
someone who believed in the constitution and thought it was good |
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Why didn't Anti-Federalists like the constitution? (3) |
- Did not have a Bill of Rights - Power too centeralized - No term limits for presidents- would become kings |
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What were Federalist Papers? |
- Focus on Internal and External threats to liberty - Essays written to try to prove that Constitution was good |
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Who were the authors of Federalist Papers? |
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay |
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What is political culture? |
Collection of beliefs and values about the justification and operation of a country's government |
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What did the Rosenberg Reading cover? |
-Brown vs. Board of Education -Civil Rights Acts - Cooper vs. Aaron - 15th Amendment |
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Why was Brown vs. Board of Education so important? When was it? |
it was the first case that questioned segregation in elementary and secondary schools - 1951 - Declared segregation in schools unconstitutional - Energized activists, civil rights organizations spread across country |
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What happened in Cooper vs. Aaron? |
all supreme court judges ruled desegregation a law |
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What did the 15th amendment do? |
- gave minorities the right to vote |
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What is Borking? |
politicizing the nomination process through an organized public campaign that portrays the nominee as a dangerous extremist |
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How did Borking come about? |
came about from the nomination and rejection of Robert Bork in 1987 |
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When was Marbury vs. Madison and what was the problem? |
- 1803 - On his last day of office, John Adams appointed Marbury Issue: were Marbury's rights violated? Was he entitled to remedy? Did he have a right to commission? |
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What was the Decision in Marbury vs. Madison? |
Marbury's rights were violated and he was entitled to a remedy |
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What was the significance of Marbury vs. Madison? |
Supreme Court acquires Judicial Review |
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What does the Living-Constitution Theory do? |
Judges the constitutionality of a law in light of the entire history of the United States |
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What is the problem in the Living-Constitution Theory? |
highly subjective and may lead to decisions that are biased based on judges personal opinions |
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What is the Plain Meaning of the Text theory? |
Determines the constitutionality of a law in light of what the constitution says
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What is the problem with the Plain Meaning of the Text Theory? |
Constitution is a short document that leaves some issues unresolved and is vague |
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What is Judicial Review? |
- The courts most important power The power of the Supreme court to declare null and void laws of congress and state legislatures that they find unconstitutional |
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What happened to make Judicial Review a thing? |
Marbury vs. Madison |
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What is a problem with Judicial Review? |
not explicitly mentioned in the constitution |
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What is the balancing doctrine? |
principal enunciated by the Supreme Court that freedom of speech must be balanced against other competing public interests |
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What is the fighting words doctrine? |
some words constitute violent acts and are not protected under the fifth amendment |
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What case endorsed the fighting words doctrine? |
Chaplinsky vs. New Hampshire |
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What is the fundamental Freedom doctrine? |
Judicial doctrine stating that the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion are to be scrutinized by the courts more closely than other legislature. They are the "preferred freedoms" |
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What happened in Griswald vs. CT |
-Estelle Griswald fined because she used contraceptives- CT law prohibited them |
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What was the outcome of the Griswald vs. CT? |
- Married couples have right to privacy in own bedroom - 9th amendment |
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What was the problem in Roe vs. Wade? |
- Roe wanted an abortion -Texas law stated all abortions were illegal - Roe argued this was unconstitutional - Defining viablity - Morally right? |
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What was the outcome in Roe vs. Wade? |
- Supreme Court declared TX law void and vague and it went against the 9th and 14th amendment - Court said women's' rights were so fundamental it could be abridged only if the state interest in doing so was compelling - Made trimester framework |
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What impact did Roe. Vs. Wade leave? |
State cannot simply outlaw abortions - galvanized the right to life movement |
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What did the Supreme Court rule in Plessy vs. Ferguson? |
"separate but equal" - as long as public facilities were of equal quality it was constitutional to be separate |
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What is De Jure Segregation? |
Racial segregation that is legally sanctioned |
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What is De Facto segregation? |
Racial segregation that occurs as the result of decisions by private individuals |
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What is affirmative action? |
programs that try to increase opportunities for race or sex based groups that suffered discrimination in the past |
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What are examples of affirmative action? |
- higher education-admissions - workplace- hiring/promotions |
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What is the doctrine of nullification? |
state legislatures can invalidate an act of congress that they feel threatens state or individual liberties - Not part of the US constitution |
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What is the interstate commerce clause? |
congress can regulate commerce "among the states"
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What is the necessary and proper clause? |
- Helped the Virginia Plan - Congress has the power to "make all laws that are necessary and proper for carrying into execution" its other powers |
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What was the three fifths compromise? |
- Large states wanted slaves to be counted in population - small states did not - compromise: slaves would be counted as 3/5 a person when counting population
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How long did we have the 3/5 compromise? |
After the civil war, the 14th amendment repealed the 3/5 compromise |
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What is classical liberalism? |
a philosophy that sought to free individuals from a society structured by heredity and religious privilege. - Wanted to have people make political and religious choices for themselves
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What did classical liberalism focus on? |
individuals as opposed to groups |
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What is original intent? |
it tests the constitutionality of a law by ascertaining the intentions of those who wrote and ratified the constitution - They look at old papers, essays, federalist papers, and speeches to do so |
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What was so important about McCulloch vs. Maryland? |
The first case supreme court used Judicial Review to declare a state law unconstitutional |
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What was the issue in McCulloch vs. Maryland? |
- Can congress create a bank? yes - Can Maryland tax that bank? no - "The power to tax gives the power to destroy" |
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What was the clear and present danger doctrine? |
People should have complete freedom of speech unless it endangers the nation |
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what is sovereignty? |
fundamental governmental authority |
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What is federalism? |
division of sovereignty between at least two different levels of government |
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What is the dynamic court view? |
belief that court are free from electoral constraints |
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What is the court capable of doing under the dynamic court view? examples |
Court is capable of making widespread changes ( brown vs. board of education, roe. vs. wade) |
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What is the constrained court view? |
Court has too many constraint to make large tangible changes - court doesn't have enough power, do not have significance independence, can't act on any reforms)
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What side does Rosenberg agree with.. constrained court view or dynamic court view? |
sides with constrained court view extremely |
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What was the issue in U of CA vs. Bakke? |
- Bakke white male applied to med school - 100 spots total- 16 for minorities - Do affirmative action programs violate the equal protection clause of the constitution?
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What did the Supreme Court Judges vote for U of CA vs. Bakke? |
-4 voted against Bakke- schools need diversity -4 voted for Bakke- unconstitutional -1 undecided |
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What was the outcome in Ca vs. Bakke? |
Quota systems are not constitutional, but a university has a constitutional interest in having a diverse student body |
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What was the problem in US vs Lopez? |
Gun free school zone act of 1990 Lopez, teen. no criminal record got 6 months for bringing gun to school |
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What was the constitutional issue of the US. vs. Lopez? |
is this an example of interstate commerce? no |
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What is the state action doctrine? |
American legal concept that protection such as the 14th and 15th amendment only have power to protect when its the state against an individual not an individual against another individual |
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what was the problem in Schneck vs. US |
Schneck was against the war sent pamphlets telling men the US has no right to draft them - Gov said he violated the Espinoage act- making soldiers disobedient |
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what was the decision in Schneck vs. US? |
He was protected by first amendment- freedom of speech |
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What was the problem in Chaplinsky vs. New Hampshire? |
Chaplinsky, a Jahovah witness said offending things to someone in public got arrested from breaking a NH law |
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what was the outcome of chaplinsky vs. NH? |
- Chaplinsky was not protected by first amendment because freedom of speech did not protect him from using "fighting words" |
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what did "with all deliberate speed" have to do with? |
Brown decision declared the system of segregation illegal- separate was not equal - Court ordered only that states end segregation "with all deliberate speed" |