Major Topic Review1st 9 Weeks

Court Cases

•1. Marbury v. Madison•2. McCulloch v. Maryland•3. Gibbons v. Ogden•4. Dred Scott v. Sanford•5. Plessy v. Ferguson•6. Brown v. Board of Education•7. Buckley v. Valeo•8. Barron v. Baltimore•9. Gitlow v. New York

14th Amendment- Selective Incorporation

•14th Amendment made African Americans citizens, thus voiding the Dred Scott decision

•The doctrine of selective incorporation uses the Fourteenth Amendment to extend most of the requirements of the Bill of Rights to the states▫Barron v. Baltimore- Ruled that the Bill of Rights

cannot be applied to the states▫Gitlow v. New York- Established precedent for

selective incorporation (extending most of the requirements of the Bill of Rights to the states)

Enlightenment Thinkers• Thomas Hobbes- Government is necessary

because man is self serving in a free state.• Montesquieu- ideal government separated

powers among legislative, executive and judicial branches. Divided authority would protect rights and prevent on branch from gaining unrestricted control

• Locke- Natural Rights, Social Contract Theory, Known as the philosopher of the American Revolution▫“life, liberty, property”

Articles of Confederation

•The Articles of Confederation established a decentralized system of government with a weak central government that had limited powers over the states.

•The Articles created a unicameral Congress that lacked the power to levy taxes or regulate interstate trade (Chart)

The Federalist Papers

•Federalist 51- structure of government must function under a proper system of checks and balances

•Federalists- Madison, Jay, Hamilton

Bicameralism

•Congress- Two Houses•Representative Democracy: We directly

elect delegates to represent us in the government.▫U.S. House (population) ▫U.S. Senate (2 per state)

House- most closely tied to the people

Checks and Balances

•Definition•Examples (Chart)

The Electoral College•President and Vice-President are not elected

by a direct vote of the people. Instead, the winning ticket must receive a majority of the votes in the electoral college.

•The electoral college s a winner-take-all system in which the candidate who wins a plurality of the votes in a state, wins all of that state’s electoral votes (exceptions?)

•Winner-take-all feature makes it difficult for third-party candidates to succeed.

The Electoral College

•Encourages presidential candidates to focus on campaigning in the most populous states

•If non of the candidates receives a majority of the electoral votes, the selection process moves to the House of Representatives, where each state has one vote

•The electoral college benefits small states

Voting Rights Act of 1965

•Outlawed literacy tests and other discriminatory practices that had been responsible for disenfranchising African American voters

•Provided for federal oversight of voter registration in areas with a history of discriminatory voting practices

•Improved the voter registration disparity between whites and African Americans

Voter Turnout• The majority of the U.S. electorate does not vote

in most elections• People with more education are more likely to

vote than people with less education• People with more income are more likely to vote

than people with less income• Older people are more likely to vote than

younger people• Women are more likely to vote (gender gap)• Low level of political efficacy (apathy) and voter

registration are factors that affect turnout

African American Voting Patterns

•Consistently supported Democratic presidential candidates since the New Deal

•African Americans tend to support the more liberal candidates within the Democratic Party

Political Socialization

•Process by which political values are formed and passed from one generation to the next

•The family is the most important agent of political socialization; parents usually pass their party identification to their children

Political Efficacy

•Belief that one can make a difference in politics by expressing an opinion and acting politically

Political Ideology

•Political Ideology (link)•Core of American Political Culture

▫Legal Equality, Political Equality, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech (NOT Economic Equality)

Divided Government

•President and Congress are controlled by different parties

•Heightens partisanship, slows the legislative process, and contributes to the decline in public trust in government

•Presidents attempt to overcome the problems of divided government by using the media to generate public support, threatening to veto legislation and building coalitions with key interest groups

Federalism

•10th Amendment•System of government in which power is

divided by a written constitution between a central and regional government levels▫National▫State▫Local

•When the powers of the federal government and the powers of the state government conflict, the federal government prevails (Supremacy Clause)

Federalism

•The necessary and proper clause, commerce clause, Civil Rights Act of 1964, categorical grants, and federal mandates have all increased the power of the federal government relative to the states.

•The procedure for amending the Constitution illustrates the federal structure of American government.

•Terms- categorical grants, mandates

“Democratic Laboratories”

•Federalism creates opportunities for experimentation and diversity in public policy

•Devolution/ Block Grants (ex. Block Grants for Welfare- 10th Amendment)

•Video Link

Amendments

•1-10 Bill of Rights•1-27