U.S. Government: Unit #1 (Chapters 1-2) Study Guide

bloomington high school /
U.S. Government: Unit #1 (Chapters 1-2) Study Guide /
+____/____Points /
Mr. Baldwin /
8/26/2013 /

U.S. GOVERNMENT -- CHAPTER 1

WHY DO GOVERNMENTS EXIST?

The Big Picture (by the end of this unit, you should be able to answer these questions).

What is government?

What type of government do we have in the U.S.?

What is American Democracy?

Where did our government come from?

What is a Government?

Government is:

Governments have three basic kinds of power. List and define each.

▪______

What is the main difference between dictatorship and democracy?

What does it mean to say that a government is sovereign?

Origins of the State

Provide a definition for and example of when/where each theory was practiced.

Force Theory –

Evolutionary Theory –

Divine Right Theory –

Social Contract Theory –

Identify (at least) five freedoms we must give up under the Social Contract Theory in the United States.

What Does Our Government Promise?

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish ______, insure domestic ______, provide for the ______,promote the ______, and secure the Blessings of______to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Different forms of Government?

There are three standards used to describe governments:

1) ______has the power
2) ______is the power (geographically)
3) ______is the power shared (how much debate?)

In the United States:

Who has the power?______
Where is the power?______
How is the power shared?______

Government Vocabulary

Democracy:______

Dictatorship:______

Oligarchy:______

Autocracy:______

Unitary Govt:______

Confederacy:______

Presidential:______

Parliamentary:______

A ______Government

______is ______between 1 national and 50 local (state) governments.

Basic Concepts of U.S. Democracy

Provide evidence that in the United States we do practice each of the following.

Worth of the Individual

Equality of all persons

Majority rule, minority rights

Compromise

Individual Freedom

Of the five, which are we the worst at? Explain your answer.

The Free Enterprise System

Define Capitalism:
Define Socialism:
Capitalism + Socialism = ______Capitalism:

▪Identify at least five ways in which government INTERFERES in the economy of the U.S.

U.S. GovernmentChapter 2 ---Origins of American Government

British Tradition

British tradition of limitations on government power:

______(1215)
Petition of ______(1628)
English ______of ______(1689)

All documents were a ______with the government to protect their ______

What were some of the basic ideas on government that the founding fathers “borrowed” from these documents?

The Coming of Independence

What were some of the basic structures/ideas on government that the founding fathers learned from their own experiences with the Albany Plan, the Stamp Act Congress, the First Continental Congress and the Second Continental Congress?

Declaration of Independence

Three parts:

▪______

What would have been considered the “radical” ideas of the Declaration back in 1776?

▪Explain the hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson.

▪How do we now justify the meaning of “all men are created equal” in light of this hypocrisy?

Working out the bugs

The Articles of ______proved to be too ______to hold the nation together.

Why were the Articles so weak?

What basic government structures were missing?

Identify at least three powers that were missing.

Coming together (compromises at the Constitutional Convention)

Virginia Plan:

New Jersey Plan:

Connecticut Compromise:

3/5ths Compromise:

Slave Trade Compromise:

Concentrated power?

______vs. ______-Federalist

Federalist: Wanted “powerful” ______government.
Anti-Federalist: Wanted “powerful” ______governments (much like Articles of Confederation)
Which side won? ______
Why?