Civics Semester Exam Review - 1 Civics Semester Exam Review...

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Civics Semester Exam Review
Chapter 1:
 Government- the institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society no
matter where you are
 1/5 of budget is spent on national defense
 Politics- the process by which we select our governmental leaders and the policies that the leaders
pursue
 Laswell Model- who gets what and when and how
 Demographics- statistical grouping of a population
 Ronald Dahl’s 5 Criteria to be Democratic:
o Equality in Voting
o Effective Participation
o Enlightened Understanding
o Inclusion
o Citizen-Control of the Agenda
 Challenges to Democracy:
o Increased technical expertise (challenge between elected officials and public as to where we
should get our information from)
o Limited government participation (not all people are being represented)
o Escalating campaign costs (too expensive for everyone to run)
o Diverse political interests (policy gridlock)
 Average citizen needs to: be motivated, be knowledgeable, have principals, and be rational
 Government owns 1/3 of land
 Values we share as a culture: liberty, egalitarianism(equality), individualism, laissez-faire(businesses do
what they want, government only steps to protect the consumer)
 American Political System: People (participants, individuals, groups, organizations), Public Opinion
(input; ideas that the people put together), Linkage Institutions (voting, political parties, interest groups,
media*), Policy Agenda (issues), Policy, Policy Impact on the People

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 Schattscheider Model: Politics is Conflict Expansion
o Conflict among private groups, the issue gains visibility, the issue reaches the agenda of the
government, and a new balance of power created leading to renewed conflict
Chapter 2:
 Locke and Hobbes’ ideas were the foundation of the Declaration of Independence
 Locke’s Second Treatise :
o Everyone has the natural rights to life, liberty, and property
o To protect these rights, people surrender their power to the government
o The government is formed by the consent of the governed
o Government must be limited
o People have to right to result (separates Hobbes from Locke)
 The founders were afraid of any government that had too much power.
 Second Continental Congress made the Articles of Confederation
o Unicameral- only 13 votes
o To pass a law need 9/13; to amend articles need 13/13
o Gave government power to maintain army and navy, power to make war and peace, power to
run a post office, power to develop land
o No power to tax or get money, no regulating commerce, no executive branch for enforcement
and no court system to settle disputes
o Flaws in system were exemplified by: 1. Depression of 1780s, 2. Shay’s Rebellion- Shay
prevents courthouse from opening and taking his land and we had to rely on citizens to stop it
because we had no army
 Annapolis 1786- George Washington gets delegates from 5 states and decided to change the
government in Philadelphia in 1787 with 13 states
 Philadelphia 1787:
o Rhode Island doesn’t show(making whole thing invalid)
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