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PLSC 102, Study Guide for Exam #1
Instructions: the following is a guide to what will be tested on the first exam. It also
represents your ongoing homework assignment. For this assignment, provide answers to the
following questions and key concepts, and write detailed outlines for the essays. You can
abbreviate, and you don’t have to use complete sentences to get full credit (20 points), but this must
be typed. I recommend downloading this study guide and typing your answers in between the
questions. Complete this study guide a couple questions at a time, each day, as you watch each
lecture video.
U.S. & CA Government material – from Magleby, Field and related lectures:
Ideas about Government and American democracy: (a lot of this is from lecture)
Key concepts: state of nature (Hobbes’ & framers’ views), social contract (today, we might call
this a ______), popular consent, majority, minority, plurality (look up this last term yourself)
State of nature- according to Hobbes it is hell, not pleasant, not civilized. (Life with out
government is a state of nature.) Framers had a negative view about life and humanity with
out government.
Social contract- is a contract amongst society to write common rules that need to be
enforcement. Safety and security (Hobbes), Protect natural rights: Life, Liberty, and
property. (Locke)Today we might call this US Constitution.
Popular consent- is of the people (populist). The people have to consent; they have to agree
to be governed by a leader. If any form of government becomes destructive; life, liberty,
pursuit of happiness) it is the right of the people to abolish the govt. and institute a new
one.
Majority- The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election.
Receives more than half the votes and so wins the election. Basic rule of democracy.
Majority rule- according to the expressed preferences of the majority.
Plurality- Democracies often function by plurality rule. The candidate or party with the
most votes cast in an election, not necessarily more than half.
Did the framers prefer a republic or a democracy? Why?
In your answer, be sure to explain the difference between direct and indirect democracy (give
examples), and the pros and cons of each.
Framers preferred a republic democracy, because it is indirect. The people rule indirectly
there for they chose a representative to make choices for them. For example,
representatives that would be elected are; the president, senator, major, council members
and so on. The framers preferred this type of democracy because power was separated and
this put limits on individuals power. With direct democracy there are no representatives.
Examples of this would be proposition system, recall to get rid of an elected official.
Who did the framers think should be able to vote, and why? Who was excluded?
PLSC 102, Study Guide for Exam #1
The Framers thought that only a few selected should be able to vote and that would be only
independent people. This was because the all came from the same background and shared
the same belief and were mature enough to make an elected decision. Also independent
people were not influenced by anyone because they were not dependent on anyone. Allowed
to vote: Male, 2) 21+, 3) White people (anglo saxon), 4) Protestant, 5) Land, or property
owners.
Excluded was: 1) Women, 2) less than 21, 3) non anglos, 4) non-protestant, 5) non-property
owners.
The American Revolution and the Articles of Confederation: (a lot of this is from lecture)
What economic & political conditions led to the revolution?
The economic conditions that led to the revolution were, English debt, new taxes and bad
business. Taxes on tea, taxes on paper goods, taxes on sugar, and so on. Bad business
included enforcing restrictions, and monopolies, tea could only be bought from British.
The political conditions that led up to the revolution were, the intolerable acts. This
restricted certain freedoms like curfew. No more then 3 people could congregate in public.
Couldn’t publish about the King. We had to house British soldiers in private homes.
British replace elected official with king appointed official, and there was virtual
reorientation.
What were the characteristics of the government formed under the Articles of Confederation?
The characteristics that the government formed were:
Loose confederation members had individual sovereignty. The major powers were war and
foreign policy. There was only one branch, which was congress.
What were its strengths and weaknesses?
The strengths of the Articles of Confederation were the major power of war and foreign
policy. All 13 states were Sovereign.
The weakness is that it was hard to amend all the states, there was a weak economic
regulation, every state had it’s own currency, interstate trade, could not regulate trade and
there was no executive branch which made it difficult to enforce laws.
How was Shays’ Rebellion an example of the latter?
Shey fought in the war and he lost his house to the bank because he was unable to pay his
mortgage. Shey looked to the bank for help but they denied him. So he created a rebellion
group and they rioted for 6 months to take over the government. This caused the framers
to rethink about the Articles of confederation
PLSC 102, Study Guide for Exam #1
U.S. and CA Constitutions:
Key concepts:
factions (give examples),- is a division in politics. The division in politic is political parties
and interest groups. For every faction that forms, an opposite faction forms and the cancel
each other out. For example, a group that is for abortions, there is a pro life group that will
form.
impeachment (who’s subject to it & what’s the process),
bicameralism, judicial review (what is it, where did it come from, & how do you check it?)
bicameralism is two branches. The Judicial review is when the supreme courts reviews a
law that is passed by the president or legislative declares it unconstitional. Supreme court
could cancel law or action. Case Marbury vs. Madison. Appointed by president Adams
appointed Marbury but new president did not want to give him his job.
Describe the important compromises of the Constitutional Convention discussed in lecture. In
your answer, include at least 3 ways that slavery was dealt with in the Constitution of 1788.
The important compromises were for representation. The New Jersey, plan and the
Virginia Plan. The bigger states wanted portion reps. Smaller states wanted equal reps.
The Connecticut Compromise. Having a bicameral branch, one based on population
