Unit 1: Constitutional Underpinnings of the United States Government

Unit Overview of Concepts, Topics, and Readings

The study of modern politics in the United States requires an examination of the kind of
government established by the Constitution, paying particular attention to federalism and the
separation of powers, and checks and balances.

Major Goals and Objectives of the Unit:

1. Be familiar with the theories of the nature and distribution of power, in particular the
theoretical perspectives relating to the Constitution (i.e. democratic theory, theories of
republican government, pluralism, and elitism.)
2. Know the historical situation at the time of the Constitutional Convention.
3. Have an awareness of the ideological and philosophical traditions on which the framers
drew.
4. Understand specific concerns of the framers (i.e. Why did Madison fear factions? What
were the reasons for the swift adoption of the Bill of Rights?) and how that influenced the
formulation and adoption of the Constitution.
5. Understand the theoretical and practical features of popular sovereignty, federalism,
separation of powers and checks and balances.
6. Understand the historical development of the American federal system and the
contemporary debates over the balance of power between the national government and
state governments.
7. Be familiar with the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of key provisions of
the Constitution as they relate to federalism.

Readings:
Abernathy and Waples, Chapter 1 & 2
U.S. Constitution
Essential Documents:
● The Declaration of Independence
● The Articles of Confederation
● Brutus No. 1: To the Citizens of the State of New-York
● The Constitution of of the United States (including the Bill of Rights and subsequent
amendments)
● Federalist No. 10: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection
● Federalist No. 51: The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and
Balances Between the Different Departments

Important Definitions/Terms/Identifications:

Theories of Power
Direct democracy
Elite theory
European Enlightenment
John Locke/Second Treatise on Government
Natural Rights
Pluralism
Representative democracy
Republic
Social contract

Creation of the Constitution

Amending process
Anti-Federalists
Articles of Confederation
Bill of Rights
Bicameral Legislature
Checks and balances
Constitutional Convention
ExPost Facto Laws
Federalists/Federalist Papers
Federalist #10
Federalist #51
The Great Compromise (CT Compromise)
Judicial review
Limited government
Popular sovereignty
Separation of powers
Seventeenth Amendment
Shay’s Rebellion
Three-fifths Compromise
Virginia Plan v. New Jersey Plan
Writ of Habeas Corpus

Federalism
Americans with Disabilities Act
Block grants
Categorical grants
“Commerce” clause
Concurrent powers
Confederal v. federal v. unitary systems
Contract with America
Cooperative federalism (Marble Cake)
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
Delegated (enumerated) powers
Devolution Revolution
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dual federalism (Layer Cake)
Federalism
Fourteenth Amendment
Fifteenth Amendment
Full faith and credit clause
Gibbons v. Ogden
Gonzalez v. Raich
Grants-in-aid system
Great Society
Implied powers
McCulloch v. Maryland
Necessary and proper (elastic) clause
New Deal
No Child Left Behind Act
Obergefell vs. Hodges
Reserved powers
Revenue sharing
Sixteenth Amendment
Supremacy Clause
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Tenth Amendment
Thirteenth Amendment
Tyranny of the Majority
Unfunded mandates
U.S. v. Lopez