Term
| Why are Constitutions important? |
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Definition
- establish basic "rules of the game"
- specify authority of government
- distribute power amount institutions and participants in political system
- establish fundamental procedures for conducting public business and protecting rights |
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Term
| When was the constitution ratified? |
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Definition
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Term
| When ratified in _____ the US Constitution included ________ as one of its most important elements. |
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Term
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Definition
| a type of political system that gives certain power to the national government, others to the states, and some to both levels of government |
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Term
| What is a Unitary System? |
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Definition
| (Great Britain and France) where all authority rests with the national government, which can distribute it to local or regional governments |
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Term
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Definition
| where all power is in the hands of the individual states, and the national government has only as much power as the states give to it (US used this system during 1781 - 1788 under articles of Confederation as did Confederate states of america)......(more recently, confederations were tied following the break up of the former national governments in the Soviet union and Yugoslavia) |
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Term
| Is the American federal Government static? |
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Definition
| No, it has changed significantly over the years |
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Term
| The US Constitutions stability is due in large to its______? |
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Definition
| broad grants of power and its reinterpretation in response to changing conditions. |
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Term
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Definition
- grants Congress a series of "enumerated powers" such as taxing, spending, declaring war, and regulating interstate commerce
- also permits congress to do whatever is "necessary and proper" to excursive the enumerated powers (this language is referred to as "elastic clause" because of its flexible grant of authority) |
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Definition
| reinforces the power of the national government by declaring that the constitution and federal law are "the supreme law of the land" (This so called supremacy clause thus identifies the US Constitution as the ultimate authority whenever there is need to resolve a dispute between the national government and the states) |
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Term
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Definition
- 1819
- the US Supreme Court adopted a broad view of the national governments powers when it decided that the elastic clause allowed congress to excursive "implied powers" not mentioned explicitly in the US constitution but that could be inferred from the enumerated powers
- The supremacy clause and implied powers have been cornerstones for the expansion of the national governments powers. Congress occasionally has turned programs over to states, as with changes in welfare laws during the 1990s, and has imposed new requirements and costs on them, as under the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT IN 2002 |
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Definition
READS: The powers not delegated to the US by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people
- grants the states "reserved powers", but dies not define them
- as one might predict this has produced conflicts btwn the national and state governments, many of which have had to be resolved by the US Supreme Court
- for much of the period from the 1890s- mid 1930s courts restricted efforts by congress to enhance the power of the federal government |
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T/F
The constitutions, laws, and policies of the states cannot contradict the US constitution |
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Definition
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T/F
Federalism allows states many opportunities to develop in their own way, but it always holds out the possibility that the national government may act to promote uniformity for one country. |
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T/F
Much of the debate over ratification of the US constitution focused on claims that the national government would be too powerful |
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Definition
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10 of 12 proposed changes in 1791 were ratified by states and are commonly referred to as the Bill of rights |
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Term
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Definition
1868 (one of 3 amendments to end slavery and grant rights to blacks after civil war)
Reads: No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the US; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property w/o due process of aw; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws
- this language restates the fundamental principle of dual citizenship: americans are citizens of both the nation and their state, and they are governed by the constitutions of both governments
- The US constitution guarantees minimum rights to citizens that may not be violated by the states
- states however, may grant broader rights to their citizens than are guaranteed by the US constitution
- since 1925 the court has employed a process known as "selective incorporation" through which it incorporates into the meaning of the 14th amendment the protections offered by the Bill of Rights.....it does this selectively by applying these guarantees to the states on a case- by- case bases
- congress too has used 14th amendment in support of laws that restrict the power of state and local governments |
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Term
| The states adopt their constitutions within the context of__________? |
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Definition
| national supremacy, enumerated, implied, and reserved powers, dual citizenship, and the provisions of the 10th and 14th amendments |
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Term
T/F
mant state constitutions are modeled after the US constitution |
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T/F
Because state constitutions general do not include implied powers, they tend to be more detailed and restrictive in defining the powers of government |
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T/F
state constitutions often include policies that seemingly could be decided by passing laws, as with Georgia's lottery. Putting such decisions in constitution makes it harder for opponents to change them. |
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Term
| States possess "police power" which is? |
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Definition
- the ability to promote public health, safety, morals, or general welfare
- amount the "reserved powers" in the 10th amendment to the US Constitution
- often delegated by states to local governments, which are covered in great detail in state constitutions, but are not mentioned at all in US constitution |
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Term
| How many times has the US constitution been amended? |
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Definition
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T/F
state constitutions are not amended frequently |
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T/F
Georgia has had 10 constitutions, second to louisiana |
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Definition
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Term
T/F
Georgia current constitution took effect in 1983, making it among the second youngest |
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Definition
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Term
| What state can be considered younger than georgia? |
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Definition
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Term
| how many amendments does GA have? |
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Definition
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Term
| How does Georgia amend their constitution? |
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Definition
Georgia is among 20 states requiring a 2/3 vote by its legislature
(17 states require only a majority in their legislatures to submit a proposed amendment to voters, some states face obstacle of getting an amendment approved in two legislative sessions before it can be submitted to voters, 4 states but not GA also limit the # of amendments submitted to the voters at one election |
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The GA legislature can ask the states voters to create a convention to amend or replace the constitution |
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Definition
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T/F
The General Assembly also can propose amendments if they are approved by a 2/3 vote in each legislative - a procedure like that at the national level
The governor has no formal role in this process, but may be influential in recommending amendments and mobilizing public pinion before voters go to the polls. |
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T/F
GA is not among the 18 states whose constitutions allow amendments through the initiative process, in which voters circulate petitions to place proposed amendments on the ballot for voters to ratify in a statewide referendum |
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Definition
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Term
T/F
The US constitution requires ratification of amendments by legislatures or conventions in 3/4 of the states, in contrast, the GA constitution requires ratification by majority of the voters casting ballots on the proposed amendment |
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Definition
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T/F
GA
Vote in legislature: 2/3
# of Legislative Sessions: 1
Voter approval: Majority on amendment |
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Definition
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Term
T/F
each of Georgia's 10 constitutions can be considered a political response to some conflict, problem, or crisis |
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Definition
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Term
| Define "rules of the game" |
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Definition
forcing the opposition to get its own amendment passed rather than simply getting a law enacted
- amendments that have added policies to Georgia's constitution deal with earmarking, tax breaks, morality issues, and limitations on decision making |
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Term
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Definition
identifies revenue sources that must be spent for designated purposes(benefits special interests)
- Most significant: motor fuel taxes, which art 3 requires to be spent "for all activities incident to providing and maintaining an adequate system of public roads and bridges" and for grants to counties
- moreover this money goes for these purposes "regardless of whether the General Assembly enacts a general appropriations Act"
- Thus the constitution provides those interested in highway construction with a guaranteed source of funds |
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Term
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Definition
- 5
- elected statewide ona partisans ballot for 6 year terms |
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Term
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Definition
- 5
- appointed by the governor to 7 yr terms subject to Senate confirmation |
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Term
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Definition
- 5
- appointed by the governor to 5 yr terms subject to Senate confirmation |
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Term
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Definition
- 13
- One member per congressional district elected by majority vote of General Assembly member whose districts overlap any of the congressional district |
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Term
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Definition
- 7
- appointed bu the governor to 7 yr terms subject to Senate confirmation |
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Term
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Definition
- 18
- one member per congressional district and 5 at large (at least one of whom is from a coastal country) appointed by the governor to 7 yr terms subject to Senate Confirmation |
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Term
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Definition
- 13
- one member per congressional district appointed by the governor to 7 yr terms subject to Senate confirmation |
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Term
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Definition
- 18
- one member per congressional district and 5 at large appointed by the governor to 7 yr terms subject to Senate confirmation |
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Term
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Definition
| building on a 1944 US Supreme Court case covering Texas, the circuit court of appeals found that the rules of Georgia's Democratic party, which restricted the voting in primary elections to whites only, violated the equal protection guarantee of the 14th amendment |
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Term
| Heart of Atlanta Motel Vs. US (1964) |
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Definition
| Upheld constitutionality of Title 2 of the Civil Rights ACt of 1964, which prohibited racial discrimination in public accommodations |
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Term
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Definition
| the states practice of involuntary institutionalizing disabled individuals judged suitable to live in less restrictive settings violates the americans with disabilities act of 1990 |
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Term
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Definition
| Held that georgia's county-unit system violated the 14th amendment's equal protection guarantee bc it mal-apportioned votes among the states counties |
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Term
| Fortson vs. Toombs (1965) |
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Definition
| upheld a lower court's 1962 decision that the 14th amendment required seats in General Assembly to be apportioned with districts of roughly equal population rather than being based on county or other political boundaries |
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Term
| Miller vs. Johnson (1995) |
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Definition
| invalidated georgia's congressional redistricting following the 1990 as a violation of the 14th amendment's equal protection clause bc race was the predominant factor in drawing district boundaries. The general assembly had created 3 black-majority districts, with the 11th district having a very irregular shape |
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Term
| Georgia vs. Ashcroft (2003) |
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Definition
| held that courts reviewing redistricting under the Voting Rights Act have to consider all relevant factors affecting minority voters, not just the chance of electing minority candidates |
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Term
| Stanley vs. Georgia (1969) |
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Definition
| overturned state law making private possession of obscene material a crime. The Georgia law was held to violate the 1st amendment and 14th amendments to the US constitution |
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Term
| Paris Adult Theatre I vs. Slaton (1973) |
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Definition
| banning the showing of the allegedly obscene films to consenting adults in a commercial theatre was held not to violate the 1st amendment or the right to privacy |
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Term
| Cox broadcasting Corp vs. Colin (1975) |
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Definition
| overturned the georgia law prohibiting publication of the name of a rape victim obtained from public records |
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Term
| Forsyth county, georgia vs. nationalist movement (1992) |
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Definition
| invalidated a local ordinance requiring participants to pay law enforcement costs for demonstration and empowering the county administrator to demonstrate how much to charge a group seeking a permit for a demonstration. The court found fault with the ordinance bc is granted excessively broad discretion to the administrator, who was required to examine the content of a groups' message in determining a fee to be charged for law enforcement protection |
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Term
| Chandler vs. Miller (1997) |
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Definition
| held that georgia's requirement that candidates for state office pass a drug test violates the 4th and 14th amendment protections against suspicion less searches |
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Term
| Ballew vs. Georgia (1978) |
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Definition
| held that a criminal trial using a jury of less that 6 members violated the 6th and 14th amendment guarantees to a fair trial |
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Term
| Furman vs. Georgia (1972) |
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Definition
| held that georgia's methods of administering the death penalty violated the 8th amendment's guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment. The decision effectively ended in the US for more than a decade |
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Term
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Definition
| upheld georgia's revised law on capital punishment , which limited the crimes for which the death penalty could be imposed and specified the factors to be considered and procedures to be used in deciding when to imps capital punishment |
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Term
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Definition
| found that georgia's imposition of the death penalty for the crime of rape was grossly disproportionate and thus a violation of the 8th amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment |
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Definition
| rejected the claim that racial differences in the imposition of the death penalty violated the equal protection guarantee of the 14th amendment and amounted to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th amendment |
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Definition
| this is the less famous Georgia case decided along with Roe v. Wade. It overturned Georgia's ban on abortions as a violation of a woman's right to privacy |
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Definition
| held that the right to privacy did not protect consensual homosexual sex from prosecution under georgia's sodomy law |
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Definition
- convention
- separation of powers, with most in the hands of the unicameral legislature |
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Term
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Definition
- convention
- bicameral legislature, which chose the governor; no bill of rights |
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Definition
- convention
- popular election of governor; creation of Supreme Court; greater detail than predecessors |
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Definition
- convention
- long bill of rights; 1st constitution submitted to voters |
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Definition
- convention
- governor limited to two terms; slavery abolished; ordinance of secession repealed; war debt repudiated; some judges made elective |
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Definition
-convention
- authorization of free schools; increased appointment power for governor; debtors' relief |
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Term
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Definition
- convention
- more restrictions on legislative power; 2 yr terms for legislators and governors; no gubernatorial succession; most judicial appointments by legislature |
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Term
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Definition
- commission
- establishment of lieutenant govern-ship, new constitutional officers, new boards, state merit system; home rule granted to counties and cities |
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Definition
- Office of Legislative Counsel
- reorganization of much-amneded 1945 constitution |
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Definition
- select committee
- streamlining of previous document, with elimination of authorization for local amendments |
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