Study Guide for Karen O'Connor & Larry Sabato
American Government: Continuity and Change
Chapter One: The Political Landscape
The general topics addressed in the chapter include:
 The Roots of American Government;
 Characteristics of American Democracy;
 Characteristics & Political Culture in America;
 Citizen's Views About Government.
Students should understand the following features of American Government:
 The philosophical principles that influenced the American system of government;
 Six important characteristics of democracy that affect the operation of our system of government;
 The basic composition of the American people and how the demographics of the United States is changing;
 American political culture and basic views regarding government.
You should be able to define and understand the following terms and their significance for American
Government:
Aristotle
Aristocracy
Capitalism
Communism
Conservatism
Democracy
Demographics
Direct Democracy
Enlightenment
Equality
Free Market Economy
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Indirect Democracy
Individualism
Liberalism
Libertarianism
Majority Rule
Mercantilism
Monarchy
Natural Law
Personal Liberty
Political Ideology
Popular Consent
Popular Sovereignty
Protestant Reformation
Republic
Socialism
Study Guide for Karen O'Connor and Larry Sabato:
Essentials of American Government: Continuity and Change
Chapter Two: The Constitution
The main topics addressed in this chapter are:
· The Origins of a New Nation;
· The Declaration of Independence;
· The Articles of Confederation;
· Writing a Constitution;
· The U.S. Constitution;
· The Drive for Ratification;
· Formal and Informal Methods of Amending the Constitution.
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After reading and studying this chapter, students should be able to grasp the following:
· Why the colonists came to the New World;
· The nature of the changes that caused the colonists to increasingly view British rule as intolerable;
· The circumstances that precipitated the Revolutionary War;
· The Declaration of Independence and the principles its espoused;
· The first American government under the Articles of Confederation and the troubles with that form of government;
· The Constitutional Convention: the delegates; what they did, and why they did it;
· The U.S. Constitution: its articles and the basic form of government;
· The struggle for ratification and the Federalists and Anti-Federalists;
· The process for amending the Constitution, including the first ten amendments (Bill of Rights);
· Constitutional change through judicial interpretation and cultural/technological change.
Key Terms: You should be able to define and understand the following terms and their significance for
American government. What do these concepts contribute to the understanding of American Constitution?
Articles of Confederation
Articles of the Constitution (Articles I through IV)
Anti-Federalists
Bill of Rights
Checks and Balances
Coercive or Intolerable Acts
Committees of Correspondence
Committee on Unfinished Portions
Common Sense (Thomas Paine)
Confederation
Declaration of Independence
The Elastic Clause (Necessary and Proper Clause)
Electoral College
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Enumerated Powers
Executive
Federalism
Federalists
First Continental Congress
Framers
Full Faith and Credit Clause
Great Compromise (Sherman's or Connecticut Compromise)
Judicial Review
John Locke
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Mercantilism
New Jersey Plan
Philadelphia Convention
Second Continental Congress
Separation of Powers
Social Contract Theory
Sons of Liberty
Stamp Act Congress
The Supremacy Clause
Tea Act
Three-Fifths Compromise
Virginia Plan
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