Units 1 Vocab

Limited Government

The idea that certain restrictions should be laced on government to protect the natural rights of citizens.

Natural rights

Rights inherent in human beings, not dependent on governments, which include life, liberty, and property. The concept of natural rights was central to English Philip her John Locke’s theories about government and was widely accepted among America’s Founders.

Popular sovereignty

Authority of government is derived from the consent of the governed.

Republican

All citizens are sovereign and vote on officials to represent them; power of the government is held by the people.

Social contract

An agreement between citizens and government where citizens give up some rights in exchange for safety and the protection of other rights.

Representative democracy

Government where citizens elect officials to make laws and govern on their behalf, also known as a republic.

Participatory democracy

Type of democracy involving broad participation of every citizen, with every citizen having an equal voice in policy making.

Pluralist democracy

Type of democracy involving the creation of groups that compete equally to make public policy. Completion among all affected interests shapes public policy.

Elite democracy

Type of democracy in which the people count on experts (military, media, scholars) to make decisions for them, with their consent; emphasizes limited citizen participation in politics and civil society (time, knowledge, demagogue take over, majority tyranny).

US Constitution

The document written in 1787 and ratified in 1788 that sets forth the institutional structure of the U.S. government, the tasks these institutions perform, and the relationship among them. It replaced the Articles of Confederation.

Federalist 10

Argued that a large Republic with elected representatives would be best because it gives a variety of interests and gives the people a voice.

Brutus 1

Argued that a confederation of sovereign republics that coordinate for national purposes. NOT a large, supreme central government. This way the government would be less tyrannical and closer to the people.

Articles of Confederation

The first constitution of the United States, adopted by Congress in 1777 and ratified in 1781. The Articles established the Continental Congress as the national legislature, but left most authority with the state legislatures.

Anti-federalist

Opponents of the U.S. Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption.

Federalist

Supporters of the U.S. Constitution at the time the states were contemplating its adoption.

Democracy

a system of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the public’s preferences.

Faction

Groups such as interest groups that, according to James Madison, arise from the unequal distribution of property or wealth and have the potiential to cause instability in government.

Shay’s rebellion

A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by Revolutionary War captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings.

Great (Connecticut) Compromise

The compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention that established two houses of Congress: the House of Representatives, in which representation is based on a state’s population; and the Senate, in which each state has two representatives.

Electoral college

Compromise to the question: How should the executive be elected?

Each state allotted a number of electors equal to its total number of seats in Congress. Electors would vote for the president and vice president.

3/5 compromise

Compromise on the question: Would slaves be counted as part of a state’s population in determining representation in the House?

60% of a state’s slave population was calculated into its allocation of House seats.

Constitutional Convention

Ratification

The formal process of approval for a new law, treaty, or constitutional amendment.

Separation of Powers

Limits the power of the national government by dividing it into 3 branches.

Legislative-makes the laws

Executive-enforces the laws

Judicial-interprets the laws

Checks and Balances

Features of the Constitution that require each branch of the federal government to obtain the consent of others for its actions; they limit the power of each branch.

Impeachment

The political equivalent of an indictment in criminal law, prescribed by the Constitution. The House of Representatives may impeach the president by a majority vote for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Concurrent Powers

Powers that are shared by the federal and state governments and may be exercised by both. (Taxation, enact laws, define crimes and enforce punishments, establish courts, borrow money, charter banks and corporations, build infrastructure, and exercise eminent domain.)

Categorical grants

Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or categories, if state and local spending. They come with strings attached, such as nondiscrimination provisions.

Block grants

Federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support board programs in areas such as community development and social services. 

Mandates

Federal directives that require states to comply with specific requirements without providing federal money.

Federalism

A system of government with a written constitution in which power is divided among national, state, and local governments.

10th amendment

Reserves all rights not explicitly granted by the Constitution to the federal government to the states.

14th amendment

Due Process Clause requires states to ensure due process of the law to all citizens. Equal Protection Clause requires that states afford equal treatment to all persons.

Commerce clause

Grants Congress the power to regulate interstate and foreign trade.

Necessary and Proper Clause

“The Congress shall have Power... To make all Laws which shall be

necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers

and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of

the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.”

Grants additional unspecified powers to Congress if needed to carry out 17 enumerated powers.

Elastic clause

Unoffical name for the necessary and proper clause

Enumerated Powers

Powers of the federal government that are listed explicitly in the Constitution. For example, Article I, Section 8, specifically gives Congress the power to coin money and regulate its value and impose taxes. 

Implied Powers

Powers of the federal government that go beyond those enumerated in the Constitution, in accordance with the statement in the Constitution that Congress has the power to “make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution” the powers enumerated in Article I. 

Policymaking

The multi-stage process where government creates courses of action (laws, regulations, etc.) to address societal problems, involving issue identification, agenda setting, formulation, implementation, and evaluation, influenced by ideology, interest groups, public opinion, and the interplay of Congress, Presidency, Courts, and Bureaucracy.

McCulloch v Maryland

In 1816, Congress chartered the Second National Bank, the target of political opposition.

• Many states enacted anti-Bank laws.

• Maryland placed a tax on all banks operating in the state that were not chartered by the

state. Aimed at the National Bank.

• When the Bank did not pay the tax, Maryland sued the Bank and its cashier, James

McCulloch.

• Constitutional Issue: Does the federal government have the constitutional authority to tax

the bank? Does Maryland have the authority to tax the bank?

• Holding: The establishment of a National Bank is a constitutional exercise of power

under the Necessary and Proper Clause. The enumerated powers of Congress to borrow,

tax, coin money, and regulate commerce may be facilitated through a National Bank. The

state of Maryland did not have the authority to tax the bank, which would impede the

legitimate actions of the federal government.