UNIT 1: FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Unitary Government

a form of government or organization where supreme power is concentrated in a single central authority

Confederate Government

the idea that individual states should have more power than the central national government

Federal Government

the central national government that handles issues affecting the entire country

Presidential branch

carries out and enforces the laws

Parliamentary branches

makes the laws

How many people can participate in Autocracy?

a single ruler or a select group

How many people can participate in democracy?

Voting is open to the broad population

Direct democracy

allows citizens to propose, approve, reject, or remove laws and officials

Participatory democracy

A system of government where citizens have an active, direct role in shaping public policies and decisions that affect their daily lives

Pluralist democracy

A system of government where power is distributed to groups instead of one person

Elite democracy

A system of government where decisions are made by a small group of elites

Limited government

A system where the power of the state is restricted by the law

Individualism

Places the needs, rights, and freedom of the single person above the interests of the group

Natural Rights

Basic, universal freedoms that every person has simply by being born, and no government can take them away (life, liberty, and property)

Popular sovereignty

the idea that the authority of the government comes from the people giving them permission to have authority over the people

Republicanism

The idea that a country's power belongs to the people, who rule through leaders they elect

Equality

Having equal status, rights, and opportunities

Liberty

The power to live speak and act as you wish

Justice

Being fair, impartial, and reasonable

Free enterprise

private businesses being aloud to make decisions and trade without government interference

Rule of law

No one is above the law

Alexis deTocqueville

A French philosopher who studied American democracy

American Revolutionary War

The war where the British colonies fought for independence to become the United States

Declaration of Independence Big Ideas

natural rights, the consent of the governed, and the right to overthrow a tyranny

Articles of Confederation and its Failures

Created a central government so weak that it could not manage the nation's finances, resolve interstate conflicts, or maintain public order

Shays’ Rebellion

An armed uprising in Massachusetts led by war veteran Daniel Shay

McCulloch v. Maryland

Supreme Court unanimously decided Maryland could not tax the bank

US v. Lopez

passed the G*n-Free School Zones Act of 1990