AP Gov-Unit 1 Vocab

Limited Government

A government that is subject to strict limits on its lawful uses of power.

Natural Rights

Rights that people have under natural law.

Popular Sovereignty

The concept that political power rest with the people who can create, alter, and, abolish the government.

Republicanism

The principals or policy of the Republican Party.

Social Contract

An agreement between an individual or group and the government or community as a whole.

Participatory Democracy

Individual participation by citizens in political decisions and policies that affect their lives.

Pluralist Democracy

An interpretation of democracy in which the government by the people.

Elite Democracy

A model of democracy in which a small number of people influence political decisions.

Federalism

The federal principal of government.

Exclusive Powers

Powers that only one level of government can have; federal or state.

Concurrent Powers

Powers shared by both the federal government and the state government.

Mandates

An official order or requirement from a higher authority.

Revenue Sharing

A financial arrangement where the federal government distributes a portion of its tax revenues to state and local government.

Categorical Grants

Funds provided by the federal money given to state or local governments for very specific use.

Block Grants

Large sums of federal money given to state or local governments for broad purposes.

Enumerated Powers

The specific powers granted to the federal government by the constitution.

Implied Powers

Powers of the federal government that are not explicitly state in the constitution.