AP U.S. Government and Politics Topic 1.1: Ideals of Democracy

Master vocabulary list for Topic 1.1 of the AP U.S. Government and Politics CED, covering core democratic ideals, principles of limited government, and foundational philosophical texts.

Natural Rights

The political philosophy that all human beings possess fundamental rights (such as life, liberty, and property/pursuit of happiness) that are inherent and cannot be taken away or surrendered to government.

Social Contract

An implicit agreement among individuals within a society to surrender some of their freedoms to government authority in exchange for protection, order, and the preservation of remaining rights.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that ultimate political authority and government power originate strictly from the consent of the governed.

Limited Government

A political system in which government power is restricted by law and constitutional provisions so that its power cannot be absolute.

Separation of Powers

The constitutional division of legislative, executive, and judicial responsibilities into distinct governmental branches to prevent power consolidation.

Checks and Balances

Constitutional mechanisms that allow each branch of government to monitor, limit, or veto actions of the other branches to restrain overreach.

Federalism

A constitutional system dividing and sharing governmental authority between a national central government and individual regional state governments.

Republicanism

A model of representative democracy where political authority is exercised through representatives elected by citizens rather than direct public rule.

Declaration of Independence

Drafted primarily by Thomas Jefferson (with contributions from John Adams and Benjamin Franklin), this text restates natural rights philosophy and establishes the principle of popular sovereignty.

U.S. Constitution

Principally drafted by James Madison at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention (chaired by George Washington), this document acts as a social contract establishing a system of limited government.

Gettysburg Address

A speech written and delivered by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War that reaffirmed human equality and popular sovereignty as foundational core principles of American democracy.

State of Nature

A philosophical concept associated with Thomas Hobbes describing an anarchic state of human existence prior to the creation of formal government and law.

John Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government ($1690$)

An Enlightenment text outlining natural rights and social contract theory that directly inspired the Declaration of Independence.

Baron de Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws ($1748$)

An Enlightenment work advocating for the formal separation of executive, legislative, and judicial powers.

Mayflower Compact ($1620$)

An early colonial agreement establishing self-governance and social-contract principles among settlers.