Foundations of American Democracy – Unit 1 Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, principles, documents, clauses, court cases, and models related to Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy.

Natural Rights

God-given individual rights that cannot be taken away; articulated as life, liberty, and (property / pursuit of happiness).

John Locke

Enlightenment philosopher who defined natural rights as life, liberty, and property.

Popular Sovereignty

Principle that governing power resides in the people themselves.

Social Contract

Agreement in which people obey laws and the government protects rights; if broken, citizens may replace the government.

Republicanism

System in which citizens elect representatives to make policy and law.

Declaration of Independence

1776 document asserting natural rights, social contract, and popular sovereignty to justify separation from Britain.

Participatory Democracy

Model encouraging direct citizen involvement in decision-making (e.g., town halls, referendums).

Elite Democracy

Model in which a small, wealthy, educated group makes governmental decisions (e.g., Electoral College).

Pluralist Democracy

Model where many competing interest groups influence policy, preventing any single group from dominating.

Federalists

Supporters of the new Constitution who favored a strong national government and checks & balances to prevent tyranny.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the Constitution who feared centralized power and demanded a Bill of Rights.

Federalist Papers

Essays (e.g., Federalist No. 10) advocating ratification and explaining the Constitution’s mechanisms against tyranny.

Brutus (Anti-Federalist Essays)

Series of writings warning that the Constitution would erode state power and individual liberties.

Articles of Confederation

First U.S. constitution that created a weak national government dominated by state power.

Shays’ Rebellion

1786–87 farmer uprising exposing the inability of the Articles government to maintain order.

Constitutional Convention (1787)

Meeting in Philadelphia where delegates replaced the Articles with the U.S. Constitution.

New Jersey Plan

Proposal favoring small states: unicameral legislature with equal state representation.

Virginia Plan

Proposal favoring large states: bicameral legislature with representation based on population.

Great Compromise (Connecticut)

Created bicameral Congress: House by population, Senate with equal representation per state.

⅗ Compromise

Counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation.

Slave Trade Compromise

Banned congressional action on the international slave trade until 1808.

Electoral College

Body of electors chosen by states to select the President, blending popular and state inputs.

Amendment Process

Constitutional change requires proposal by ⅔ of Congress and ratification by ¾ of state legislatures.

Separation of Powers

Division of governmental authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

Checks and Balances

Mechanisms enabling each branch to limit the others, preventing concentration of power.

Legislative Branch

Congress; makes laws, controls spending, can declare war, override vetoes, and impeach officials.

Executive Branch

President; enforces laws, commands military, conducts diplomacy, can veto legislation.

Judicial Branch

Federal courts; interprets laws and exercises judicial review over other branches.

Federalism

System of shared sovereignty between national and state governments.

Delegated (Enumerated) Powers

Powers explicitly granted to the national government by the Constitution (e.g., coin money, declare war).

Reserved Powers

Powers not given to the national government; kept by the states (e.g., education, marriage laws).

Concurrent Powers

Powers exercised by both national and state governments (e.g., taxation, building roads).

Fiscal Federalism

Use of federal grants to influence state policies.

Categorical Grants

Federal funds for specific purposes with conditions set by Congress.

Block Grants

Federal funds for broad purposes; states decide how to spend them.

Mandates

Federal requirements that states must follow; may be funded or unfunded.

10th Amendment

Reserves to the states (or people) powers not delegated to the federal government.

14th Amendment

Contains Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses; applies many rights to the states.

Necessary and Proper Clause

Gives Congress authority to pass laws needed to execute its enumerated powers (basis for implied powers).

Enumerated Powers

Specifically listed powers of Congress in Article I, Section 8.

Implied Powers

Powers not written but derived from the Necessary and Proper Clause.

Supremacy Clause

Establishes the Constitution and federal laws as the supreme law of the land over state laws.

Commerce Clause

Grants Congress power to regulate interstate commerce; scope debated in courts.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Upheld national supremacy and implied powers; states cannot tax federal entities.

Wickard v. Filburn (1942)

Expanded commerce power to regulate even personal cultivation affecting the national market.

United States v. Lopez (1995)

Limited Congress’s commerce power; struck down federal gun-free school zone law.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Requires states to honor public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of other states.

Dual Federalism

Doctrine that state and national governments operate separately in their own spheres (‘layer cake’).

Cooperative Federalism

Model where national and state governments share responsibilities and resources (‘marble cake’).

Laboratories of Democracy

Idea that states experiment with policies, providing models for national adoption.

Multiple Access Points

Many venues (local, state, national) through which citizens and groups can influence policy.