FCLE 80-Question Answer Study Guide

Vocabulary flashcards based on an 80-question FCLE study guide, covering U.S. constitutional principles, landmark Supreme Court cases, and founding documents.

Representative democracy

The constitutional principle promoted by the amendment in $1913$ which required U.S. senators to be elected directly by the people instead of state legislatures.

Federalist Papers

The document containing the excerpt stating that the people are called to deliberate on a new Constitution due to the inefficiency of the subsisting federal government.

Cooperative federalism

The type of federalism represented by the interstate highway system.

Texas v. Johnson ($1989$)

A Supreme Court decision based on the principle that the government may not prohibit expression simply because people find it disagreeable.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

A Supreme Court decision focusing on whether money given to political candidates is a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment.

Tenth Amendment

An amendment whose purpose is to reserve powers to the states.

Defamation

Untrue statements made about a competitor that are not protected by the First Amendment.

Checks and balances

The constitutional principle that allows one branch of government to limit overreach by another branch.

Fifth Amendment

The part of the Bill of Rights that protects Americans from self-incrimination and double jeopardy.

Fair Housing Act of $1968$

Federal law enacted to outlaw discrimination in housing and mortgage applications.

Federalism

The principle emphasized by James Madison that the general government's power is limited to specific areas not achievable individually by the states.

Federalist Papers Authors

The principal authors were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.

Social contract theory

The theory that the U.S. government receives its authority to rule from the consent of the people.

Due process

The theory of democracy reflected in the Magna Carta's statement that no freeman shall be imprisoned except by the lawful judgment of his peers.

Presidential veto

A constitutional power that influences policymaking when a president disagrees with a bill passed by Congress.

Monroe Doctrine

A landmark executive action warning European countries that reestablishing political control in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a threat to U.S. peace.

Northwest Ordinance

A government document that prohibited the expansion of slavery into certain U.S. territories and outlined the process for admitting new states.

Advice and consent

A practice demonstrated when the Senate confirms a presidential nominee, such as an ambassador to the United Nations.

Equal protection

The principle associated with protecting minority rights within majority rule.

Sixth Amendment

The amendment that guarantees a trial by jury in all criminal proceedings.

Civil Rights Act of $1964$

The federal law that was the focus of President Lyndon Johnson’s Executive Order $11246$ concerning equal employment opportunity.

Separation of powers

The constitutional principle that diffuses authority among the three branches of government.

Necessary and Proper Clause

A clause introduced to provide flexibility to the powers granted to Congress.

Korematsu v. United States

A Supreme Court case that upheld a suspension of civil rights in the name of national security.

Free Exercise Clause

The part of the U.S. Constitution influenced by the Virginia Declaration of Rights regarding the direction of religion by reason and conviction.

Massachusetts

The state whose model for balancing power among branches had the most influence on the U.S. Constitution.

Separate but equal

The doctrine the Supreme Court ruled racial segregation was permitted under in the case Plessy v. Ferguson.

Consent of the governed

The principle used to describe the perspective that the growth of interest groups since the $1970s$ gives people more avenues to have a voice.

Second Amendment

The amendment which protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

Supremacy Clause

The clause applied by a court to invalidate a state law that directly conflicts with a federal law.

Political equality

The principle that individuals should be treated equally under the same law.

Articles of Confederation

An early founding document that failed because it did not grant the national government the power to tax.

District of Columbia v. Heller

A landmark Supreme Court case based on the Second Amendment.

Members of Congress

The government officials who hold the power to change the size of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Wall of separation between church and state

A phrase from an $1802$ letter by Thomas Jefferson reflecting freedom protected by the Bill of Rights.

Executive order

A method the president can use to circumvent the legislative process.

Senate

The chamber of Congress that must confirm a justice nominated by the president to the Supreme Court.

Nineteenth Amendment

The amendment that guarantees voting rights by prohibiting discrimination based on sex.

African Americans

The group to whom the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were primarily intended to extend civil rights.

Declaration of Independence

A document heavily influenced by John Locke providing a rationale for the colonies’ inability to remain under British control.

Miranda v. Arizona

The case requiring law-enforcement officers to inform suspects of their right to remain silent and to an attorney before custodial interrogation.

Gideon v. Wainwright

The Supreme Court case establishing that the accused has the right to assistance of counsel.

Rule of law

The constitutional principle justifying the impeachment of a president for lying under oath.

Judicial review

The principle established in Marbury v. Madison stating that the Supreme Court can declare actions unconstitutional.

Virginia Plan

A proposal at the Constitutional Convention of $1787$ for a two-house legislature with representation based on population.

Equal Pay Act

The federal law focusing on women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings from $1979$ to $2020$.

Popular sovereignty

The political principle that people yearn to speak their minds and have a say in how they are governed.

Electoral College

The constitutional mechanism that gives individual states a key role in selecting the president.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The federal law associated with data showing the uninsured rate falling to a record low.

Living document

The interpretation of the U.S. Constitution as a document whose meaning changes over time.

Fourth Amendment

The basis for overturning a conviction when police search a seized cellphone without a warrant, as seen in Riley v. California.

Republic

A form of government where mob rule is less likely to occur than in a direct democracy.

House of Representatives

The body assigned by the Constitution to select the president if no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes.

Anti-Federalists

A group whose primary concern was that the Constitution lacked an enumerated list of individual rights.

Oath of Office

The requirement that members of Congress and other officials promise to uphold the U.S. Constitution before officially taking office.

Legislative branch

The branch of the federal government granted the power to lay and collect taxes.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

The Supreme Court case focused on undergraduate enrollment by race and ethnicity.

Three-Fifths Compromise

The compromise addressing how enslaved people would be counted for representation and taxation.

McCulloch v. Maryland

A Supreme Court decision based in part on an interpretation of the Necessary and Proper Clause in $Article\,I,\,Section\,8$.

Enumerated powers

The collective name for the constitutional authority granted to Congress in $Article\,I,\,Section\,8$.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

A landmark Supreme Court case that was overturned by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Public-school system

An example of an implementation of a reserved power held by the states or the people.