Unit 1: Foundations of U.S. Democracy

These vocabulary flashcards cover the foundational concepts of U.S. government, including types of democracy, constitutional principles, the evolution of federalism, and the structure of state and local government based on the provided lecture notes.

Government

The means by which a society organizes itself and allocates authority to accomplish collective goals and provide societal benefits.

Politics

The process of gaining and exercising control within a government for the purpose of setting and achieving particular goals.

Oligarchy

A form of government where a handful of elite members of society, often from a particular political party, hold all political power.

Democracy

A government in which political power—influence over institutions, leaders, and policies—rests in the hands of the people.

Republic

A representative democracy where citizens elect representatives to make decisions and pass laws on behalf of all the people.

Majority Rule

A fundamental principle of democracy stating that the opinions of the majority should have more influence on government and make decisions binding for the whole population.

Minority Rights

Protections for individuals who have views or identities not shared by the majority.

Totalitarianism

A form of government that is all-powerful, controlling all aspects of citizens' lives and prohibiting political criticism or opposition.

Capitalism

An economic system characterized by private ownership of the means of production for profit, emphasizing individualism and the freedom to act as one chooses.

Socialism

An economic system in which the government owns many of the means of generating wealth and redistributes it to citizens.

Communism

A form of socialism in which the government owns all the means of generating wealth, such as factories, large farms, and banks.

Direct Democracy

A political system in which people participate directly in making government decisions, such as in ancient Athens or New England town meetings.

Referendum

An element of direct democracy where citizens vote on proposed laws or changes to constitutions during state or local elections.

Initiative

A process allowing citizens to gather enough signatures to place a proposed law on the ballot.

Recall

An election held to remove an elected official, such as a governor or school board member, from office.

Tyranny of the Majority

A dynamic where a majority makes decisions or influences government exclusively for its own benefit and to the detriment of a minority population.

Elite Theory

The argument that a set of elite citizens, often wealthy and well-educated, is in charge of the government and that others have no influence.

Pluralist Theory

The theory that political power is distributed throughout society among competing interest groups who share influence in government.

Political Culture

Widely held beliefs, values, and attitudes about government and politics that provide a common sense of national identity.

Natural Rights

Believed to be God-given rights to life, liberty, and property, as theorized by John Locke.

Social Contract

An implicit agreement between a people and their government where people consent to be ruled in exchange for the protection of their rights.

Confederation

A form of government in which independent, self-governing states form a union for acting together in specific areas such as national defense.

Articles of Confederation

The first constitution of the United States, in effect from $1781$ to $1789$, which created a weak central government.

Virginia Plan

A proposal for a bicameral legislature where representation in both houses was based on the state's population.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal for a unicameral legislature where each state would have one vote, regardless of size.

Great Compromise

The agreement to have a two-chamber Congress consisting of the Senate (equal representation) and the House of Representatives (population-based representation).

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement to count $60\text{ percent}$ of a state's enslaved population for purposes of congressional apportionment and federal taxation.

Separation of Powers

The division of national government into three separate branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

Checks and Balances

A system giving each of the three branches of government the power to restrict the actions of the others to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.

Veto

The power of the president to reject a bill passed by Congress, preventing it from becoming law.

Judicial Review

The power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of laws and actions taken by other branches of government or the states.

Federal System

A form of government in which power is divided between the federal (national) government and the state governments.

Enumerated Powers

The explicit powers granted to the federal government by the Constitution in Article I, Section $8$.

Reserved Powers

Powers not expressly given to the national government, intended to be exercised by the states according to the Tenth Amendment.

Supremacy Clause

The statement in Article VI of the Constitution that federal law is the supreme Law of the Land.

Necessary and Proper Clause

Also known as the elastic clause, it provides Congress with the power to make all laws needed to carry out its enumerated powers.

Writ of Habeas Corpus

A court order requiring an officer who has custody of a prisoner to show cause why the prisoner is being held.

Bills of Attainder

Laws that declare someone guilty of a crime without a trial, which the Constitution prohibits Congress from passing.

Ex Post Facto Laws

Laws that retroactively criminalize an act that was not criminal when it was performed.

Federalists

Supporters of the ratification of the Constitution who favored a strong central government.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of ratification who feared a strong national government and believed state legislatures could better protect individual freedoms.

Federalist Papers

A series of $85$ essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to convince Americans to support the new Constitution.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, added in $1791$ to guarantee individual liberties.

Dual Federalism

A system compared to a layer cake where states and the national government exercise exclusive authority in distinct spheres of jurisdiction.

Cooperative Federalism

A system compared to a marble cake where both levels of government coordinate their actions to solve national problems.

New Federalism

The attempt to decentralize policies and restore state prominence in policy areas previously controlled by the federal government.

Competitive Federalism

A dynamic where local, state, and federal governments compete for control over policy issues.

Categorical Grants

Federal transfers of money to states that limit how the funds are used and are subject to strict administrative criteria.

Block Grants

Federal funding that provides states more flexibility over how to spend the funds with less stringent conditions.

Unfunded Mandates

Federal laws and regulations that impose obligations on state and local governments without fully compensating them for the costs incurred.

Dillon’s Rule

The legal principle asserting that state actions trump those of the local government and have supremacy.

Home Rule

A degree of autonomy and discretion given to local governments to make policy or tax decisions, usually through a charter.

Line-item Veto

The power of most governors to strike out individual portions of a bill while allowing the rest to pass into law.

Amendatory Veto

A power held by some governors to send a bill back to the legislature with a request for a specific amendment.

State Legislature

The representative body in states responsible for researching, writing, and passing legislation and overseeing the executive branch.

Municipal Government

A form of local government that oversees the operation and functions of cities and towns.