UNIT 1 VOCAB CIVICS

Natural rights

 Rights that are given by God or by nature and thus come not from a law passed by the government but rather are inherent to all individual human beings from birth.

individual rights

rights that are required to live a free and equitable life and cannot be interfered with or denied by the government or individuals

Liberty

 The power to think and act as you want without restraint expect by the laws of nature and interfering with someone else's rights.

Equality

The idea that every person is born with the exact same natural rights and deserves equal treatment under the law.

Anti-Federalist-

opponents of ratification of the constitution and of a strong central government

Federalist

supporters of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government

Articles of the confederation

The first governing document of the confederated states drafted in 1777, ratified in 1781, and replaced by the present Constitution in 1789

Checks and Balances

Constitutional grant powers that enables each of the three branches of the government to check some acts of the others and therefore ensure that no branch can dominate.

Constitution-

 Is the supreme law of the United States. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789.

Federalism

Constitutional arrangement in which power is distributed between a national government and state governments

Legislative Branch

Is composed of 2 bodies, The House of Representatives and The Senate, and the agencies that's support members of Congress, such as the Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office. The legislative branch makes all laws, declares war, regulates trade and controls taxing and spending policies.

Judicial Branch

The court system (led by the Supreme Court) that interprets laws and decides if they agree with the Constitution. and it resolves other disputes about the federal law

Executive Branch

The president, vice president, and federal agencies responsible for enforcing and carrying out federal laws.

Limited government

Is a theory of governance in which the government only has those powers delegated to it by law, often through a written constitution.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that the government is based on the consent of the people.

Republicanism

The political belief that the best form of government is when citizens can choose their representatives and leaders through free elections(NOT THE SAME AS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY)

Rule of law

Is a set of principles, or ideals, for ensuring an orderly and just society.

Separation of Powers

Refers to the division of splitting government responsibilities into three different branches so one branch doesn't hold all the power.

Ratify

 to approve in an official way: confirm

Representative Democracy

 a system of government in which all eligible citizens vote on representatives to pass laws from them

Bill of Rights

 the first ten amendments to the US Constitution

Majority Rule/Minority Rights-

 Laws are made with the consent of the majority but do not infringe on the inalienable rights of the minority.