Unit 3 Gov

Popular sovereignty

The power and Authority of government belong to the people; the people rule.

Natural rights

Unalienable rights; guaranteed to all citizens

Social contract

Citizens give up some power/ autonomy in exchange for protection

Republicanism

A system of government in which citizens vote for individuals to make decisions about policy;

Separation of powers

Each branch of the government is granted specific areas of power

Checks and balances

Each branch of government can limit the actions of the other branches in order to prevent a branch accumulating too much power

Federalism (division of powers)

Division of powers among the national and state government

Majority rule and majority rights

Keeps minority not underrepresented, and majority not over represented

The declaration of independence

Announce the political separation of the colonies from Great Britain and detailed natural rights, social contract, and the ability for citizens to rebel against and replace an unjust government

The constitution

Set out the structure and functions of the new Republican form of government and includes the preamble which front loads the constitution and the purpose of the new government

What is article 1, 2 and three

Article one details legislative branch, article 2 details executive branch and article 3 details judicial branch

Article 4 and 5

Relations among states and amendment process

Articles six and seven

National supremacy and the ratification process

What did the Bill of Rights (amendments 1 through 10)

Addressed the concerns of the anti-federalists

What is a participatory/direct democracy?

People directly vote for policy makers; method used for voting of the House of Representatives

Pluralist democracy/elite democracy

• pluralism is the idea that democracy should incorporate influence from several different groups without allowing anyone group to dominate

• Democracy buys the idea that an elite group people make the decision decisions in government

Articles of confederation

Newly independent colonies’ first attempt at creating a central government

States had more power than the national government

Brutus number one, federalist number 10, and federalist number 51

• Brutus one is an anti-federalist argument, it criticizes the constitution because it creates a national government that has too much power which is a threat to liberty

• Federalist 10 is a federalist argument that the large republic created by the constitution is the best defense against the problem created by factions

• Federalist 51 is a federalist argument that the constitution protects liberty by utilizing a system of checks and balances