Ap Government Vocab - 10 All Vocab

Politics

The process of influencing the actions and policies of government

Government

The institutions that make up the system of policymaking

Democracy

A system of government where power is held by the people, including free and fair elections and civil rights and liberties

Natural Rights

The right to life, liberty and property which government cannot take away

Social Contract

An agreement between people and the government where the people give up some freedoms and allow their government to rule over them to ensure an orderly and functioning society

Popular Sovereignty

The idea that the government’s right to rule comes from the consent of the people

Limited Government

A system in which the authority of the government is not absolute

Republican Government

A system in which the people elect representatives to carry out their wishes

Inalienable Rights

Rights the government can’t take away

Liberty

Social, political, and economic freedom

Participatory Democracy (Theory)

A theory that widespread participation in politics and civil society is essential to democratic government

Civil Society Groups

Independent associations outside of the governments control

Pluralist Theory

A theory of democracy that emphasizes the role of nongovernmental group-based activism in an effort to impact the policymaking process

Elite Theory

A theory of democracy based on the premise that participation in politics and civil society is limited because elites have a disproportionate amount of influence in the policy making process

Political Institutions

The structure of government, including the executive branch, the legislature, and the judiciary

Articles of confederation and Perpetual Government

A governing document that created a union of thirteen sovereign states which the states, not the national government, were supreme

Unicamerical

Having a one-house legislature

Shay’s Rebellion

An uprising by debtors against the government of Massachusetts.

Constitutional Convention

A meeting attended by state delegates in 1787 to fix the Articles of Confederation

Writ of Habeas Corpus

he right of people detained by the government to know the charges against them

Bills of Attainder

legislative acts that declare people guilty and impose punishment on those people without a trial

Ex post facto laws

Laws that punish people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed

Biamerical

Having a two-house legislature

Grand Commitee

A committee at the constitutional convention that worked out the compromise on representation

Great (Connecticut) Compromise

An agreement to create a bicameral legislature with a house of representatives apportioned proportionately and a Senate apportioned equally.

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement reached by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that an enslaved person would count as three-fifths of a person calculating a state’s representation.

Compromise on Importation

An agreement that congress could not restrict the slave trade until 1808

Federalism

The sharing of power between the national government and the sates

Legislative Branch

The institution responsible for making laws

Expressed or enumerated powers

Authority specifically granted to a branch of the government constitution

Necessary or elastic clause

Language in Article 1, Section 8 granting congress the powers necessary to carry out its enumerated powers

Implied Powers

Authority of the federal government that goes beyond its expressed powers

Executive Branch

The institution responsible for carrying out laws passed by the legislative branch

Judicial Branch

The institution responsible for hearing and deciding cases through the federal courts

Supremacy Clause

Constitutional provision declaring that the constitution and all the laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land

Amendment

A formal change made to the constitution

Federalists

Supporters of the constitution who calls for a strong government

Antifederalists

Those opposed to the constitution who favored a stronger state government

Federalist Papers

A series of eighty-five essays that lays out the theory behind the constitution, by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay

Faction

A group of self-interested people who use the government to get what they want, trampling the rights of others in the process

Federalists No.10

An essay which Madison argues that the dangers of faction can be mitigated by a large republic and republican government

Brutus No.1

An Antifederalist paper arguing that the country was too large to be governed as a republic and that the Constitution gave too much power to the national government

Federalist No. 51

an essay in which Madison argues that separation of powers and federalism will prevent tyranny

Federalism

a system that divides powers between the nation and state governments

unitary system

A system where the central government has all the power over subnational governments

Confederal system

A system where the subnational government has most of the power

Federal system

a system where power is divided between the national and state governments

enumerated or expressed powers

Powers explicitly granted to the national government through the constitution; also called expressed powers

Exclusive powers

Powers only the national government may exercise

Implied powers

Powers not granted specifically to the national government but implied from the necessary and proper clause to carry out the enumerated powers

Due process clause

clause in the 14th amendment that restricts state governments from denying persons their life, liberty, or property without legal safeguards

Equal protection clause

clause in the 14th amendment is that requires states to treat all persons alike with regards to the application of the laws

Commerce clause

clause that grants congress the authority to regulate interstate business and commercial activity

Nessesary and proper clause

Clause that grants the federal government the authority to pass laws required to carry out its enumerated powers (also called the elastic clause)

Supremacy clause

Clause that established the constitution and the laws of the federal government passed under its authority as the highest law of the land

Tenth amendment

Clause that reserves powers not delegated through the national government to the states and the people; the basis of federalism

Reserved powers

powers not given to the national government, which are retained by the states and the people

concurrent powers

powers granted to both states and federal governments in the constitution

Full faith and credit clause

Constitutional clause requiring states to recognize the public acts, records, and public proceedings of another state

Extraction

the requirement that officials in one state return a defendant to another state where the defendant allegedly has committed a crime

Privileges and immunities clause

constitutional clause that prevents states from discriminating against people from out of state

Thirteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment that outlaws slavery

Fourteenth Amendment

A constitutional amendment that provides that persons born in the United States are citizens and prohibits states from denying persons due process or equal protection under the law

Fifteenth amendment

Constitutional amendment that prohibits the denial of voting rights on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, which gave black male citizens the right to vote

selective incorporation

The process in which the Supreme Court applies fundamental rights in the bill of rights to the states in a case-by-case basis

Grants-in-aid

federal money provided to states to implement public policy objectives

Categorical grants

National funding of the states where spending is specifically restricted to certain categories

Mandate

Federal requirements states must follow

block grants

a type of grant preferred by sets that give state officials more authority over how federal funds are spent

Revenue sharing

when federal governments apportions tax money to the states with no strings attached