AP GOV: Unit 1 VOCAB

Great (Connecticut) Compromise

This created a dual (bicameral) system of congressional representation with the House of Representatives based on each states population and the Senate representing each state equally.

Electoral College

This created a system for electing the president by electors from each state rather than by popular vote or by congressional vote.

Three-fifths Compromise

This provided a formula for calculating a state’s enslaved population for purposed of representation in the House and for taxation.

Importation Clause

This postponed until 1808 a decision whether to ban the International trade of enslaved persons.

Exclusive Powers

Power that is held by only one level of government and includes enumerated powers that are written in the Constitution.

Concurrent Powers

Powers shared between both levels of government such as the power to collect taxes, and the power to make and enforce laws and the power to build roads.

Implied Powers

Powers that are. not specifically written in the constitution but are inferred from the Necessary and Proper Clause.

Reserved Powers

Powers not delegated or enumerated to the national government but are reserved to the states, as stated in the Tenth Amendment

Declaration of Independence

• This document was drafted by Thomas Jefferson (with help from Adams and Franklin)

• Restates the philosophy of natural rights, and provides a foundation for popular sovereignty

Articles of Confederation

This document created a loose organization of states focusing on mutual defense, where the central government had limited powers and most power was delegated to the individual states

US Constitution

• This document is an example of a social contract and establishes a system of limited government

• It was drafted by James Madison at the Constitutional Convention in Philidelphia that was led by George Washington

Federalist 10

This essay focused on the superiority of a large republic in controlling the '“mischiefs of faction,” delegating authority to elected representatives and dispersing power between the states and national government

Federalist 51

This essay explains how constitutional provisions of separation of powers and checks and balances control potential abuses by majorities

Brutus 1

This essay adhered to popular democratic theory that emphasizes benefits of a small, decentralized republic while warning of the dangers to personal liberty from large, centralized government

Bill of Rights

A compromise was struck to protect civil liberties from government abuse that the Anti-Federalists demanded after the Constitution was ratified

Federalists

Led by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, they promoted ratification of the Constitution and wrote published essays defending their ideas

Anti-Federalists

With no central leadership, but different authors from many states, their essays criticized the creating of the Constitution and saw it as a power gran destined to oppress the states and their citizens in a tyrannical fashion

Tenth Amendemnt

Also known as the “reserved powers clause”, it states that powers not delegated or enumerated to the nation government are reserved to the states.

Fourteenth Amendment

This contains the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, giving the national government the power to enforce protections for an person against the states, but Supreme Court interpretations can influence the extent of those protections

Commmerece Clause

Found in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3, gives the Congress the right to regulate trade within the US as well as with native American Indian tribes and foreign nations

Necessary and Proper Clause

Found in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18, it gives Congress the power to make laws related to carrying out its enumerated powers, but Supreme Court interpretations can influence the extent of these powers

Supremacy Clause

Found in Article 6, Clause 2, it gives the national government and its laws general precedence over states laws, but Supreme Court interpretations may affect when specific actions exceed this constitutional power

Revenue Sharing

A type of national funding with alsmot no restrictions to the states on its use and its the least used form of funding

Block Grants

A type of national funding that is broad with minimal restrictions to the states on its use and is preferred by the states

Categorical Grants

A type of national funding that is restricted to specific categories of expenditures, is preferred by the national government, and is the most commonly used form of funding

Natural Rights

All people have certain individual God-given or unalienable rights that cannot be taken away

Social Contract

An implicit agreement amount the people in a society to give up some freedoms to maintain social order

Popular Sovereignty

All government power comes from the consent of its people

Limited Governemnt

A government power cannot be absolute

Seperation of Powers

The division of government responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another

Checks and Balances

A system that allows each branch of a government to amend, override, or veto acts of another branch to prevent any one branch from exerting too much power or power beyond its authority

Federalistm

United States in which power is shared between the national and state government

(CLassical) Republicanism

A theory of government going back to Ancient Greece and Rome, that emphasizes the participation of citizens for the common good of the community

Participatory Democracy

This type of democracy emphasizes broad civic engagement by citizens in politics and civil society

Pluralist Democracy

This type of democracy emphasizes group-based activism by nongovernmental interests striving for impact on political decision making and requires compromise

Elite Demoocracy

This type of democracy emphasizes limited participation in politics and civil society by those with economic, therefore, political, power.

Direct Democracy

This types of democracy is a form of government in which policies and laws are decided by a majority of all those eligible rather than by a body of elected representatives

Representative

(indirect)

Democracy

(Republic)

This types of democracy is when supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch