Government - Terms To Know 1B

Magna Carta

1215 Charter signed by King John of England limiting the power of the English monarchy

Petition of Right

1628 document signed by King Charles I of England making King subject to the laws of the land

Bicameral

Two chambers or houses

Limited Government

The notion that government’s power is restricted in what it may do in order to protect the citizen’s natural rights

Representative Government

Government whereby persons are elected to represent areas or portions of the population

Charter

A written grant of authority from a King or other governmental agency

Proprietary

Organized by a proprietor (person to whom a King has given a grant of land)

Delegate

A person who represents an area or territory with the authority to pass

Boycott

A refusal to purchase a service or item as a form of protest

Repeal

To recall or do away with

Popular Sovereignty

Principle that the source of all political power is the people being governed

Ratification

To formally approve of something

Framers

Group of delegates who drafted the United States Constitution in Philadelphia, 1787

Virginia Plan

Plan proposed by James Madison at the constitutional convention in 1787 which called for a three-branch government and a bicameral legislature based on state population