2025 American Government-Unit 1 Full Set

Rule of Law

principle that the law applies to everyone, even those who govern

Separation of Powers

Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law

Checks and Balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power

consent of the governed

The idea that government derives its authority by sanction of the people.

Individual Rights

Basic liberties and rights of all citizens are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

Natural Rights (John Locke)

Life, Liberty, and Property. Belief that all humans are born with these and it's government's responsibility to protect them

Federalism

A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments

Popular Sovereignty

A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.

Republicanism

A form of government in which people elect representatives to create and enforce laws

Limited Government

The idea that certain restrictions should be placed on government to protect the natural rights of citizens.

Social Contract Theory

The belief that people are free and equal by natural right, and that this in turn requires that all people give their consent to be governed; espoused by John Locke and influential in the writing of the declaration of independence.

Declaration of Independence

1776 statement, issued by the Second Continental Congress, explaining why the colonies wanted independence from Britain.

Legitimate government

one that is accepted by its people and other governments as the sovereign authority of a nation.

Articles of Confederation

1st Constitution of the U.S. 1781-1788 (weaknesses-no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade)

New Jersey Plan (small state plan)

The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state's population.

Virginia Plan (large state plan)

The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for representation of each state in Congress to be proportional to its population.

3/5th Compromise (1787)

counted every five slaves as three individuals for purposes of taxation and representation

Electoral College

a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.

Federalists

A term used to describe supporters of the Constitution during ratification debates in state legislatures.

Anti-Federalists

Rose up as the opponents of the Constitution during the period of ratification. They opposed the Constitution's powerful centralized government, arguing that the Constitution gave too much political, economic, and military control. They instead advocated a decentralized governmental structure that granted most power to the states

Political Parties

organized groups that attempt to influence the government by electing their members to important government offices

political socialization

The process by which we develop our political attitudes, values, and beliefs.

Role of Political Parties

Nominate candidates, act as bonding agent, inform supporters, govern, act as watchdog

3rd parties

parties formed to bring out specific issues ignored by the major parties

Democratic beliefs

federal gov. should be more directly involved in American lives, like the economy, income, housing, education, and jobs for the poor

Republican beliefs

reducing size of government, streamlining bureaucracy, returning power to individual states, core belief in privacy of individuals, fight for individual rights in opposition to a large intrusive government

Ideology

a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

linkage institutions

The channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the government's policy agenda. In the United States, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

Interest groups are

organizations that seek to influence government in order to achieve some or all of their goals.

Iron Triangle

The three-way alliance among legislators, bureaucrats, and interest groups to make or preserve policies that benefit their respective interests.

Suffrage

the right to vote

disenfranchise

to deprive of the right to vote

Voting Rights Act of 1965

a law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African-American suffrage

Voting Barriers

Any obstacle in place that might make voting more difficult: Voter ID laws, Language Access, Polling Place elimination, etc...

Symbolism (political cartoon)

A person, place or object which has a meaning in itself but suggests other meanings as well

Exaggeration (political cartoon)

Typically the change or emphasis of physical features of individual to appear to make look foolish

Labeling (political cartoon)

Use of direct words to clearly indicate image in political cartoon

Analogy (political cartoons)

Use of comparison between two objects not alike to make a point

Irony (political cartoons)

technique where something you would not expect to be present is present. often used to shock

activism

The practice of pursuing political or other goals through vigorous action, often including protests and demonstrations

Stonewall Riots (1969)

Violent clashes between police and gay patrons of New York City's Stonewall Inn, seen as the starting point of the modern gay rights movement.

Judicial Review

Allows the court to determine the constitutionality of laws

Marbury v. Madison

This case establishes the Supreme Court's power of Judicial Review

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

The Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-State.

14th Amendment (1868)

Grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the US"; it forbids any state to deny any person "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws." Most important law ever passed besides original Constitution and Bill of Rights. It has been the vehicle for the expansion of civil rights, women's rights, gay rights among other movements. It also allowed for the "incorporation doctrine" which means the application of the national Bill of Rights to the states.

Equal Protection Clause

14th amendment clause that prohibits states from denying equal protection under the law, and has been used to combat discrimination

Democracy

A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them

Monarchy

A government in which power is in the hands of a single person, often a king or queen

Dictatorship

A form of government in which the leader has absolute power and authority.

Theocracy

A government controlled by religious leaders

Direct Democracy

A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives

Representative Democracy

A system of government in which citizens elect representatives, or leaders, to make decisions about the laws for all the people.

19th Amendment (1920)

Gave women the right to vote

10th Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

14th Amendment

Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws

1st Amendment

Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition