AP Government Unit 1

Limited Government

A system where the government power is limited by a Constitution, people maintain their rights, and people have the power to change their government to work how they want it to work.

Natural Rights

Rights that everyone has the moment they’re born. (Life, liberty, and property/pursuit of happiness)

Republic/Republicanism

A republic is a government where the power rests with the people, who choose elected representatives to make decisions.

Social Contract

An agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection

Participatory Democracy

a model of democracy in which citizens have the power to decide directly on policy and politicians are responsible for implementing those policy decisions

Pluralist Democracy

a model of democracy in which no one group dominates politics and with each other to organized groups completes influence policies.

Majority Rule

A fundamental principle of traditional democratic theory - In a democracy, choosing among alternatives requires that the majority’s desire be respected

Elite Democracy

a model of democracy in which a small number of people, usually those who are wealthy and well educated, influence political decision making (some people may have “better” judgement)

Minority Rights

A principle of traditional democratic theory that guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities. (religious rights, language rights, and cultural autonomy)

Preamble to the Constitution

Summarizes the Founding Fathers’ intention to create a federal government dedicated to ensuring that “We the People” always live in a safe, peaceful, healthy, well-defended—and most of all—free nation.

Federalists

Someone who believes in the type of political system in which states or territories share control with a central government.

Anti-Federalists

A person who opposed the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. Opposed to a federalist system of government (one in which power is divided between a central government and several local ones)

Centralized Government

The same rules and laws for everyone in the country, basically everything is the same for everyone, no matter what state you are in. (Post office, FDA, etc)

Decentralized Government

A type of government that disperses power over many legislative bodies (like states) instead of maintaining power amongst a few individuals at the national level.

Factions

An organization of people with common goals that are willing to put their needs over others for their own sake (Usually in the context of political parties)

Shays’ Rebellion

A farmer/ex vet rebellion against courthouses for *high taxes* and *no form of debt relief* when they were struggling to meet ends (was a sign that there needed to a more centralized government)

New Jersey Plan

One body legislature plan to protect small states by allowing each state to have equal votes in Congress (2 representatives from each state regardless of population)

Virginia Plan

A plan to create three branches of government with a legislature split into two bodies that would benefit big states by allowing representation based on population (representation based on population purely)

Great (Connecticut) Compromise

The House would have representatives based on population while the Senate would have only two Senators to represent each state equally.

Three-Fifths Compromise

A compromise made between Northern (free) states and Southern (slave-owning) states when drafting the Constitution.  To determine how many representatives in the House each state would receive, slaves were counted as ⅗ of a person when determining population.

Article V of Constitution

States the process to make an amendment (addition and/or change) to the US Constitution. (2/3 of both Houses of Congress to propose and 3/4 of states needed to ratify)

Reserved Powers

Powers that are NOT specifically granted to the US government by the Constitution are considered “reserved” to the states instead. (establishing public schools, marriage laws, running elections)

10th Amendment

Declares that powers not granted to the US national government are “reserved to the states.

State Sovereignty

the idea that states should maintain their own authority, power, and control over the laws that are followed within their own borders. The idea is one that Anti-Federalists like Brutus favored. (speed limits, high school grad. requirements)

Separation of Powers

An act of vesting the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government in separate bodies (Congress, President, Supreme Court)

Checks and Balances

A system that lets each branch of a government to amend or veto acts of another branch so as to prevent any one branch from exerting too much power

Ratification

The action of signing or giving formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement, making it officially valid

Article VII of the Constitution

Declares that the Constitution shall become the official law of ratifying states when nine states ratified the government

Denied Powers

Powers denied to a nation and state government branches to maintain balance and fairness (making treaties with foreign governments, deciding how federal money is spent)

Federalism/Federal System

Type of political organization that unites separate states within an overarching political system in a way that allows each to maintain its own value (county, city, state, central government)

Exclusive Powers

Powers that are exclusive to either the State or Federal government

Concurrent Powers

Powers that are shared by both federal and state governments

Supremacy Clause

States that the federal government upholds Supremacy over state governments

Article Vl

Declares that all Constitutional Amendments will be final law of America, and no citizens or states will ever change that, establishing the Supremacy Clause

Enumerated Powers

The powers granted to the Federal government, and specifically Congress, which are listed in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution (collect taxes, declare war, regulate commerce)

Commerce Clause

authorizes Congress to “regulate Commerce with foreign nations and among the several states, and with Indian Tribes” (Article I)

Implied Powers

Political powers granted to the United States government that aren’t explicitly stated in the Constitution. They’re implied to be granted because similar powers have set a precedent.

Necessary and Proper Clause

Congress has the power “to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States or any Department or Officer thereof” (aka elastic clause)

Stakeholder

a person with an interest or concern in something, especially a business

Linkage Institution

Structures and groups that connect people to the government - ways people get information from and about the government and ways that people share what they want TO the government. (media, political parties, elections, interest groups)

Federal Revenue Sharing

an effective, efficient, and equitable program providing general purpose fiscal assistance to States and units of local government” (Wall). Basically the federal government gives funds to the states and local governments and can be used for anything by the state/local government

Categorical Grants

Money lent to states and local governments with narrow limits on how it can be spent. There are two types: Project and Formula. Project grant funding is used to subsidize specific service for a specified amount of time and are competitive. Formula grant funding is for services that help a specific group of people. (Medicaid, food stamp program)

Block Grants

Funding given by the Federal government for a “broadly defined purpose” like social service. They are given primarily to general purpose government units in accordance with a statutory formula

Mandates

An official order or commission to do something. The government typically provides funds for implementation of mandate throughout the states. (Clean Water Act, Violence Against Women Act)

Unfunded Mandates

Official order or commission to to do something, without money given from the federal government. (Clean Air Act, Civil Rights Act of 1964)

Federalist Paper 10

Madison argued that political factions are undesirable but inevitable and believed that the excesses of factionalism could be limited by the system of republican representation created by the Constitution

Federalist Paper 51

Argues that separation of powers within the national government is the best way to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of one person or a single group

Brutus I

Argues that a free republic cannot exist if it becomes too large (anti-federalist)