poli sci ch 2

Amendment

Ability to change or add to the U.S. Constitution; formal method of changing or adapting the rules for governing.

Anti-federalists

Those who did not support ratification of the Constitution.

Articles of Confederation

The first constitution for the United States of America; adopted in 1781; created an alliance of sovereign states held together by a weak central government with no chief executive.

Bicameral legislature

A legislature with two houses, such as the U.S. Congress.

Bill of attainder

Trial by legislature rather than court system.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution; most were designed to protect fundamental rights and liberties.

Civil liberties

Limitations on the power of government, designed to ensure personal freedoms.

Civil rights

Guarantees of equal treatment by government authorities.

Confederacy/Confederation

A highly decentralized structure of government; roughly co-equal entities/sovereign states form an alliance for purposes such as mutual defense or any other agreed purpose.

Consent

Citizens may consent to give up some liberties to governing authority/rule of law in order to receive a benefit like security/order.

Declaration of Independence

A document written in 1776 in which the American colonists proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and listed their grievances against King George III.

Due process clause

Provisions of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments that limit government power to deny people "life, liberty, or property" on an unfair basis; procedural rules designed to ensure equal treatment of all individuals.

Equal representation

Legislative representatives for each state to be exactly equal regardless of population.

Enumerated powers

Specifically expressed or explicit powers.

Ex post facto law

After the fact; laws enacting retroactive punishment.

Federal

A structure of government in which power is divided between state governments and a national government.

Federalist Papers

A collection of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in support of ratification of the Constitution.

Federalists

Those who supported ratification of the Constitution.

Great Compromise

A compromise between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan that created a two-house Congress; representation based on population in the House of Representatives and equal representation of states in the Senate.

Habeas corpus

Present the body; government may not suspend due process protections; government may not hold an individual indefinitely without acknowledging charges against the individual.

Natural rights

The right to life, liberty, and property; believed to be given by a Higher Power or understood by human reasoning ability; no government may give/convey these liberties; government may only protect or infringe on these rights.

New Jersey Plan

A plan that called for a one-house national legislature; each state would receive one vote.

Popular sovereignty

The people are sovereign rather than a monarch or oligarchy; the rule of law places people above politics.

Proportional representation

Legislative representatives for each state based upon the state’s population rather than geographical size or any other factor.

Ratification

Method of formal acceptance of the U.S. Constitution; gaining the consent of the citizens.

Reserved powers

Powers granted that are specifically stated or expressed.

Separation of powers

The sharing of powers among three separate branches of government.

Social contract

An agreement between people and government in which citizens consent to be governed so long as the government protects their natural rights.

Supremacy clause

Article VI of the Constitution proclaims that the Constitution, laws passed by Congress, and treaties made by the federal government were 'the supreme Law of the Land.'

Term limits

Limiting the president and members of Congress to a specified number of terms of office; no restrictions to this day on congressional terms.

Three-Fifths Compromise

A compromise between northern and southern states that called for counting of all a state’s free population and 60 percent of its slave population for both federal taxation and representation in Congress.

Unalienable rights

Rights all human beings possess; rights to life, liberty of movement, and personal property; inseparable.

Unicameral

A legislature with only one house, like the Confederation Congress or the legislature proposed by the New Jersey Plan.

Unitary

A form of government in which any other level of government below the national government is dependent on the central government, where substantial authority is concentrated.

Virginia Plan

A plan for a two-house legislature; representatives would be elected to the lower house based on each state’s population; representatives for the upper house would be chosen by the lower house.