AP Gov Un.1

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution which guarantee specific individual liberties and limit government power.

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.

Confederate System

A form of government where state or regional governments hold the most power and the central government is weak.

Connecticut Compromise/Great Compromise

An agreement that created a bicameral legislature with a population-weighted House and a Senate with equal representation for each state.

Factions

Interest groups or political parties that James Madison argued could be dangerous to the stability of a republic.

Federalist Papers

A series of 85 essays written by Hamilton Madison and Jay to persuade New York voters to ratify the Constitution.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal for a unicameral legislature where each state would have one vote regardless of population size.

Bicameral Legislature

A lawmaking body made up of two houses or chambers such as the U.S. Congress.

Separation of powers

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

Shays Rebellion

An uprising of farmers in Massachusetts that exposed the fundamental weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

Virginia Plan

A proposal for a strong central government with a bicameral legislature where representation was based on state population.

Participatory democracy

A model of democracy in which citizens have the power to make policy decisions directly rather than through elected representatives.

Elite Democracy

A model of democracy in which a small number of people usually those who are wealthy or well-educated influence political decision making.

Natural Rights

The idea that all humans are born with innate rights which include life liberty and property as defined by John Locke.

Pluralist Democracy

A model of democracy in which no one group dominates politics and organized groups compete with each other to influence policy.

Popular sovereignty

The principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people.

Republicanism

A philosophy of limited government with elected representatives serving at the will of the people.

Block grants

Federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs in areas such as community development.

Categorical grants

Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes or categories of state and local spending.

Concurrent powers

Powers that are shared by both the federal government and the state governments such as the power to tax.

Cooperative Federalism

A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government.

Consent of the governed

The idea that a government's legitimacy and moral right to use state power is only justified when consented to by the people.

Dual federalism

A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres.

Elastic (necessary+proper) clause

The final paragraph of Article 1 Section 8 which authorizes Congress to pass all laws necessary and proper to carry out the enumerated powers.

Enumerated powers

Powers specifically addressed in the Constitution for the federal government.

Federalism

A way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same land and people.

Fiscal Federalism

The pattern of spending taxing and providing grants in the federal system.

Unfunded mandates

Statutes or regulations that require a state or local government to perform certain actions yet provide no money for fulfilling the requirements.

Implied powers

Powers of the federal government that go beyond those explicitly stated in the Constitution.

U.S. v Lopez

A landmark Supreme Court case that ruled Congress exceeded its commerce clause power by prohibiting guns in a school zone.

McCulloch v. Maryland

A Supreme Court decision that established the supremacy of the national government over state governments and upheld implied powers.

Mandates

Requirements that direct states or local governments to provide additional services under threat of penalties or as a condition of receipt of a federal grant.

Reserved powers

Powers not specifically granted to the federal government or denied to the states which belong to the states and the people per the 10th Amendment.

Revenue sharing

A law providing for the distribution of a fixed amount or share of federal tax revenues to the states for spending on almost any government purpose.

Supremacy clause

The clause in Article VI of the Constitution that makes the Constitution national laws and treaties supreme over state laws.