AP Gov Chapters 2-3 Vocab (Part B)

Amendment

A new provision in the Constitution that has been ratified by the states.

Anti-Federalists

Opposed the new Constitution, feared it would erode fundamental liberties, and argued that it was a class-based document serving the economic elite.

Articles of Confederation

The document that outlined the voluntary agreement between states and was adopted as the first plan for a permanent union of the United States.

Bicameral

A two-house legislature.

Bill of Attainder

When the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial.

Bill of Rights

The first ten Amendments to the Constitution passed after ratification specifically protecting individual liberties to fulfill promises made by the Federalists to the Anti-Federalists.

Checks and balances

Each branch requires the consent of the others for many of its decisions.

Coalition

An alliance of factions.

Compromise on Importation

Congress could not restrict the slave trade until 1808.

Concurrent powers

Powers shared by the national and state governments.

Connecticut Compromise

The plan adopted at the Constitutional Convention to provide for two chambers in Congress: one representing states equally and the other representing states on the basis of population.

Consent of the governed

People must agree on who their rulers will be.

Constitution

A nation's basic law creating institutions, dividing power, and providing guarantees to citizens.

Constitutional Convention

Meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 that produced a new constitution.

Declaration of Independence

The document used by the signers to announce and justify the Revolutionary War and which was specifically designed to enlist the aid of foreign nations in the revolt.

Enumerated powers

Powers given to the national government alone (found in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution).

Equal Rights Amendment

First proposed in 1923, passed by Congress in 1972, but was not ratified by three-fourths of the states; mandated equality of rights under the law regardless of gender.

Ex post facto law

A law that makes an act criminal although the act was legal when it was committed.

Executive Branch

The institution responsible for carrying out laws passed by the legislative branch.

Expressed Powers

Authority specifically granted to a branch of the government in the Constitution.

Factions

Groups of people (such as political parties or interest groups) who arise as a result of unequal distribution of wealth to seize the reins of government in their own interest.

Federalism

A system of shared government authority between two or more levels of government (national and state).

Federalist Papers

Articles written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay to convince others to support the new Constitution.

Federalists

Argued for ratification of the Constitution by writing the Federalist Papers.

Grand Committee

A committee at the Constitutional Convention that worked out the compromise on representation.

Great Compromise

Plan to have a popularly elected House based on state population and a state-selected Senate with two members for each state.

Habeas Corpus / Writ of Habeas Corpus

An order to produce an arrested person before a judge; enables detained people to secure an immediate inquiry into the reasons for their detention.

Implied powers

Powers beyond Congress' enumerated powers which ensure that it can carry out its duties.

Judicial Branch

The institution responsible for hearing and deciding cases through federal courts.

Judicial review

The power of the courts to decide whether the actions of the legislative and executive branches of state and national governments are in accordance with the Constitution.

Legislative Branch

The institution responsible for making the laws.

Limited government

Clear restrictions on what rulers could do in order to safeguard natural rights.

Line-item veto

An executive's ability to block a particular provision in a bill passed by the legislature.

Marbury v. Madison

1803 Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review.

Necessary and proper clause (Elastic Clause)

Section of the Constitution allowing Congress to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to its duties, permitting Congress to exercise implied powers.

New Jersey Plan

A plan by delegates at the Constitutional Convention to provide each state with equal representation in Congress.

Republic

A system based on the consent of the governed where power is exercised by representatives of the public.

Reserved Powers

Any powers not prohibited by the Constitution or delegated to the national government; powers reserved to the states and denied to the federal government.

Separation of powers

Each branch of government is independent of the others.

Shays' Rebellion

A series of armed attacks on courthouses by farmers to prevent judges from foreclosing on farms.

Supremacy clause

Article VI of the Constitution states that the supreme law of the land is the Constitution, national laws, and treaties.

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement reached by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that an enslaved person would count as three-fifths of a person in calculating a state's representation and taxation.

U.S. Constitution

The document where the foundations of U.S. government are written, providing national institutions that each have separate but not absolute powers.

Unalienable

A human right based on nature or God that cannot be taken away.

Unicameral

A one-house legislature.

Veto

The power of the president to reject a law proposed by Congress.

Virginia Plan

A plan by delegates at the Constitutional Convention to provide each state with a share of congressional seats based on its population.

Block grants

Broad program grants given more or less automatically to states and communities, which exercise discretion in how the money is spent.

Categorical grants

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

Commerce Clause

Grants Congress the authority to regulate interstate business and commercial activity.

Conditions of aid

Terms set by the national government that states must meet if they are to receive certain federal funds.

Confederal Government

A system where the subnational (state) governments hold most of the power.

Cooperative federalism

System where state and national government responsibilities are mingled and blurred like a marble cake.

Creeping Categorization

Process in which the national government attaches new administrative requirements to block grants or supplants them with new categorical grants.

Devolution

Transferring responsibility for policies from the federal government to state and local governments.

Dual federalism

System where states and the national government each remain supreme within their own spheres of power, like a layer cake.

Extradition

Constitutional requirement that each state return a person charged with a crime in another state to that state for trial or imprisonment.

Fiscal federalism

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

Formula grants

A type of categorical grant where states and local governments are given funds automatically on the basis of a mathematical formula.

Full faith and credit

Article IV requirement that states provide reciprocity toward other states' public acts, records, and civil judicial proceedings.

General Revenue Sharing

A type of federal grant that places minimal or no restrictions on how state and local governments spend the money.

Grants-in-aid

Money given by the national government to the states.

Gibbons v. Ogden

1824 Supreme Court case expanding Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce by defining commerce broadly to incorporate every form of commercial activity.

Immigration federalism

The gradual movement of states into regulating immigration policy, traditionally handled by the federal government.

Initiative

Process that permits voters to put legislative measures directly on the ballot.

Intergovernmental relations

The entire set of interactions among national, state, and local governments.

Mandates

Terms set by the national government that states must meet whether or not they accept federal grants.

McCulloch v. Maryland

1819 Supreme Court case establishing the supremacy of the national government over the states and confirming implied powers under the Elastic Clause.

Nullification

The doctrine that a state can declare null and void a federal law that, in the state's opinion, violates the Constitution.

Police power

The power of a government to enact laws that promote citizens' health, safety, and morals.

Privileges and immunities

Constitutional provision prohibiting states from discriminating against citizens of other states.

Project grant

Categorical grants awarded on the basis of competitive, merit-based applications.

Race-to-the-bottom

A dynamic in which states compete to attract business by lowering taxes and regulations, often to the detriment of workers.

Recall

Procedure whereby voters can remove an elected official from office before their term ends.

Referendum

Procedure enabling voters to reject or approve a measure passed by the legislature.

Selective Incorporation

The process through which the Supreme Court applies fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights to the states on a case-by-case basis using the 14th Amendment.

Tenth Amendment

Specifies that powers not delegated to the national government nor prohibited are reserved for the state government or the people.

Unfunded Mandate

Federal requirement that states must follow without being provided with funding to pay for compliance.

Unitary government

A system where all power resides in the central government.