AP Gov - Ch. 2 Vocab

constitution

a document that sets out the fundamental principles of governance and establishes the institutions of government

republics

a government in which people elect representatives to carry out their wishes

Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union

a governing document that created a union of thirteen sovereign states in which the states, not the national government, were supreme

unicameral

having a one-house legislature

Shay’s Rebellion

An uprising by debtors against the government of Massachusetts; it highlighted the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and the need for a stronger national government.

Constitutional Convention

A meeting attended by state delegates in 1787 to fix the Articles of Confederation; it resulted in the creation of the United States Constitution.

writ of habeas corpus

the right of people detained by the government to know the charges against them; a document setting out the reasons for an arrest or detention and ensuring that an individual cannot be held without just cause.

bills of attainder

legislative acts that declare people guilty and impose punishment on those people without a trial; prohibited by the Constitution as a protection against arbitrary legislative decisions.

ex post facto laws

laws that punish people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed and are prohibited by the Constitution to protect individuals from retroactive criminal liability.

bicameral

having a two-house legislature

Grand Committee

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

Great (Connecticut) Compromise

An agreement to create a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives apportioned proportionately and a Senate apportioned equally

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

Compromise on Importation

An agreement that Congress could not restrict the slave trade until 1808

separation of powers

a design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its own

checks and balances

a design of government in which each branch has powers that can prevent the other branches from making policy

federalism

the sharing of power between the national government and the states

legislative branch

the institution responsible for making laws.

expressed or enumerated powers

authority specifically granted to a branch of the government in the Constitution

necessary and proper/elastic clause

language in Article I, Section 8 granting Congress the powers necessary to carry out its enumerated powers.

implied powers

authority of the federal government that goes beyond its expressed powers

executive branch

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

judicial branch

the institution responsible for hearing and deciding cases through the federal courts

supremacy clause

constitutional provision declaring that the Constitution and all federal laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land

amendment

a formal change made to the Constitution

Federalists

supporters of the proposed Constitution, who called for a strong national government

Anti-federalists

those opposed to the proposed Constitution, who favored stronger state governments

Federalist Papers

a series of eighty-five essays, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay and published between 1787 and 1788, that lay out the theory behind the Constitution

Federalist No. 51

an essay in which Madison argues that separation of powers and federalism will prevent tyranny

faction

a group of self-interested people who use the government to get what they want, trampling the rights of others in the process

Federalist No. 10

an essay in which Madison argues that the dangers of faction can be mitigated by a large republic and republican government.

Brutus No. 1

an Anti-federalist Paper arguing that the country was too large to be governed as a republic and that the Constitution gave too much power to the national government