APUSH Unit 1

democracy:

democracy:

a system of government where power is held by the people.

natural rights

a system of government where power is held by the people.

Social Contract

people allow their governments to rule over them to ensure an orderly and functioning society.

American Political Culture

people allow their governments to rule over them to ensure an orderly and functioning society.

Popular Sovereignty

people allow their governments to rule over them to ensure an orderly and functioning society.

Republicanism

a system in which the government’s authority comes from the people through their representatives.

U.S. House of Representative election for every

2 years

Term of U.S. senator is

6 years.

Inalienable Rights

rights the government cannot take away.

Liberty

social, political, and economic freedoms.

Participatory Democracy

social, political, and economic freedoms.

Civil Society Groups

an independent association outside the government’s control.

Pluralist Theory

an independent association outside the government’s control. emphasizes the role of groups in the policymaking process

Elitist Theory

A theory of democracy that the elites have a disproportionate amount of influence in the policy making process.

Political institution

the structure of government, including the executive, legislature, and judiciary.

Constitutional Republic

a democratic system with elected representatives in which the constitution is the supreme law.

Republics

a government ruled by representatives of the people

Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union

a governing document that created a union of 13 sovereign states in which the states, not the union, were supreme

Unicameral

one-house legislature

Shay’s Rebellion

made the articles of confederation problems appear..

Constitutional Convention

a meeting attended by state delegates in 1787 to fix the Articles of confederation

writ of habeas corpus

the right of people detained by the government to know the charges against them

bills of attainder

when the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial.

ex post facto laws

laws punishing people for acts that were not cries at the time they were committed

Virginia Plan

A plan of government calling for a 3 branch gov with a bicameral legislature, where more populous states would have more representation in Congress.

New Jersey Plan

a plan of government that provided for a unicameral legislature with equal votes for each states.

Bicameral

a two-house legislature

Grand Committee

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

Great (Connecticut) Compromise:

 an agreement for a plan of government that drew upon both the Virginia and New Jersey Plans; it settled issues of state representation by calling for 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 a slave would count as three-fifths of a person in calculating a state's representation.

Compromise on Importation:

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

necessary and proper or elastic clause:

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

Amendment

the process by which changes may be made to the Constitution.

Federalists:

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

Antifederalists:

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. I:

an Antifederalist 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.

Unitary Systems (Concentrated Power):

one central government exercise authority. National government may delegate certain powers to subnational govs.

Confederal Systems (Decentralized Power):

in which the subnational governments, such as states, have more power than the national government. In ____ national governments depend heavily on the states to carry out and pay for public policies.

Federal Systems (Divided Power):

power is divided between the states and the national government. Each level of government retains some exclusive powers and has some powers denied to it.

Enumerated or expressed powers:

refer to those powers granted to the national government in the Constitution, and especially to Congress. powers explicitly granted to the national government through the Constitution;

Implied Powers

authority of the federal government that goes beyond its expressed powers; powers not granted specifically to the national government but considered necessary to carry out the enumerated powers.

commerce clause:

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

Supremacy Clause:

constitutional provision declaring that the Constitution and all national laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land. states must abide by the laws passed by Congress, even if state constitutional provisions conflict with them.

Tenth Amendment:

reserves powers not delegated to the national government to the states and the people; the basis of federalism.

Article V:

gives states final say about an amendment that will become part of the constitution.

Concurrent Powers:

Finally, both the national government and states are given the authority to act in certain areas of public policy.

full faith and credit clause:

requires states to recognize the public acts, records, and civil court proceedings from another state.

privileges and immunities clause:

prevents states from discriminating against people from out of state.

Selective Incorporation:

which fundamental liberties in the Bill of Rights are applied to the states on a case-by-case basis. This is done through Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides

cooperative federalism

: in which both levels work together in the same areas of public policy. Under this type of federalism, the two levels do not generally play the same roles.

Grants in Aid:

federal money provided to states to implement public policy objectives.

Unfunded mandates:

federal requirements the states must follow without being provided with funding.

Block Grant:

State has power with what to do with the money exactly. provide federal money for public policies in a way that tries to increase state, local, and regional authority in how that money is spent and lessen federal influence.

Devolution:

returning more rule to state or local governments. by decentralizing control and administration of programs.

Pluralism

assumes that diversity is beneficial to society and that autonomy should be enjoyed by disparate functional or cultural groups within a society, including religious groups, trade unions, professional organizations, and ethnic minorities.

Categorical Grants

money granted by the federal government to state and local governments, with strict limitations on how it is to be spent

Dual Federalism

a form of American federalism in which the states and the national government operate independently in their own areas of public policy.