AP US Gov Unit 1

Politics

The activity of influencing government actions and policies, including deciding who governs and what government does.

Government

The institutions and processes through which public policies are made and enforced.

Power

The ability of one person or group to get another person or group to act in accordance with its wishes.

Authority

The right to exercise power that is accepted as legitimate.

Legitimacy

The belief that a government or its actions have the right to exercise power.

Democracy

A system of government in which political power ultimately comes from the people.

Direct Democracy

A democracy in which citizens vote directly on laws and policies rather than electing representatives to make decisions for them.

Representative Democracy

A democracy in which citizens elect officials to make political decisions on their behalf.

Republic

A form of representative government in which political authority comes from the people and is exercised by elected representatives.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that governmental power comes from the consent of the people.

Republicanism

The principle that citizens elect representatives to make government decisions on their behalf.

Majority Rule

The principle that the choice supported by more than half of participants should generally prevail.

Minority Rights

The principle that the rights and liberties of people outside the majority must still be protected.

Participatory Democracy

A model of democracy emphasizing broad and direct participation by citizens in politics.

Pluralist Democracy

A model of democracy in which many competing groups influence government and no single group dominates.

Elite Democracy

A model of democracy in which a relatively small number of people with greater wealth, education, status, or influence have substantial political power.

Bureaucratic View

The theory that appointed government officials and bureaucrats exercise significant political power.

Pluralist View

The theory that political power is distributed among many competing groups and organizations.

Power Elite View

The theory that political power is concentrated among a small group of influential leaders in government, business, the military, and other institutions.

Marxist View

The theory that economic class and control of wealth strongly shape political power.

Political Agenda

The issues that government officials and the public consider important and worthy of government action.

Policy

A decision or course of action adopted by government.

Public Policy

Laws, rules, decisions, and actions taken by government to address public issues.

Majoritarian Politics

Politics in which a policy provides widely distributed benefits and widely distributed costs.

Interest Group Politics

Politics in which a policy creates concentrated benefits for one group and concentrated costs for another group.

Client Politics

Politics in which a small group receives concentrated benefits while costs are distributed among many people.

Entrepreneurial Politics

Politics in which benefits are widely distributed while costs are concentrated on a small group.

Political Entrepreneur

A person who mobilizes public support for a policy despite opposition from groups that would bear its costs.

Interest Group

An organized group that attempts to influence public policy.

Natural Rights

Rights people possess simply by being human; commonly identified by Locke as life, liberty, and property.

Unalienable Rights

Rights that cannot legitimately be taken away by government; the Declaration identifies life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Social Contract

An agreement in which people consent to government in exchange for protection of their rights.

Consent of the Governed

The idea that legitimate government depends on the approval of the people it governs.

Limited Government

The principle that government power is restricted by laws and a constitution.

Rule of Law

The principle that everyone, including government officials, must follow the law.

Individual Rights

Liberties and protections belonging to individuals that government must respect.

Liberty

Freedom from unnecessary government interference.

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker whose ideas about natural rights, consent of the governed, and the social contract strongly influenced the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Hobbes

Political philosopher who argued that government is necessary to prevent disorder and conflict among individuals.

Montesquieu

Enlightenment thinker whose ideas about separating governmental powers influenced the Constitution.

Declaration of Independence

1776 document asserting natural rights, consent of the governed, and the people's right to alter or abolish a government that violates their rights.

Articles of Confederation

The first U.S. national government; created a weak central government and gave most power to the states.

Confederation

A political system in which independent states give limited authority to a weak central government.

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

Congress could not tax or effectively regulate commerce, there was no independent executive or national judiciary, and changing the Articles required unanimous state approval.

Shays' Rebellion

1786–1787 uprising by Massachusetts farmers that demonstrated the weakness of the national government under the Articles and encouraged calls for a stronger government.

Constitutional Convention

1787 meeting in Philadelphia originally called to revise the Articles of Confederation but which instead produced the Constitution.

Framers

Delegates who participated in designing the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention.

Virginia Plan

Constitutional proposal favoring a strong national government and representation in Congress based on state population.

New Jersey Plan

Constitutional proposal favoring smaller states by providing equal representation for each state.

Great Compromise / Connecticut Compromise

Agreement creating a bicameral Congress with population-based representation in the House and equal state representation in the Senate.

Bicameral Legislature

A legislature consisting of two chambers; Congress consists of the House and Senate.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Agreement that, for representation and direct taxation, enslaved people would be counted as three-fifths of a person; later made obsolete by the 13th and 14th Amendments.

Electoral College

Constitutional system in which electors chosen by the states formally elect the president.

Federalists

Supporters of the Constitution who favored a stronger national government.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of Constitution ratification who feared excessive national power and demanded stronger protections for individual and state rights.

Ratification

Formal approval of the Constitution; approval by 9 of 13 states was required for it to take effect.

Federalist Papers

Essays written primarily by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay defending the Constitution and encouraging its ratification.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution, added largely to protect individual liberties and address Anti-Federalist concerns.

Constitution

The supreme governing document of the United States that establishes the national government's structure, powers, limits, and relationship with the states.

Preamble

Introduction to the Constitution explaining its broad purposes and beginning with "We the People."

Article I

Establishes the legislative branch, Congress.

Article II

Establishes the executive branch and presidency.

Article III

Establishes the judicial branch and Supreme Court.

Article IV

Establishes important rules governing relationships among states and between states and the national government.

Article V

Establishes the process for amending the Constitution.

Article VI

Establishes national supremacy and includes the Supremacy Clause.

Article VII

Establishes the process for ratifying the Constitution.

Legislative Branch

Branch of government responsible primarily for making laws; Congress.

Executive Branch

Branch responsible primarily for enforcing laws; headed by the president.

Judicial Branch

Branch responsible for interpreting laws and resolving legal disputes; includes the Supreme Court and lower federal courts.

Separation of Powers

Division of legislative, executive, and judicial authority among separate branches of government.

Checks and Balances

System allowing each branch of government to limit or check powers exercised by the other branches.

Veto

Presidential power to reject legislation passed by Congress.

Impeachment

Formal accusation of a federal official; the House impeaches and the Senate conducts the trial.

Judicial Review

Power of courts to determine whether government actions or laws violate the Constitution.

Constitutional Amendment

A formal change or addition to the Constitution.

Formal Amendment Process

Amendments are generally proposed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the states.

Federalism

Constitutional division of power between the national government and state governments.

Federal System

Government in which the national and state governments each possess constitutionally protected authority.

Unitary System

Government in which ultimate authority rests with the central government, which gives powers to lower levels.

Confederal System

Government in which states or regional governments hold most power and grant limited authority to a central government.

Enumerated Powers

Powers specifically granted to the national government by the Constitution.

Expressed Powers

Another term for powers explicitly stated in the Constitution.

Implied Powers

National government powers not explicitly listed but reasonably inferred from its enumerated powers.

Reserved Powers

Powers not delegated to the national government and therefore reserved to the states or people under the 10th Amendment.

Concurrent Powers

Powers exercised by both national and state governments, such as taxation.

Exclusive Powers

Powers belonging only to one level of government.

Police Powers

State authority to regulate health, safety, welfare, and morals.

Necessary and Proper Clause / Elastic Clause

Article I provision allowing Congress to make laws necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers; basis for implied powers.

Commerce Clause

Constitutional provision giving Congress power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with Native American tribes.

Supremacy Clause

Article VI provision establishing the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties as the supreme law of the land when valid federal and state laws conflict.

10th Amendment

Reserves powers not delegated to the United States nor prohibited to the states to the states or the people.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Requires states generally to recognize the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of other states.

Privileges and Immunities Clause

Prevents states from unreasonably discriminating against citizens of other states regarding fundamental rights.

Extradition

Process through which a person charged with a crime who flees to another state can be returned to the state where the alleged crime occurred.

Interstate Compact

Agreement between two or more states addressing issues that cross state boundaries.

Interstate Commerce

Economic activity involving more than one state and therefore potentially subject to congressional regulation.

Intrastate Commerce

Economic activity occurring entirely within one state.

Dual Federalism

Model of federalism in which national and state governments operate in relatively separate areas of authority; often called layer-cake federalism.

Cooperative Federalism

Model in which national, state, and local governments work together and their responsibilities overlap; often called marble-cake federalism.