Chapter 3: Constitutions

Appropriations Bills

Laws passed by legislatures authorizing the transfer of money to the executive branch.

Ballot Initiatives

Processes through which voters directly convey instructions to the legislature, approve a law, or amend the constitution.

Bicameral Legislatures

Legislatures made up of two chambers, typically a house of representatives, or assembly, and a senate.

Colonial Charters

Legal documents drawn up by the British Crown that spelled out how the colonies were to be governed.

Constitutional Amendments

Proposals to change a constitution, typically enacted by a supermajority of the legislature or through a statewide referendum.

Constitutional Convention

An assembly convened for the express purpose of amending or replacing a constitution.

Constitutional Revision Commissions

Expert committees formed to assess constitutions and suggest changes.

Direct Democracy

A system in which citizens make laws themselves rather than relying on elected representatives.

Dual Constitutionalism

A system of government in which people live under two sovereign powers. In the United States, these are the government of their state of residence and the federal government.

Electorate

The population of individuals who can vote.

Franchise

The right to vote.

Jim Crow Laws

Legislative measures passed in the last decade of the 19th century that sought to systematically separate black people and white people.

Judicial Federalism

The idea that the courts determine the boundaries of state-federal relations.

Judicial Review

The power of the courts to assess if a law is in compliance with the constitution.

Line-Item Veto

The power to reject a portion of a bill while leaving the rest intact.

Model Constitution

An expert-approved generic or "ideal" constitution that states sometimes use as a yardstick against which to measure their existing constitutions.

Municipal Charter

A document that establishes operating procedures for a local government.

Natural Law

A set of moral and political rules based on divine law and binding on all people; also known as higher law.

Plenary Power

Power that is not limited or constrained.

Ratification

A vote of the entire electorate to approve a constitutional change, referendum, or ballot initiative.

Reconstruction

the period following the Civil War when the Southern states were governed under the direction of the Union army.

Referendums

Procedures that allow the electorate to accept or reject a law passed by the legislature.

Separation of Powers

The principle that government should be divided into separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each with its own powers and responsibilities.

Unicameral Legislatures

Legislatures that have only one chamber. Nebraska is currently the only U.S. state with this.