AP Gov Chapter 2 Vocab

Hippensteel, Block 2

constitution

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

republic

a government ruled by representatives of the people

Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union

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

unicameral

a one-house legislature

Shay’s Rebellion

a popular uprising against the government of Massachusetts

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

bill of attainder

when the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial

ex post facto law

a law punishing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed a

Virginia plan

a plan of government 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 state

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.

Bicameral

a two-house legislature

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 it’s 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/enumerated powers

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

necessary and proper (elastic) clause

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

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.

executive branch

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

judicial branch

the institution responsible for hearing and decided cases through federal courts

supremacy clause

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

amendment

a constitutional provision for a process by which changes may be made to the Constitution.

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federalists

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

antifederalists

a person 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 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 tryanny

faction

a group of self-interested people

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 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