Foundations of American Democracy VOCABULARY (UNIT 1)

Limited Government

A political system where the powers of the government are restricted by laws or a constitution. This ensures that individual freedom is protected from government overreach.

natural rights

The fundamental rights inherent to all individuals, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which cannot be taken away without due process.

Popular sovereignty

is the principle that the authority of the government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, often expressed through voting.

Republicanism/Representative democracy

A political ideology where representatives are elected to make decisions on behalf of the people, emphasizing the importance of civic involvement and the public good.

Social contract

An agreement among individuals to form a government, outlining the rights and duties of the government and the governed, ensuring protection of natural rights.

Democracy

A system of government in which power is vested in the people, who rule either directly or through freely elected representatives.

Direct Democracy

A form of democracy in which citizens participate directly in decision-making and policy formation, without intermediary representatives.

Initiative

A process that allows citizens to propose legislation or constitutional amendments and vote on them directly, often bypassing the legislature.

Referendum

A direct vote in which an entire electorate is invited to vote on a particular proposal and can result in the adoption of a new law or policy.

Recall

A political process through which voters can remove an elected official from office before the end of their term, often through a petition and subsequent vote.

Participatory democracy

a system in which citizens have direct involvement in decision-making processes, while representative democracy relies on elected officials to make decisions on behalf of the electorate.

Pluralist democracy

a political system where multiple groups coexist and compete for power, ensuring that no single entity dominates, allowing for diverse interests to be represented in decision-making.

Elite democracy

A political theory emphasizing that a small number of wealthy and influential individuals hold the most power, making key decisions on behalf of the broader population.

Popular consent

is the principle that a government's legitimacy and moral right to use state power is justified and legal only when derived from the consent of the people.

Majority rule

is a decision-making principle that asserts that the preferences of more than half of the voters should guide policy decisions and election outcomes in a democratic system.

Majority

rule is a fundamental democratic principle ensuring that the majority's preferences drive decisions, reflecting the will of the electorate.

Plurality

Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election, not necessarily more than half

Constitutionalism

The set of arrangements, including checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, rule of law, due process, and a bill of rights, that requires our leaders to listen, think, bargain, and explain before they act or make laws. We then hold them politically and legally accountable for how they exercise their powers.

Statism

The idea that the rights of the nation are supreme over the rights of the individuals who make up the nation.

Theocracy

Government by religious leaders, who claim divine guidance

Federalism

Constitutional arrangement in which power is distributed between a central government and sub divisional governments, called states in the United States. The national and the sub divisional governments both exercise direct authority over individuals.

Dual Federalism

Views the Constitution as giving a limited list of powers—primarily foreign policy and national defense—to the national government, leaving the rest to the sovereign states. Each level of government is dominant within its own sphere. The Supreme Court serves as the umpire between the national government and the states in disputes over which level of government has responsibility for a particular activity

Cooperative federalism

Stresses federalism as a system of intergovernmental relations in delivering governmental goods and services to the people and calls for cooperation among various levels of government.

Devolution

The effort to slow the growth of the federal government by returning many functions to the states.

Fiscal Federalism

Through different grant programs, slices up the marble cake into many different pieces, making it even more difficult to differentiate the functions of the levels of government.

Central government

Reserved powers

Delegated/Expressed/ Enumerated powers

Implied powers

Inherent powers

Exclusive powers

Concurrent powers

Commerce clause

Necessary and proper clause

Supremacy clause

Full faith and credit clause

privileges and immunities clause

Extradition

Categorical grants

Block grants

Revenue sharing

Mandates/unfunded mandates