AP Gov/Comp 1.2 Concepts and Vocabulary

constitution

a document establishing the basic principles, fundamental laws, structural framework, and limits of power for a government

republic

a representative form of government in which elected officials rather than a monarch, govern according to law and derive power from citizens

Articles of Confederation

the original governing framework of the US (1781-1789) that established a weak government and strong, sovereign states; replaced due to its inability to tax, regulate trade, or enforce laws

unicameral

a political system featuring a single-house legislative body

bicameral

a political system featuring a two-house legislative body (such as US Congress)

Shays’ Rebellion

a 1786 armed uprising of debt-burdened Massachusetts farmers against land foreclosures that exposed the weakness of the central government under the Articles of Confederation and accelerated calls for a stronger national government

Constitutional Convention

the 1787 meeting of delegates in Philadelphia originally tasked with revising the Articles of Confederation, which ultimately drafted the current US Constitution

writ of habeas corpus

a legal order requiring judges to evaluate whether a detained person is being held lawfully, protecting individuals against arbitrary detention

bills of attainder

legislative acts that declare a person/group guilty of a crime and inflict punishment without a judicial trial (explicitly prohibited in Article 1 of Constitution)

ex past facto laws

criminal laws that punish actions committed before the law was passed (explicitly prohibited by Article 1 of Constitution)

Virginia Plan

a proposal at the Constitutional Conference drafted by James Madison that called for a strong national government with a bicameral legislature apportioned entirely by population, favoring larger states

New Jersey Plan

a proposal at the Constitutional Conference favoring smaller states called for a unicameral legislature with equal representation for each state, retaining the basic structure of the Articles of Confederation

Great Connecticut Compromise

the agreement reconciling the Virginia and New Jersey plans by creating a bicameral legislature; a House of Representatives based on state population and a Senate with equal representation

three-fifths compromise

an agreement counting three-fifths of enslaved people toward a state’s population for the dual purposed of Congressional representation and direct federal taxation

fugitive slave clause

a constitutional provision requiring states to return escaped enslaved individuals to their owners in the state which from they fled

compromise on importation

an agreement barring Congress from banning the transatlantic slave trade prior to 1808 while allowing a federal tax on imported enslaved individuals

seperation of powers

the constitutional divisions of government power among distinct branches to prevent any single branch from gaining total authority

checks and balances

a system authorizing each branch of the government to restrict or influence the actions of the other branches, preventing concentration of power

federalists

supporters of the ratification of the 1787 Constitution who advocated for a centralized national government

anti-federalists

opponents of the ratification of the 1787 Constitution who favored state sovereignty, feared federal overreach, and demanded a Bill of Rights to protect individual liberties

federalist papers

a collection of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay under the pseudonym “Publius” to persuade New York voters to ratify the US Constitution

faction

a group of citizens united by a common passion or interest opposed to the right of other citizens or the interest of the whole community