AP US Government - Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards focusing on democratic ideals, Enlightenment political theories, models of democracy, colonial grievances, and core foundational documents for AP US Government Unit 1.

Limited Government

A political philosophy advocating that governmental power is restricted by law, primarily through constitutions, to protect individual rights and liberties.

Thomas Hobbes

Enlightenment philosopher who wrote Leviathan, characterizing the state of nature as 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short' and arguing that citizens give up rights to an absolute sovereign ruler in exchange for peace and security.

John Locke

Philosopher who wrote Second Treatise of Civil Government, proposing Natural Law (Life, Liberty, and Property) and asserting that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Popular Sovereignty

The political principle that ultimate authority and power reside in the people, and that government exists only to carry out the general will.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Thinker who wrote The Social Contract, famous for stating 'Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains,' who advocated for pure direct democracy and an egalitarian society.

Participatory Democracy

A model of democracy emphasizing direct participation by citizens, who vote directly on laws and policies rather than relying on elected representatives.

Initiative

A state and local participatory mechanism that gives citizens the power to directly propose a law and place it on the ballot for a popular vote.

Referendum

A participatory electoral mechanism where citizens gather support to place a recently passed legislative law on a public ballot to either repeal or uphold it.

Elite Democracy

A model of democracy in which a small number of people, usually wealthy or well-educated, influence political decision-making and hold key government access.

Pluralist Democracy

A model of democracy where citizens join organized interest groups that compete with one another to put pressure on lawmakers and influence policy.

Committee of Five

The committee appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.

Republic (Representative Democracy)

An indirect democracy in which voters select representatives to frame and pass laws on their behalf, balancing majority rule with minority rights.

Articles of Confederation

The first U.S. governing document (1777) that created a loose 'league of friendship' among sovereign states, lacking an executive branch, federal courts, or national power to tax.

Shays' Rebellion

An armed uprising by New England farmers protesting debt collection and property confiscation that exposed severe economic and military weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation.

Federalist No. 10

An essay addressing the 'mischief of factions,' arguing that a large representative republic is the best system to control factional interest without destroying liberty.

Brutus No. 1

An Anti-Federalist essay asserting that the Constitution's Supremacy Clause and Necessary and Proper Clause give excessive power to the federal government, eradicating states' rights.