AP US Government and Politics Unit I Vocabulary Terms

For my own personal use. This may not contain all the terms your teacher requires you to know.

Natural Rights

The right to life, liberty, and property, which government cannot take away.

Popular Sovereignty

The idea that the government’s right to rule comes from the people.

Republicanism

A system in which the government’s authority comes from the people through their representatives.

Social Contract

People allow their governments to rule over them to ensure an orderly and functioning society.

Declaration of Independence

Adopted in 1776, written by Jefferson to King George III of the UK, it severed colonial ties between the United States and Britain.

Participatory Democracy

The theory that widespread political participation is essential for democratic government.

Pluralist Theory

A theory of democracy that emphasizes the role of groups in the policymaking process.

Elite Democracy

Theory of democracy that the elites have a disproportionate amount of influence in the policymaking process.

Shays’ Rebellion

A popular uprising against the government of Massachusetts.

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.

Electoral College

A system for electing the President and Vice President of the United States, consisting of 538 electors. It was created to balance the influence that more populous states had over smaller ones.

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.

Separation of Powers

A design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its 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.

Exclusive Powers/Enumerated Implied Powers

Authority specifically granted to a branch of the government in the Constitution. Things that go beyond such expressed powers are 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.

Concurrent Powers

Powers granted to both states and the federal government in the Constitution.

Categorical Grants

Grants-in-aid provided to states with specific provisions on their use.

Block Grants

A type of grants-in-aid that gives state officials more authority in the disbursement of federal funds.

Commerce Clause

Grants Congress the authority to regulate interstate business and commercial activity.