AP Gov Unit 1 Vocab

DAP

Natural rights

Rights that humans are born with (life, liberty, and property)

Social Contract Theory

government is formed through an agreement where people give up some freedoms in exchange for protection of their rights

Politics

The study of who gets what, when, and how, or how policy decisions are made

Constitution

A set of rules that tells how a government works, what it can and can’t do, and protects the people’s rights

Rule of Law

everyone has to follow the same laws, even leaders and lawmakers

Popular Sovereignty

ultimate power rests with the people, and government can only rule with their consent

Republicanism

Citizens work together and take part in government for the good of everyone

Limited Government

The government does not have unlimited power and is restricted

Declaration of Independence

The document mostly by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 listed the rights of the American colonies to separate from Great Britain

Participatory Democracy

A system of government where citizens are actively involved in making decisions, not just voting for representatives

Pluralist Theory

The idea that political power is shared among many different groups and these groups compete to influence government decisions

Elitist Democracy

 Only wealthy and educated people make decisions in the democracy

Federalists

Those who favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed Constitution

Anti-Federalists

Those who favored strong state governments and a weak national government; didn’t want to rewrite AOC

Federalist Paper No. 10

An essay that warns about factions and says that the new Constitution is the best way to handle them

Brutus No. 1

Anti-Federalist essays argued that the new Constitution gives the federal government too much power and that the country is too large to be managed

Weaknesses of the AOC

Did not give the Federal Government enough power.  Couldn’t tax, hard to make and pass laws, and hard to create a national military

Shays Rebellion

A rebellion in which an army of farmers stopped the state from taking there farms because of debts and taxes (end of AOC)

New Jersey Plan

small states wanted a one-house legislature where each state gets one vote, Congress can raise money, and the Supreme Court justices serve for life

Virginia Plan

Idea for the Constitution that favors large states. It called for a two-house legislature, which would appoint executive and judicial officers