AP Government Unit 1 Review

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the AP Government Unit 1 review.

Enlightenment

A European intellectual movement in the eighteenth century that influenced the framers of the Constitution.

Natural Rights

Rights that people are born with, given by their creator, and cannot be taken away by a monarch.

Popular Sovereignty

The power to govern is in the hands of the people.

Social Contract

People willingly give some of their power to a government in order to protect their natural rights.

Republicanism

A form of government where people elect leaders to represent them and create laws in the public interest.

Limited Government

A government prevented from tyranny through checks and balances and distribution of power.

Participatory Democracy

Emphasizes broad participation in the political process by most, if not all, members of a society.

Pluralist Democracy

Interest groups compete to influence public policy.

Elite Democracy

Limited participation in policymaking, assuming the most educated people should run the government.

Federalists

A group that believed that the states should ratify the new constitution.

Anti-Federalists

A group that did not believe the states should ratify the new constitution.

Factions

Groups of people who believe their interests are more important than any other interests.

Articles of Confederation

The first Constitution of the United States, under which the federal government was very weak and the state governments were disproportionately strong.

The Great Compromise

Compromise creating a bicameral Congress: the House of Representatives represented by population, and the Senate represented equally with two votes per state.

Three Fifths Compromise

Three fifths of the enslaved population would count towards representation in congress.

Electoral College

Each state is given a number of electors that corresponds to the number of congressional representatives that they have, and elect the president.

Federalism

The sharing of power between national governments and state governments.

Exclusive Powers

Powers specifically delegated by the Constitution to the federal government.

Reserved Powers

Powers kept by the states, as explained in the Tenth Amendment.

Concurrent Powers

Powers that are shared by both the federal and state governments.

Fiscal Federalism

Power is largely shared through money, where Congress establishes national standards and directs funds to states that comply.

Categorical Grants

Grants given to the states as long as the states comply with specific federal standards.

Block Grants

Grants given to states for a relatively broad purpose with fewer strings attached, allowing states to spend the money as they see fit.

Mandates

Requirements that states follow federal directives.

Unfunded Mandate

The federal government issues the mandate and then provides no funding whatsoever to help the states achieve it.