American Gov Mr. Trang 9/9 Ch 3 Vocab

They were also influenced by the concept of _____. This was the belief that there exists, beyond the framework of human laws, a universal set of moral principles that can be applied to any culture or system of justice.

natural law

A political system in which power is exercised by elected leaders who work in the interests of the people; From the Roman Republic came the idea of republicanism, or _____, which refers to decision making by officials elected from the citizenry.

representative government

Many colonists also admired the Roman idea of _____. They understood this to mean a willingness to serve one's country.

civic virtue

A _____ is a written grant of authority.

charter

The principle that government is based on clear and fairly enforced laws and that no one is above the law; In addition, the Magna Carta established the principle of the _____.

rule of law

A political system in which the powers exercised by the government are restricted, usually by a written constitution; The Petition of Right underscored the principle of ______ by affirming that the king's power was not absolute.

limited government

The rights and liberties that can be claimed by individuals by virtue of being human. Such rights are also sometimes referred to as natural rights or human rights; The English Bill of Rights reaffirmed the principle of _____ established in the Magna Carta and the Petition of Right.

individual rights

In his Second Treatise on Government, published in 1689, Locke argued that in the state of nature, all people were equal and enjoyed certain _____, or rights that all people have by virtue of being human.

natural rights

The idea that the powers of a government should be split between two or more strongly independent branches to prevent any one person or group from gaining too much power; This principle of _____ was so admired by Americans that they applied it to their colonial governments.

separation of powers

The principle that the people are the ultimate source of the authority and legitimacy of a government; He added the idea that for a government formed by a social contract to have legitimacy, it must be based on _____; or the general will of the people.

popular sovereignty

Before the settlerslanded, they drew up a ______, or agreement, for the governing of the new colony.

compact

By this time, however, colonial patriots were already forming ______, or groups of armed citizens, to defend their rights.

militias

The first is that governments are formed to protect people's ______. In a slight twist on Locke, Jefferson defined those basic individual rights as the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

unalienable rights

This plan was approved by Congress in 1777 and sent to the states for _____, or formal approval.

ratification

The belief that governments should operate according to an agreed set of principles, which are usually spelled out in a written constitution; In framing their new plans of government, state lawmakers demonstrated their commitment to _____, or the idea that government should be based on an established set of principles.

constitutionalism

The idea that decisions approved by more than half of the people in a group or society will be accepted and observed by all of the people; These principles included popular sovereignty, limited government, the rule of law, and _____.

majority rule

Under the Virginia Plan, the new government would have a _____, or two-house, legislature.

bicameral

These changes would have created a somewhat more powerful national government with a ______, or one-house, legislature in which all states had equal representation.

unicameral

They finally decided to set up a special body called the _____. This body would be made up of electors from each state who would cast votes to elect the president and vice president.

Electoral College

The pro-ratification effort was led by supporters of the Constitution who called themselves _____. They favored the creation of a strong federal government that shared power with the states.

Federalists

Their opponents were known as _____. These were people who preferred the loose association of states established under the Articles of Confederation.

Anti-Federalists