Chapter 0 Basics of US Governance

Colony

A country or area controlled politically by a more powerful country, which is often far away.

Empire

A group of countries ruled by a single person, government, or country.

Governor

A person in charge of a particular political unit, such as the leader of government in a colony or state.

Legislative Assembly

The organization (group of citizens, often elected) that makes laws.

Executive

The branch of government that manages the duties of government and its laws. The Executive branch includes the president, the cabinet, and several different departments.

Veto

To refuse to allow something to be done, especially to refuse to let a bill pass into law. There is usually a mechanism allowing a veto to be overridden.

Legislature

The group of people in a country or part of a country who have the power to make and change laws.

Confederation

A group of countries, organizations, or people who have joined together for economic or political reasons.

Constitutional Convention

A formal meeting called to discuss and create a new constitution, or to discuss whether to ratify an amendment to a constitution.

Ratification

The process of making an agreement official.

Constitution

The set of political principles by which a state or organization is governed, especially in relation to the rights of the people it governs. The US Constitution also sets out some of the rights and responsibilities of the states.

Congress

The elected group of politicians who are responsible for making the law. Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

House of Representatives

The Lower House in Congress; the larger of the two elected groups.

Senate

The Upper House in Congress; the smaller of the two elected groups.

President

The head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the US.

Judiciary

The part of a country's government that is responsible for its legal system, including all the judges in the country's courts.

Supreme Court

The highest court in the US, which oversees the judicial system and is the final court of appeal. It ultimately decides whether laws and actions by the Executive are constitutional.

Federal Government

The government directly set up by the US Constitution. It administers the federal (central) functions of the country.

Bill

A formal statement of a planned new law, which is discussed before being voted on.

Impeachment

A formal statement saying that a public official is guilty of a serious offense in connection with their job. The House of Representatives impeaches an official by putting them on trial; the Senate then decides whether to convict. If they convict, the official is removed from office.

Cabinet

A small group of the most important people in government, who advise the president and make important decisions.

Amendment

Changes designed to improve a text; in US history, formal changes to the Constitution are called amendments. Constitutional amendments override all previous laws, including Supreme Court decisions.

Vice President

The person who has the position immediately below the president, and who is responsible for the president's duties if they become unable to do them. The vice president also acts as president of the Senate.

Electoral College

The body that appoints the president and vice president. Each state chooses a number of electors, who are people appointed to vote directly for the President and Vice President, and that number is equal to the number of Representatives the state has in Congress, plus its number of Senators (always two).

Ticket

A list of the people representing a particular political party in an election; most commonly used to refer to the people running for president and vice president.

Judicial Review

The judicial principle outlined by Chief Justice John Marshall in 1803 that the Supreme Court had the ability to rule whether laws passed by Congress, and the states, were constitutional.

Sovereignty

The power of a country to control its own government. In the US, sovereignty rests with the people (popular sovereignty). In a representative democracy, some of that sovereignty is surrendered to the states or to the federal government to ease the decision-making process.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, which outline the rights of citizens.

Territory

An area of land owned by the US, but which is not yet a state. It is administered by a territorial administration that answers to Congress. When it has enough people (around 100,000), it may adopt a constitution and ask Congress to join the US as a state.

Unorganized Territory

Land owned by the US without a formal constitution, which was directly administered by Congress.

Organized Territory

A territory with a legislature and a constitution, but which was still accountable to Congress.