AP Government and Politics: Foundations and Federalism

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering basic principles, constitutional origins, landmark Supreme Court cases, foundational documents, and federalism mechanisms across Chapters 1 through 3.

Equal Access Act of 1984

A federal law prohibiting public secondary schools receiving federal funds from denying equal access or fair opportunity to students wishing to conduct meetings based on religious, political, or philosophical content.

Identify

An AP Exam task verb that means to name a factor, person, power, or other term.

Describe

An AP Exam task verb that means to state the meaning of a term or concept.

Explain

An AP Exam task verb that means to give a cause or reason, typically incorporating the word because.

Democracy

A system of government where power is held by the people.

Natural Rights

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

Social Contract

An agreement in which people allow their governments to rule over them to ensure an orderly and functioning society.

Popular Sovereignty

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

Republicanism

A system of representative government where authority comes from the people and officials are held accountable through free, fair, and frequent elections.

Participatory Democratic Theory

A theory holding that widespread political participation by citizens in civil society outside of direct government control is essential for democratic government.

Pluralist Theory

A theory of democracy emphasizing the role of competing interest groups in the policymaking process, where no single group dominates and bargaining leads to compromise.

Elitist Theory

A theory of democracy holding that a small minority of wealthy elites dominates politics and exerts a disproportionate amount of influence over elected officials and policymaking.

Political Institutions

The core structures of government, including the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Constitutional Republic

A democratic system with elected representatives in which the Constitution serves as the supreme law of the land.

Totalitarian Government

A system of government where all political power is claimed and exercised by the central government.

Authoritarian Government

A system of government where the central government claims most power, but some independent social and economic institutions exist without total state control.

Constitution

A foundational document that sets out the fundamental principles of governance and establishes the institutions of government.

Republic

A form of government ruled by elected representatives of the people.

Articles of Confederation

The first governing document of the United States that established a loose league of friendship among sovereign states with a intentionally weak national government.

Annapolis Convention

A 1786 meeting called to address trade and navigation disputes among states, attended by delegates from only 5 of the 13 states, which led to the call for a broader convention in Philadelphia.

Shays's Rebellion

A popular armed uprising in Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays that exposed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and spurred calls for a stronger central government.

Writ of Habeas Corpus

A constitutional right ensuring that individuals detained by the government must be informed of the specific charges against them.

Bills of Attainder

A legislative act declaring an individual guilty of a crime without a judicial trial, explicitly prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.

Ex Post Facto Laws

Laws that punish individuals for acts that were legal when committed, prohibited under the U.S. Constitution.

Virginia Plan

A proposal presented at the Constitutional Convention for a three-branch government with a bicameral legislature, where representation in both chambers was based on state population.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal presented by William Paterson at the Constitutional Convention calling for a unicameral legislature with equal representation for every state regardless of population.

Great Compromise

An agreement establishing a bicameral legislature with population-based representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation (two per state) in the Senate.

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement at the Constitutional Convention to count three-fifths of a state's enslaved population when calculating direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives.

Compromise on Importation

A Constitutional Convention agreement prohibiting Congress from banning the transatlantic slave trade prior to the year 1808.

Separation of Powers

A governmental design that distributes powers across separate institutional branches to prevent any single branch from gaining total authority.

Checks and Balances

A constitutional mechanism giving each branch of government specific powers to limit or block the actions of the other branches.

Federalism

A system of government dividing powers between the national government and state governments.

Enumerated Powers

Authority specifically granted to a branch of the national government in the explicit text of the Constitution.

Necessary and Proper Clause

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution granting Congress the authority to pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers.

Implied Powers

Authority of the federal government that extends beyond its explicitly enumerated powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause.

Supremacy Clause

The provision in Article VI declaring the Constitution, national treaties, and federal laws to be the supreme law of the land.

Judicial Review

The power of the judiciary to evaluate and potentially overturn federal or state laws and executive actions that conflict with the Constitution.

Federalists

Supporters of the proposed U.S. Constitution who favored a strong central government and authored the Federalist Papers.

Antifederalists

Opponents of the proposed U.S. Constitution who advocated for stronger state governments and feared federal overreach and the loss of individual rights.

Faction

A group of self-interested individuals who organize to use the power of government to advance their own agenda at the expense of others and the public good.

Federalist No. 10

An essay written by James Madison arguing that a large, diverse constitutional republic is the most effective means to control the dangerous effects of factions.

Federalist No. 51

An essay written by James Madison explaining how separation of powers and checks and balances ensure that government controls both the governed and itself.

Brutus No. 1

An Antifederalist essay arguing that the United States is too large for a republican government and that federal powers like taxation and the Supremacy Clause would destroy state authority.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791, listing individual freedoms and explicit limits on national government power.

Refutation

The practice of using evidence to prove that an opposing argument or contention is false.

Rebuttal

Discrediting an opposing argument by presenting a differing, well-supported point of view.

Concession

Acknowledging a specific point made by an opponent and demonstrating an understanding of a differing perspective.

Exclusive Powers

Powers explicitly reserved for the national government that states are forbidden from exercising, such as coining money and declaring war.

Reserved Powers

Powers not explicitly delegated to the national government nor prohibited to the states, which are retained by the states and the people under the Tenth Amendment.

Concurrent Powers

Powers shared simultaneously by both national and state governments under the Constitution, such as taxation and operating court systems.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

An Article IV requirement that states recognize and respect the public acts, court decisions, and legal records of other states.

Extradition

The constitutional requirement that state officials return an accused individual to the state where the crime was committed.

Privileges and Immunities Clause

An Article IV clause prohibiting states from discriminating against citizens from other states.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

A landmark Supreme Court decision ruling that Congress has implied powers to establish a national bank under the Necessary and Proper Clause and that states cannot tax federal entities under the Supremacy Clause.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

A landmark Supreme Court ruling affirming that federal authority over interstate commerce under the Commerce Clause supersedes conflicting state-granted monopolies.

Thirteenth Amendment

A Reconstruction amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude across the United States.

Fourteenth Amendment

A Reconstruction amendment asserting citizenship rights to persons born in the U.S. and barring states from denying due process or equal protection of the laws.

Fifteenth Amendment

A Reconstruction amendment guaranteeing citizens the right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Dual Federalism

A model of federalism in which state and national governments operate strictly independently within clearly separated spheres of public policy.

Selective Incorporation

The gradual judicial process through which the Supreme Court applies specific protections in the Bill of Rights to state governments using the Fourteenth Amendment.

Cooperative Federalism

A model of federalism where state and federal levels of government collaborate, share costs, and divide administrative duties across common policy areas.

Grants-in-Aid

Federal financial assistance provided to state or local governments to assist in funding public policy initiatives.

Categorical Grants

Grants-in-aid distributed to states with specific requirements, conditions, and explicit restrictions on spending.

Fiscal Federalism

The federal government's practice of utilizing grants-in-aid to shape, direct, or influence state policy decisions.

Unfunded Mandates

Federal statutes requiring state governments to implement specific programs or services without providing national funding to cover costs.

Devolution

The political movement or strategy of transferring administrative authority and power from the federal government back to state and local governments.

Block Grants

Federal grants-in-aid provided to states with flexible parameters, granting state officials broad discretionary authority over fund allocation.

Revenue Sharing

A former federal policy where national tax revenues were distributed directly to state governments with no conditions attached.

United States v. Lopez

A landmark Supreme Court case ruling that the Gun-Free School Zones Act exceeded federal powers under the Commerce Clause, preserving state authority over local public safety.

United States v. Windsor

A Supreme Court case striking down the Defense of Marriage Act's definition of marriage as solely between opposite-sex couples for federal purposes.

Obergefell v. Hodges

A Supreme Court ruling holding that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Gonzales v. Raich

A Supreme Court case holding that the federal government can prohibit local cultivation and use of medical marijuana under the Commerce Clause.