American Democracy Now (AP Edition); 6th Edition; Chapter 2: The Constitution Vocabulary

Limited Government

Government that is restricted in what it can do so that the rights of the people are protected.

Self Government

A system of government in which people make their own laws.

Natural Rights

The idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property.

Consent of the Governed

The idea that, in a democracy, the government's power derives from the consent of the people.

Limited Government

Government that is restricted in what it can do so that the rights of the people are protected.

Articles of Confederation

A series of statements that defined the initial (weak) national government and redefined the former colonies as independent states.

Shays' Rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures and highlighting the need for a strong national government

Constituion

The fundamental principles of a government and the basic structures and procedures by which the government operates to fulfill those principles; may be written or unwritten.

Factions

Political groups that agree on objectives and policies; the origins of political parties.

New Jersey Plan

The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state's population for less populous states (executive officers are elected by Congress and Supreme Court by executive).

Supremacy Clause

Article VI of the Constitution, which makes the Constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits.

Virginia Plan

Governmental structure proposed by large states at the Constitutional Convention having Congress (a bicameral legislature), executive by Congress, and a Supreme Court; state representation is by proportional population as people elect the bottom of the house and the bottom house to upper house.

Connecticut Plan / Great Compromise

Compromise between the NJ and VA plan, creating a bicameral legislature with one chamber's representation based by population while the other holds two members for each state.

North-South Compromise / The 3/5 Compromise

The negotiated agreement by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention to count each slave as three-fifths of a free man for the purpose of representation and taxes.

Anti-Federalists

Individuals who opposed ratification of the Constitution because they were deeply suspicious of the powers it gave to the national government and of the impact those powers would have on states' authority and individual freedom.

Federalists

Individuals who supported the new Constitution as presented by the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

The U.S. Constitution

A document that embodies the fundamental laws and principles by which the United States is governed. Created the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, a separation of power among the branches, and the qualifications and terms for offices, as well as articles regarding the relations among the states, the amendment process, national supremacy, and the procedure for ratification.

Grants of Power

Powers granted to the national government; accordingly, powers not granted it are denied it unless they are necessary and proper to the carrying out of the granted powers by the U.S. Constitution.

Denials of Power

Powers expressly prohibited to the national and state governments by the Constitution.

Separation of Powers

The Constitution's delegation of authority for the primary governing functions among three branches of government so that no one group of government officials controls all the governing functions.

Advice and Consent

The Senate's authority to approve or reject the president's appointments and negotiated treaties.

Separated Institutions Sharing Power

The principle that, as a way to limit government, its powers should be divided among separate branches, each of which also shares in the power of the others as a means of checking and balancing them. The result is that no one branch can exercise power decisively without the support or acquiescence of the others.

Checks and Balances

A system in which each branch of government can monitor and limit the functions of the other branches.

Bill of Rights

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, which were ratified in 1791, constituting an enumeration of the individual liberties with which the government is forbidden to interfere.

Judicial Review

Court authority to determine that an action taken by any government official or governing body violates the Constitution; established by the Supreme Court in the 1803 Marbury v. Madison case.

Tyranny of the Majority

The potential of a majority to monopolize power for its own gain to the detriment of minority rights and interests.

Democracy

Government in which supreme power of governance lies in the hands of its citizens.

Republic / Representative Democracy

A government that derives its authority from the people and in which citizens elect government officials to represent them in the processes by which laws are made.

Trustees

Elected representatives whose obligation is to act in accordance with their own consciences as to what policies are in the best interests of the public.

Delegates

A person sent or authorized to represent others, in particular an elected representative sent to a conference.

Dual Sovereignty

A system of government in which the ultimate governing authority is divided between two levels of government, a central government and regional governments, with each level having ultimate authority over different policy matters.