AP US Gov Unit 1
unitary system: a system where the central government has all of
the power over subnational governments.
confederal system: a system where the subnational governments
have most of the power.
federal system: a system where power is divided between the
national and state governments.
enumerated or expressed powers: powers explicitly granted to the
national government through the Constitution; also called
expressed powers.
exclusive powers: powers only the national government may
exercise.
implied powers: powers not granted specifically to the national
government but considered necessary to carry out the enumerated
powers.
commerce clause: grants Congress the authority to regulate
interstate business and commercial activity.
necessary and proper clause: grants the federal government the
authority to pass laws required to carry out its enumerated
powers. Also called the elastic clause.
supremacy clause: establishes the Constitution and the laws of the
222 federal government passed under its authority as the highest laws
of the land.
Tenth Amendment: reserves powers not delegated to the national
government to the states and the people; the basis of federalism.
reserved powers: powers not given to the national government,
which are retained by the states and the people.
concurrent powers: powers granted to both states and the federal
government in the Constitution.
full faith and credit clause: constitutional clause requiring states
to recognize the public acts, records, and civil court proceedings
from another state.
extradition: the requirement that officials in one state return a
defendant to another state where a crime was committed.
privileges and immunities clause: constitutional clause that
prevents states from discriminating against people from out of
state.
Fourteenth Amendment: constitutional amendment that provides
that persons born in the United States are citizens and prohibits
states from denying persons due process or equal protection under
the law.
Fifteenth Amendment: constitutional amendment that gave
African Americans the right to vote.
Dual federalism: a form of American federalism in which the
states and the national government operate independently in their
own areas of public policy.
selective incorporation: the process through which the Supreme
Court applies fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights to the states
on a case-by-case basis.
cooperative federalism: a form of American federalism in which
the states and the national government work together to shape
public policy.
constitution: a document that sets out the fundamental principles
of governance and establishes the institutions of government.
republic: a government ruled by representatives of the people.
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union: a governing
document that created a union of thirteen sovereign states in
which the states, not the union, were supreme.
unicameral: a one-house legislature.
Shays’s Rebellion: a popular uprising against the government of
Massachusetts.
writ of habeas corpus: the right of people detained by the
government to know the charges against them.
bills of attainder: when the legislature declares someone guilty
without a trial.
ex post facto laws: laws punishing people for acts that were not
crimes at the time they were committed.
Virginia Plan: a plan of government calling for a three-branch
government with a bicameral legislature, where more populous
states would have more representation in Congress.
New Jersey Plan: a plan of government that provided for a
unicameral legislature with equal votes for each states.
bicameral: a two-house legislature.
Grand Committee: a committee at the Constitutional Convention
that worked out the compromise on representation.
Great (Connecticut) Compromise: an agreement for a plan of
government that drew upon both the Virginia and New Jersey
Plans; it settled issues of state representation by calling for a
bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives
apportioned proportionately and a Senate apportioned equally.
Three-Fifths Compromise: an agreement reached by delegates at
the Constitutional Convention that a slave would count as three-
fifths of a person in calculating a state’s representation.
Compromise on Importation: Congress could not restrict the slave
trade until 1808.
separation of powers: a design of government that distributes
powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch
too powerful on its own.
checks and balances: a design of government in which each
branch has powers that can prevent the other branches from
making policy.
federalism: the sharing of power between the national
government and the states.
legislative branch: the institution responsible for making laws.
expressed or enumerated powers: authority specifically granted to
a branch of the government in the Constitution.
necessary and proper or elastic clause: language in Article I,
Section 8 granting Congress the powers necessary to carry out its
enumerated powers.
implied powers: authority of the federal government that goes
beyond its expressed powers.
executive branch: the institution responsible for carrying out laws
passed by the legislative branch.
judicial branch: the institution responsible for hearing and
deciding cases through the federal courts.
supremacy clause: constitutional provision declaring that the Constitution and all federal laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land.
amendment: the process by which changes may be made to the Constitution.
Federalists: supporters of the proposed Constitution, who called
for a strong national government.
Antifederalists: those opposed to the proposed Constitution, who favoured stronger state governments.
Federalist Papers: a series of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay and published between 1787 and 1788 that lay out the theory behind the Constitution.
Federalist No. 51: an essay in which Madison argues that separation of powers and federalism will prevent tyranny.
faction: a group of self-interested people who use the government to get what they want, trampling the rights of others in the process.
Federalist No. 10: an essay in which Madison argues that the dangers of faction can be mitigated by a large republic and republican government.
Brutus No. 1: an Antifederalist Paper arguing that the country was too large to be governed as a republic and that the Constitution gave too much power to the national government.