gov u1 flashcards

American dream: A complex set of ideas that hold that the United States is a land of opportunity where

individual initiative and hard work can bring economic success (pg 26)

Antifederalists: Opponents of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government generally (pg

41)

Articles of

Confederation:

The first governing document of the confederated states, drafted in 1777, ratified in 1781, and

replaced by the present Constitution of 1787 (pg 33)

Bicameralism: The principle of a two-house legislature (pg 38)

Capitalism: An economic system based on private property, competitive markets, economic incentives,

and limited government involvement in the production, pricing, and distribution of goods and

services (pg 27)

Connecticut

Compromise:

The compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral

legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an

upper=house in which each state would have two senators (pg 39)

Constitutional

democracy:

Government that enforces recognized limits on those who govern and allows the voice of the

people to be heard through free, fair, and relatively frequent elections (pg 24)

Constitutionalism: The set of arrangements, including checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, rule

of law, due process, and a bill of rights, that requires our leaders to listen, think, bargain, and

explain before they act or make laws. We then hold them politically and legally accountable

for how they exercise their powers (pg 25)

Democracy: Government by the people, both directly or indirectly, with free and frequent elections (pg 22)

Democratic consensus: A condition for democracy is that the people widely share a set of attitudes and beliefs about

governmental procedures, institutions, core documents, and fundamental values (pg 31)

Direct Democracy: government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly (pg 22)

Direct primary: An election in which voters choose party nominees (pg 22)

Electoral College: The electoral system used in electing the president and vice president, in which voters vote for

electors pledged to cast their ballots for a particular party’s candidates (pg 40)

Federalists: A group that argued for ratification of the Constitution, including a stronger national

government at the expense of states’ powers; they controlled the new federal government until

Thomas Jefferson’s election in 1803 (pg 41)

Initiative: A procedure whereby a certain number of voters may, by petition, propose a law or

constitutional amendment and have it submitted to the voters (pg 22)

Linkage institutions: The political channels through which people’s concerns become political issues on the policy

agenda; examples include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media

Majority: the candidate or party that wins more than half the votes case in an election (pg 29)

Majority rule: Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority (pg 29)

Natural rights: The rights of all people to dignity and worth; also called human rights (pg 25)

New Jersey Plan: The proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by William Paterson of New Jersey for a

central government with a single-house legislature in which each state would be represented

equally (pg 38)

Plurality: The candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election, not necessarily more than half

(pg 29)

Policy agenda: The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actually

involved in politics at any given time. Link to: gatekeeper role of media

Political Culture: The widely shared beliefs, values, and normas citizens hold about their relationship to

government and to one another (pg 25)

Popular consent: The idea that a just government must derive its powers from the consent of the people it

governs (pg 28)

Recall: A procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the

end of their term. (pg 22)

Referendum: A procedure for submitting to popular vote measures by the legislature or proposed

amendments to a state constitution (pg 22)

Representative

Democracy/Republic:

Government in which the people elect those who govern and pass laws; also called a republic

(pg 24)

Shay’s Rebellion: A rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786=1787 protesting

mortgage foreclosures; it highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call

for the Constitutional Convention went out (pg 35)

The Federalist Essays promoting ratification of the Constitution, published anonymously by Alexander

Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison in 1787 and 1788 (pg 42)

Theocracy: Government by religious leaders, who claim divine guidance (pg 33)

Three-fifths

Compromise

The compromise between northern and southern states at the Constitutional Convention that

three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and

representation in the House of Representatives (pg 40)

Virginia Plan: The initial proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by the Virginia delegation for a

strong central government with a bicameral legislature dominated by the big states (pg 38)