Natural Rights	Inherent and universal human rights not dependent on laws, given to people by their creator Rights to life, liberty, and property
Social Contract	Implied agreement between citizens and their gov where individuals give up natural freedoms in exchange for protection and welfare (from a structured society)
Popular Sovereignty	Source of a gov’s power is the people, power comes from the consent of the governed
Limited Government	Political system in which the powers of the gov are restricted to prevent tyranny by protecting property/individual rights
Separation of Powers	The division of the gov power across the J/E/L branches
Checks and Balances	A system in which each branch of gov has power over the others
Federalism	The dynamic distribution of power between the local, state, and national levels of government in the US
Republicanism	Representative democracy, where elected leaders represent various groups of people within a gov
Participatory Democracy	Citizens have the power to influence policy decisions, but isn’t a direct democracy
Pluralist Democracy	Recognizes group-based activism, no group dominates by multiple compete for public policy influence
Elite Democracy	Form where the well-educated/wealthy hold the power because they are more fit than uneducated civilians
Federalists	Those at the Constitutional Convention who favored a strong national gov and a system of separated powers
Anti-Federalists	Those @ CC who favored strong state govs and feared a strong national gov would be a threat to individual rights
Factions	Like-minded groups of people who try to influence the gov. The American gov is set up to avoid domination by any one of these groups.
Articles of Confederation	The first attempt at a new American gov. It was later decided that the Articles restricted national gov too much, and they were replaced by the Constitution. No exec, no judicial, only legislative body existed and it was very state oriented (w/ veto power given to all states, nothing got done).
Shays’ Rebellion	Armed uprising of disgruntled farmers in debt which highlighted the weaknesses of the Articles of confederation in the department of raising a militia and collecting taxes
Great (Connecticut) Compromise	Congress would have two houses: A senate with two legislators per state and a House of Representatives in which each state’s representation would be based on population
Electoral College	System for electing president and vice president Popular vote + state population influence who is in the electoral college -> members of the electoral college then vote for who will be P and VP
3/5ths Compromise	State’s decision in CC Couts each slave as 3/5s of a person in a state’s population for the purposes of determining # of House members/distribution of taxes
Slave Trade Compromise	Protected slave trade until 1808
Bill of Rights	Protects individual liberties and limits national gov Constitution would be ratified that the first amendments would be this
Article V of the U.S. Constitution	Outlines the process for amending the constitution Proposal, Congress with ⅔ vote or state convention ⅔ Ratification, ¾ state legislatures, or state conventions
Impeachment	A negative/checking power over the other branches that allows Congress to remove the P/VP/other officers of the US (like federal judges) for abuses of power
Exclusive Powers	Powers only given to the national gov
Concurrent Powers	Shared powers between the state and national gov
Enumerated Powers	Powers explicitly granted to Congress, the president, or the Supreme Court in the first three articles of the Constitution. Ex. Congress ability to raise and support armies President’s power as Commander in Chief
Implied Powers	Powers supported by the Constitution that are not expressly stated in it
Necessary and Proper Clause	Pt of Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution Grants Congress the power to pass all laws related to one of its expressed powers The draft is an example, not explicitly stated, but is allowed because it helps them do their job of legislating things that will benefit the country
Reserved Powers	Powers not given to the national government by the constitution, or not prohibited to the states, are reserved by the states/the people 10th amendment defines these
10th Amendment	Gives all powers not specifically allocated to the national gov to the state gov, any power not denied from the states is theirs
Revenue Sharing	Type of grant used in the 1970s-1980s in which fed govs provided state govs with funds to be spent on each state’s discretion - gave states more control over programs
Block Grants	Federal aid provided to state gov to be spent within a certain policy area, but the state can decide how to spend the money within the area
Categorical Grants	Federal aid to state/local govs that is provided for a specific purpose Mass transit program within the transportation budget School lunch program within the education budget
Mandates	Federal laws requiring that states do certain things but don’t provide state govs with funding to implement policies Gives them an order, doesn’t fund it
14th Amendment	All citizens are to be provided equal protection under laws (and protects them against discrimination and arbitrary gov action)
Due Process Clause	5th amendment/14th amendment Person cannot be deprived of life/liberty/property without due process of law (people can’t just be thrown in jail for no reason)
Equal Protection Clause	All people are to be treated equally under law (14th amendment)
Commerce Clause	Allows congress to regulate interstate and foreign trade and business activities
Supremacy Clause article VI, Section 2 of the Constitution	The constitution/laws/treaties of the US are the “supreme Law of the Land” National laws take precedence over state laws if the two conflict

ap gov bouta kick my ass chap 1