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AP GOV
AP GOV
68
Other
11th Grade
04/27/2010

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Term
natural law
Definition
A doctrine that society should be governed by certain ethical principles that are part of nature and, as such, can be understood by reason.
Term
social contract theory
Definition
The belief that people are free and equal by God-given right and that this in turn requires that all people give their consent to be governed; espoused by John Locke and influential in the writing of the Declaration of Independence.
Term
monarchy
Definition
A form of government in which power is vested in hierarchy kings and queens.
Term
oligarchy
Definition
A form of government in which the right to participate is always conditional on the possesion of wealth, social status, military position, or achievement.
Term
aristocracy
Definition
A system of government in which control is based on rule of the highest
Term
democracy
Definition
A system of government in which control is based on rule of the highest.
Term
democracy
Definition
A system of government that gives power to the people, whether directly or through their elected reps.
Term
direct democracy
Definition
A system of government in which members of the policy decisions and then agree to abide by majority rule.
Term
indirect (representative) democracy
Definition
A system of government that gives citizens the opportunity to vote for representatives will work on their behalf.
Term
republic
Definition
A government rooted in consent of the governed ; a representative or indirect democracy.
Term
free market economy
Definition
the economic system in which the "invisible hand: of the market regualtes prices, wages, product mix, and so on.
Term
capitalism
Definition
The economic system that favors private control of business and minimal government regulation of private industry.
Term
mercantile system
Definition
A system that binds trade and its administration to the national government.
Term
socialism
Definition
An economic system that advocates for collective ownership and control of the means of production.
Term
communism
Definition
An economic system in which workers own the means of production and the control the distribution of resources.
Term
totalitarianism
Definition
An economic system in which the government has total control over the economy.
Term
popular consent
Definition
The idea that governments must draw their powers from the consent of the governed.
Term
popular sovereignty
Definition
The right of the majority to govern themselves.
Term
majority rule
Definition
The central premise of direct democracy in which only policies that collectively garner the support of a majority of voters will be made into law.
Term
personal liberty
Definition
A key characteristic of US democracy. Initally meaning freedom from governmental interference, today it includes demands for freedom to engage in a variety of practices free from governmental discrimination
Term
political culture
Definition
nd its various parts, and attitudes toward the role of self in system.
Term
conservative
Definition
one thought to believe that government is best that governs the least and that big government can only infringe on individual, personal, and economic rights.
Term
liberal
Definition
One considered to favor extensive governmental involvement in the economy and the provision of social services amd to take an activist role in protecting the rights of women, the elderly, minorities, and the environment.
Term
polictical idealogy
Definition
An individual's coherent set of values and beliefs about the purpose and scope of government.
Term
libertarian
Definition
One who favors a free market economy and no governmental interference in personal liberties.
Term
politics
Definition
The process by which policy decisions are made.
Term
Stamp Act Congress
Definition
Meeting of Represenatatives of nine of the thirteen colonies held in New York City in 1765, during which representatives drafted a document to send to the king listing how their rights had been violated.
Term
Committee of Correspondence
Definition
Organizations in each of the American colonies abreast of developments with the British; served as powerful molders of public opinion against the Brittish.
Term
First Constitutional Congress
Definition
Meeting held in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774, in which 56 delegates (from every colony except Georgia) adopted a resolution that opposed the coercive acts.
Term
Second Continental Congress
Definition
Meeting that coveneded in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, at which it was denied that an army should be raised and George Washington of Virginia was named commander in chief.
Term
Declaration of Independence
Definition
Document Drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of the American colonies to separate from Great Britain.
Term
confederation
Definition
Type of governement in which the national government derives its power from the states; a league of independent states.
Term
Articles of Confederation
Definition
The compact among the 13 original colonies that was the basis of their government. written in 1776, ratified in 1781.
Term
Shay's Rebellion
Definition
A 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled and angry farmers led by Daniel Shay marched to Springfield Mass and forcibly restrained the state court from foreclosing mortages of their farms.
Term
Virginia Plan
Definition
The first general plan for the Constitution, proposedt by James Madison, Its key points were a bicarmeral legislature, and a judciary also named by the legislation.
Term
New Jersey Plan
Definition
A framework for the Constitution proposed by a group of small states; its key points were a one-house legislature with one vote for each state, a multiperson "excuetive" the gress as the "supreme law" of the land, and a suprem judiciary with limited power.
Term
Great Compromise
Definition
A decision made during the Philadelphia Convention to give each state the same number of represenatives in the Senate regardless of size; representation in the House was determined by population.
Term
3/5 compromise
Definition
Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention stipulating that each slave was to be counted as 3/5 of a person for purposes of determining population for representatives in the US House of Reps.
Term
separation of powers
Definition
A way of dividing power among three branches of government in which members of the House of Reps, members of the senate, the president, and the federal courts are selected by and responsible to different constitencies.
Term
checks and balances
Definition
A governmental structure that gives each of the 3 branches of government some degree of oversight and control over the other.
Term
Federal System
Definition
Plans of the government created in the Us Constitution in which powers are divided between the national government and the state government and in which independent states are bound togetherunder one national government.
Term
enumerated powers
Definition
Seventeen specific powers granted to Congress under the Article I, section 8, of the Us constitution, these powers include taxation, coinage of money, regualation of commerce, and the authority to provide for national defense.
Term
necessary and proper clause
Definition
Found in the final paragraph of Article I, section 8, of the US Constitution, it gives Congress the authority to pass all the laws that are "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers in the constitution.
Term
implied power
Definition
Powers given to the national government through the interference from enumerated powers.
Term
supremacy clause
Definition
The law of the national government stands above any state law or state constitution.
Term
Federalists
Definition
Those who favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed constitution; later became the first US political party.
Term
Anti Federalists
Definition
Those who favored a stronger state government, and opposed the ratification of the constitution.
Term
The Federalists papers
Definition
a series of 85 political papers written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison in support of ratification of the US constitution.
Term
Bill of Rights
Definition
the first 10 amendments to the constitution
Term
Federalism
Definition
The philosophy that describes the governmental system created by the Framers; see also federal system.
Term
implied powers
Definition
A power derived from an enumerated power and the necessary and proper clause. These powers are not stated specicfically but are not considered to be reasonbly implied through the excersise of delegated powers.
Term
reserve (or police) powers
Definition
Powers reserved to the states by the 10th amendment that lie at the foundation of a state's right to legislate for the public health and welfare of its citizens.
Term
concurrent powers
Definition
Powers shared by the national government and the state governments
Term
bill of attainder
Definition
A law declaring an act illegal without a judicial trial.
Term
ex post facto law
Definition
Laws passed after the fact, thereby making previously legal activity illegal and subject to current penalty; prohibited by the US constitution.
Term
McCulloch v. Maryland 1819
Definition
The Supreme Court upheld the power of the national government and denied the right of a state to tax the bank. The Court's broad interpretation of the necessary and proper clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers.
Term
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
Definition
The Court upheld broad congressional power over interstate commerce.
Term
dual federalism
Definition
The belief that having separate and equally powerful levels of government is the best arrangement.
Term
cooperative federalism
Definition
A term used to characterize the relationship between the national and state governments that began with the new deal/
Term
categorical grant
Definition
Grant for which Congress appropriately funds for a specific purpose.
Term
block grant
Definition
Broad grant with few strings attached are given to states by the federal government for specified activities, such as secondary education or health services.
Term
intergovernmental lobby
Definition
The pressure group of groups that are created when states and local government hire lobbyists to lobby the national government.
Term
preemption
Definition
A concept derived from the Constitution's supremacy clause that allows the national government to override or preempt state or local actions in certain areas.
Term
Contract with America
Definition
Campaign pledge signed by most republican candidates in 1994 to guide their legislation agendas.
Term
mandates
Definition
National laws that direct states or local governments to comply with federal rules or regulations (such as clean air or water standards)under threat of civil or criminal penalties or as a condition of receipt of any federal grants.
Term
sovereign immunity
Definition
The right of a state to be free of lawsuit unless it gives permission to the suit. Under the 11th amendment, all states are considered sovereign
Term
civil liberties
Definition
The personal rights and freedoms that the federal governments cannot abridge by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation.
Term
due process clause
Definition
Clauses contained in the 5th and 14th amendment. Over the years, it has been constured to guarantee to individuals a variety of rights ranging from economic liberty to criminal procedural rights to protection from arbitrary governmental action
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