Term
|
Definition
| made up of individuals and institutions that are the vehicles through which policies are made and affairs of state are concluded |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| by law, are members of the political community who by nature of being born in a particular nation or having become a naturalized citizen are entitled to all the freedoms guaranteed by the government |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the study of who gets what, when, and how |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the leader exercises total power and individuals have no rights or liberties |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the rule of one in the interest of all of his or her subjects |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| participation in government is conditioned by the possession of wealth, social status, military position, or achievement |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| agreement between the people and their government signifying their consent to be governed |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a system of government that gives power to the people either directly or through elected representatives |
|
|
Term
|
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: John Locke and Thomas Hobbes |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a system of government in which members of the polity meet to discuss all 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 who will work on their behalf |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a government rooted in the consent of the governed: a representative or indirect democracy |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| commonly shared attitudes, beliefs, and core values about how government should operate |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a key characteristic of the U.S. democracy. Initially meaning freedom from governmental interference, today it includes demands for freedom to engage in a variety of practices free from governmental discrimination |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the idea that governments must draw their powers from the consent of the governed |
|
|
Term
|
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
|
Definition
| the right of the majority to govern themselves |
|
|
Term
|
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
|
Definition
| society created when citizens are allowed to organize and express their views publicly as they engage in an open debate |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the coherent set of values and beliefs about the purpose and scope of government held by groups and individuals |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| one thought to believe that a government is best that governs least and that big government can only infringe, on individual, personal, and economic rights |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| one considered to favor extensive governmental involvement in the economy and the provision of social services and to take an activist role in protecting the rights of women, the elderly, minorities, and the environment |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| one who favors a free market economy and no governmental interference in personal liberties |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an American ideal of a happy, successful life, which often includes wealth, a house, a better life for one's children, and, for some, the ability to grow up and become president |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an economic theory designed to increase a nation's wealth through the development of commercial industry and a favorable balance of trade |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| meeting of representatives of nine of the thirteen colonies hel in New York City in 1765, during which representatives drafed a document to send to the king listing how their rights had been violated |
|
|
Term
| Committees of Correspondence |
|
Definition
| organizations in each of the American colonies created t keep colonists abreast of developments with the British; served as powerful molders of public opinion against the British |
|
|
Term
| First Continental Congress |
|
Definition
| meeting held in Philadelphisa from Sep. 5 to Oct. 26 , 1774, in which 56 delegates from every colony except Georgia adopted a resolution to the Coercive Acts |
|
|
Term
| Second Continental Congress |
|
Definition
| meeting that was convened in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, at which it was decided that an army should be raised and George Washington of Virginia was named commander in chief |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| type of government where the national government derives its power from the states; a league of independent states |
|
|
Term
Declaration of Independence |
|
Definition
| document drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of the American colonies to seperate form Great Britain |
|
|
Term
| Articles of Confederation |
|
Definition
| the compact among the thirteen original states that was the basis of their government. Written in 1776, the Articles were not ratified by all the states until 1781 |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled and angry farmers led by Daniel Shays marched to Springfield, Massachusetts and forcibly restrained the state court from forelosing mortgages on their farms |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a document establishing the structure, functions, and limitations of a government |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the first general plan for the Constitution, proposed by James Madison. Its key points were a bicameral legislature, and a judiciary also named by the legislature |
|
|
Term
|
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, the establishment of the acts of the Congress as the "supreme law" of the land, and a supreme judiciary with limited power |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a decision made during the Constitutional Convention to give each state the same number of representatives in the Senate regardless of size; represetation in the House was determined by population |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention stipulating that each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of determining population for representation in the U.S. House of Representatives |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| system of government where the national government and state governments derive all authority from the people |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| system of government where the local and regional governments derive all authority from a strong government |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| 17 specific powers granted to Congress under Article I, section 8, of the U.S. Constitution; these powers include taxation, coinage, of the money, regulation of commerce, and the authority to provide for a national defense. |
|
|
Term
| necessary and proper clause |
|
Definition
| the final paragraph of Article I, of the U.S Constitution, which gives Congress the authority to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers specified in the Constitution; also called the elastic clause |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| portion of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution mandating that national law is supreme to (that is, supersedes) all other laws passed by the states or by any other subdivision of government. |
|
|
Term
| privileges and immunities clause |
|
Definition
| part of Article IV of the Constitution guranteeing that the citizens of each state are afforded the same rights as citizens of all other states |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the final part of the Bill of Rights that defines the basic principle of American federalism in stating: "The powers not delegated to the United Constitution, nor prohibited, by it to the states, are resered to the States respectively, or to the people." |
|
|
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
|
Definition
| authority possessed by both the state and national governments that may be exercisesd concurrently as long as the power is not exclusively within the scope of national power or in conflict with national law |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a law declarig an act illegal without a judicial trial |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| law passed after the fact, thereby making previously legal activity illegal and subject to current penalty; prohibited by the U.S. Constitution |
|
|
Term
| full faith and credit clause |
|
Definition
| portion of Article IV of the Constitution that ensures judicial decrees and contracts made in one state will be binding and enforceable in any other state |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| contracts between states that carry the force of law; generally now used as a tool to address multistate policy concerns |
|
|
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
|
Definition
| the Supreme Court upheld broad congressional power to regulate interstate commerce. The Court's broad interpretation of the Constitution's commerce clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers. |
|
|
