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| A clause at the beginning of a constitution or statue that explains the reasons for its passage. |
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| Principle that the people are the source of all governmental power. |
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| The constitutional doctrine of dividing governmental power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. |
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| The Constitutional doctrine in which each branch of government shares some of the powers of the other branches in order to limit their actions. |
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| The Process by which Congress allocates the number of representatives for each state, based on changes in the census. |
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| The process by which each state draws the boundaries of its congressional districts, according to the number of representatives allocated by Congress. |
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| The process by which a civil officer of the United States is charged with wrongdoing. |
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| The number of members in a group required to be present to carry out official business. |
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| Unlimited and often irrelevant debate on a bill designed to prevent a vote on its passage. |
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| A procedural motion to end a debate on a bill. |
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| A joint committee of both houses of Congress that proposes compromise legislation when there are disagreements on bills. |
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| The president's power to reject a bill passed by Congress. |
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| The power of the president to prevent passage of a bill by refusing to sign it during an adjournment of Congress. |
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| The power to reject specific provisions in a law without defeating the entire bill. |
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| The practice by which Congress voids actions of executive branch agencies or officials. |
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| The powers of the national government specifically listed in the Constitution. |
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| Those powers not specifically listed in the Constitution that can be inferred from the enumerated powers. |
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| Those powers that belong to the government of a sovereign state. |
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| Taxes on imports or general taxes. |
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| Taxes on domestic consumption of goods and services. (Sales Tax) |
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| Letters of marque and reprisal |
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| Authorization to attack the shipping of an enemy state without being punished as a pirate. |
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| A court order directing that an officer who has custody of a prisoner show cause why the prisoner is being held. |
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| A legislative act that punishes a person without a trial. |
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| Those that crminalize actions after the fact. |
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| Most commonly, taxes based on the value of land, as opposed to those based on privileges or uses. |
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| Doctrine that the president does not have to share certain information with Congress or the judiciary. |
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| The president's selected advisors, usually consisting of the heads of the executive departments. |
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| A large and complex administrative organization. |
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| The constitutional power of the Senate to approve treaties and presidential appointments. |
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| The power of the courts to declare a law or an act of the executive unconstitutional. |
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| Philosophy under which judges avoid overturning statutes and precedents. |
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| Philosophy under which judges do not avoid overturning statutes and precedents. |
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| Policy of construing the Constitution's text narrowly to limit the goverment power. |
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| Policy of construing the Constitution's text broadly to allow flexible government power. |
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| The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. |
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| Determinations by the Supreme Court whether future actions of the president or Congress would be constitutional. |
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| Cases that a court can hear directly, rather than through appeals. |
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| Cases based on appeals from lower courts. |
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| An order issued by the U.S. Supreme Court that directs a lower court to transmit records for a case that it will hear on appeal. |
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| The forfeiture of rights and property by a person convicted of treason. |
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| Revoking the inheritance of the descendants of a treasonous person. |
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| The surrender by one state to another of a person accused or convicted of a crime in another state. |
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| Approval of the U.S. Constitution or its ammendments by state conventions or legislatures. |
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| A political system in which power is shared between the national and state governments. |
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| The Requirement that government or its agents must be involved in order for the Constitution or the Bill of Rights to apply. |
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| Process by which the Supreme Court applied the Bill of Rights to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment. |
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| The act of inciting people to change the government. |
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| Speech that involves only spoken words, without actions. |
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| Speech that combines spoken words with action, such as demonstrations and picketing. |
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| Actions that are themselves a message, without spoken words; also known as "Expressive conduct" |
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| A place such as a public park or street that is normally open to First Amendment activities. |
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| Speech or action that portrays sex or nudity contrary to societal standards of decency. |
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| Hurting a person's reputation by spready falsehoods. |
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| Defamation using spoken words. |
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| Defamation using written words. |
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| Abusive and insulting comments delivered face-to-face to a specific individual. |
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| Government control of free expression. |
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| Printing criticism of the government. |
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| Censoring a work before it is published. |
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| Knowledge that a statement is false or reckless disregard of whether it is false. |
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| Ability of a hostile bystander to end a peaceful assembly. |
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