Terms (Unit 1 AP Gov)

• Democracy


  a system of government where power is held by the people
• Natural Rights


  the right to life, liberty, and property, which government cannot take away
• Social Contract


  people allow their governments to rule over them to ensure an orderly and functioning society
• American Political Culture


  the set of beliefs, customs, traditions, and values that Americans share
• Popular Sovereignty


  the idea that the government’s right to rule comes from the people
• Republicanism


  a system in which the government’s authority comes from the people through their representatives.
• Inalienable Rights


  rights the government cannot take away.
• Liberty


  social, political, and economic freedoms.
• Participatory Democracy


  a theory that widespread participation is essential for democratic government
• Civil Society Groups


  independent associations outside the government’s control.
• Pluralist Theory


  a theory of democracy that emphasizes the role of groups in the policymaking process.
• Elitist theory


  a theory of democracy that the elites have a disproportionate amount of influence in the policymaking process.
• Political Institutions


  the structure of government, including the executive, legislature, and judiciary.
• Constitutional Republic


  a democratic system with elected representatives in which the Constitution is the supreme law.
• Constitution


  a document that sets out the fundamental principles of governance and establishes the institutions of government.
• Republic


  a government ruled by representatives of the people.
• Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union


  a governing document that created a union of thirteen sovereign states in which the states, not the union, were supreme.
• unicameral


  a one-house legislature.
• Shays’s Rebellion


  a popular uprising against the government of Massachusetts.
• Constitutional Convention


  a meeting attended by state delegates in 1787 to fix the Articles of Confederation.
• writ of habeas corpus


  the right of people detained by the government to know the charges against them.
• bills of attainder


  when the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial.
• ex post facto laws


  laws punishing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed.
• Virginia Plan


  a plan of government calling for a three-branch government with a bicameral legislature, where more populous states would have more representation in Congress.
• New Jersey Plan


  a plan of government that provided for a unicameral legislature with equal votes for each states.
• bicameral


  a two-house legislature.
• Grand Committee


  a committee at the Constitutional Convention that worked out the compromise on representation.
• Great (Connecticut) Compromise


  an agreement for a plan of government that drew upon both the Virginia and New Jersey Plans; it settled issues of state representation by calling for a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives apportioned proportionately and a Senate apportioned equally.
• Three-Fifths Compromise


  an agreement reached by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a slave would count as three-fifths of a person in calculating a state’s representation.
• Compromise on Importation


  Congress could not restrict the slave trade until 1808.
• Separation of Powers


  a design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its own.
• Checks and Balances


  a design of government in which each branch has powers that can prevent the other branches from making policy.
• Federalism


  the sharing of power between the national government and the states.
• Legislative Branch


  the institution responsible for making laws.
• Expressed (Enumerated) powers

  authority specifically granted to a branch of the government in the Constitution.
• Necessary and proper (elastic) clause


  language in Article I, Section 8 granting Congress the powers necessary to carry out its enumerated powers.
• Implied Powers


  authority of the federal government that goes beyond its expressed powers.
• Executive Branch


  the institution responsible for carrying out laws passed by the legislative branch.
• Judicial Branch


  the institution responsible for hearing and deciding cases through the federal courts.
• Supremacy Clause


  constitutional provision declaring that the Constitution and all federal laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land.