Chapter 1 Vocab AP Gov

• Participatory Democracy


  is a model of democracy in which citizens have the power to decide directly on policy and politicians are responsible for implementing those policy decisions.
• Pluralist Democracy


  is a model of democracy in which no one group dominates politics and organized groups compete with each other to influence policy.
• Elite Democracy


  is a model of democracy in which a small number of people, usually those who are wealthy and well-educated, influence political decision making.
• Declaration of Independence


  an official statement which justified the colonies break from Britain, listing the moral and legal justification for the rebellion.
• Grand Committee


  committee made up of one delegate from each of the states represented at the convention.
• Limited Government


  kept under control by laws, checks and balances, and separation of powers.
• Natural Law


  law of God, acknowledged through human sense and reason under which people were born free and equal.
• Popular Sovereignty


  the people are the ultimate ruling authority.
• Representative Republic


  collection of sovereign states gathered for the national interest, national needs, and national defense.
• Republicanism


  political ideology in which men were entitled to "life, liberty, and property" and these could not be taken away except under laws created through the consent of the governed.
• Anti-Federalists


  group of people who opposed the Constitution.
• Federalists


  group of people who endorsed the Constitution.
• Interest Groups


  groups that exert influence on political law-making.
• Referendum


  allows citizens to contest the work of the legislature.
• Initiative


  gives the people the power to put a measure on the ballot for a vote.
• Representative Democracy


  a government in which the people entrust elected officials to represent their concerns.
• Federalist Papers


  A collection of 85 articles written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison under the name "Publius" to defend the Constitution.
• Faction


  A number of citizens who are united and operate by some common impulse of passion, or interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens.
• John Locke


  English philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life, liberty and property. (Second Treatise of Civil Government)
• Thomas Hobbes


  English materialist and political philosopher who advocated absolute sovereignty as the only kind of government that could resolve problems caused by the selfishness of human beings. (The Leviathan)
• Baron de Montesquieu


  French aristocrat who urged that power be separated between executive, legislative, and judicial branches, each balancing out the others, thus preventing despotism and preserving freedom. (The Spirit of the Laws)
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau


  A French man who believed that Human beings are naturally good, free, and can rely on their instincts. Government should exist to protect common good, and be a democracy. (The Social Contract)
• James Madison


  his influence in creating the plan for the new government and his stalwart support of it during the ratification process earned him the nickname Father of the Constitution.
• Alexander Hamilton


  emerged as a major political figure during the debate over the Constitution, as the outspoken leader of the Federalists and one of the authors of the Federalist Papers. Spearheaded the government's Federalist initiatives, most notably through the creation of the Bank of the United States.