US DC History - 2, 3, 4, 5

• Anti-Federalists


  Those who did not support ratification of the Constitution
• Articles of Confederation

  The first basis for the new nation's government; adopted in 1781; created an alliance of sovereign states held together by a weak central government
• Bicameral legislature


  A legislature with two houses, such as the U.S. Congress
• Bill of Rights

  The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution; most were designed to protect fundamental rights and liberties
• Checks and balances


  A system that allows one branch of government to limit the exercise of power by another branch; requires the different parts of government to work together
• Confederation


  A highly decentralized form of government; sovereign states form a union for purposes such as mutual defense
• Declaration of Independence

  A document written in 1776 in which the American colonists proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and listed their grievances against the British king
• Enumerated powers


  The powers given explicitly to the federal government by the Constitution (Article I, Section 8); power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, raise and support armies, declare war, coin money, and conduct foreign affairs
• Federal system


  A form of government in which power is divided between state governments and a national government
• Federalists


  Those who supported ratification of the Constitution
• Great Compromise


  A compromise between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan that created a two-house Congress; representation based on population in the House of Representatives and equal representation of states in the Senate
• Natural rights


  The right to life, liberty, and property; believed to be given by God; no government may take away
• New Jersey Plan

  A plan that called for a one-house national legislature; each state would receive one vote
• Republic


  A form of government in which political power rests in the hands of the people, not a monarch, and is exercised by elected representatives
• Reserved powers


  Any powers not prohibited by the Constitution or delegated to the national government; powers reserved to the states and denied to the federal government
• Separation of powers


  The sharing of powers among three separate branches of government
• Social contract


  An agreement between people and government in which citizens consent to be governed so long as the government protects their natural rights
• Supremacy clause


  The statement in Article VI of the Constitution that federal law is superior to laws passed by state legislatures
• The Federalist Papers


  A collection of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in support of ratification of the Constitution
• Three-Fifths Compromise

  A compromise between northern and southern states that called for counting of all a state's free population and 60 percent of its enslaved population for both federal taxation and representation in Congress
• Unicameral legislature


  A legislature with only one house, like the Confederation Congress or the legislature proposed by the New Jersey Plan
• Veto


  The power of the president to reject a law proposed by Congress
• Virginia Plan


  A plan for a two-house legislature; representatives would be elected to the lower house based on each state's population; representatives for the upper house would be chosen by the lower house
• Bill of attainder


  A legislative action declaring someone guilty without a trial; prohibited under the Constitution
• Block grant


  A type of grant that comes with less stringent federal administrative conditions and provide recipients more latitude over how to spend grant funds
• Categorical grant


  A federal transfer formulated to limit recipients' discretion in the use of funds and subject them to strict administrative criteria
• Concurrent powers


  Shared state and federal powers that range from taxing, borrowing, and making and enforcing laws to establishing court systems
• Cooperative federalism

  A style of federalism in which both levels of government coordinate their actions to solve national problems, leading to the blending of layers as in a marble cake
• Creeping categorization


  A process in which the national government attaches new administrative requirements to block grants or supplants them with new categorical grants
• Devolution


  A process in which powers from the central government in a unitary system are delegated to subnational units
• Dual federalism


  A style of federalism in which the states and national government exercise exclusive authority in distinctly delineated spheres of jurisdiction, creating a layer-cake view of federalism
• Elastic clause


  The last clause of Article I, Section 8, which enables the national government "to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying" out all its constitutional responsibilities
• Ex post facto law


  A law that criminalizes an act retroactively; prohibited under the Constitution
• Federalism


  An institutional arrangement that creates two relatively autonomous levels of government, each possessing the capacity to act directly on the people with authority granted by the national constitution
• Full faith and credit clause


  Found in Article IV, Section 1, of the Constitution, this clause requires states to accept court decisions, public acts, and contracts of other states
• General revenue sharing


  A type of federal grant that places minimal restrictions on how state and local governments spend the money
• Immigration federalism


  The gradual movement of states into the immigration policy domain traditionally handled by the federal government
• New federalism


  A style of federalism premised on the idea that the decentralization of policies enhances administrative efficiency, reduces overall public spending, and improves outcomes
• Nullification


  A doctrine promoted by John Calhoun of South Carolina in the 1830s, asserting that if a state deems a federal law unconstitutional, it can nullify it within its borders
• Privileges and immunities clause


  Found in Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution, this clause prohibits states from discriminating against out-of-staters by denying such guarantees as access to courts, legal protection, and property and travel rights; also referred to as the comity provision