Chapter 2: The Constitution

Question 0

social contract theory

Answer 0

The belief that the people agree to set up rulers for certain purposes and thus have the right to resist or remove rulers who act against those purposes.

Question 1

Declaration of Independence

Answer 1

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the document that proclaimed the right of the colonies to separate from Great Britain.

Question 2

republic

Answer 2

A government without a monarch; a government rooted in the consent of the governed, whose power is exercised by elected representatives responsible to the governed.

Question 3

confederation

Answer 3

A loose association of independent states that agree to cooperate on specified matters.

Question 4

Articles of Confederation

Answer 4

The compact among the thirteen original states that established the first government of the United States.

Question 5

Virginia Plan

Answer 5

A set of proposals for a new government, submitted to the Constitutional Convention of 1787; included separation of the government into three branches, division of the legislature into two houses, and proportional representa- tion in the legislature.

Question 6

legislative branch

Answer 6

The lawmaking branch of government.

Question 7

executive branch

Answer 7

The law-enforcing branch of government.

Question 8

judicial branch

Answer 8

The law-interpreting branch of government

Question 9

New Jersey Plan

Answer 9

Submitted by the head of the New Jersey delegation to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a set of nine resolutions that would have, in effect, preserved the Articles of Confederation by amending rather than replacing them.

Question 10

Great Compromise

Answer 10

Submitted by the Connecticut delegation to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and thus also known as the Connecticut Compromise, a plan calling for a bicameral legislature in which the House of Representatives would be apportioned according to population and the states would be represented equally in the Senate.

Question 11

republicanism

Answer 11

A form of government in which power resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives.

Question 12

federalism

Answer 12

The division of power between a central government and regional governments.

Question 13

separation of powers

Answer 13

The assignment of lawmaking, law-enforcing, and law- interpreting functions to separate branches of government.

Question 14

checks and balances

Answer 14

A government structure that gives each branch some scrutiny of and control over the other branches.

Question 15

extraordinary majority

Answer 15

Majority greater than that required by majority rule, that is, greater than 50 percent plus one.

Congress can over-ride a president’s veto by an extraordinary majority, two-thirds of each chamber.

Question 16

enumerated powers

Answer 16

The powers explicitly granted to Congress by the Constitution

Question 17

necessary and proper clause

Answer 17

The last clause in Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution, which gives Congress the means to execute its enumerated powers. This clause is the basis for Congress’s implied powers. Also called the elastic clause.

Question 18

implied powers

Answer 18

Those powers that Congress requires in order to execute its enumerated powers.

Question 19

judicial review

Answer 19

The power to declare government acts invalid because they violate the Constitution.

Question 20

supremacy clause

Answer 20

The clause of Article VI of the Constitution that asserts that national laws take precedence over state and local laws when they conflict.

Question 21

Bill of Rights

Answer 21

The first ten amendments to the Constitution. They prevent the national government from tampering with fundamental rights and civil liberties and emphasize the limited character of national power.