Chapters 1-3 Flashcards
Concurrent Powers
Powers shared by both national and state levels of government
Bicameral
Two houses or chambers
Authoritarian Regime
An oppressive system of government in which citizens are deprived of their basic freedom to speak write associate and participate in political life without fear of punishment
Separation of Powers
State in which the powers of the government are divided among the three branches
Declaration of Independence
The formal proclamation declaring independence for the 13 colonies of England in North America approved and signed of july 4th 1776
Concurrent powers
Powers shared by both national and state levels of government
Social contract
European philosophers who reasoned that the most efficient way to create the best government was to understand human nature in a state prior to government
Sovereignty
The independence and self government of a political entity
Thomas Paine
Common Sense pamphlet helped crystalize the idea of revolution for the colonist
Articles of confederation
The first constitutional framework of the new United States of America approved in 1777 by the second constitutional congress it was later replaced by the current constitution
Supremacy clause
Article IV of the constitution holding that in any conflict between federal laws and treaties and state laws the will of the national government always prevails
Universal suffrage
The requirement that everyone must have the right to vote
Order
A condition in which the structures of a given society and the relationships thereby defined among individuals and clauses compromising it are maintained and preserved by the rule of the law and police power of the state
Judicial review
The power of the supreme court established in Marbury V Madison to overturn acts of the president.
Gibbons Vs. Ogden
The 1824 decision by John Marshall that gave congress the power under the interstate commerce clause to regulate anything that affects the transfer of goods between states
Bill of rights
The first 10 amendments to the constitution added in 1781
Freedom
A value that suggests that no individual should be within the power or under the control of another
Ratify
An act of approval of proposed constitutional amendments by the states; 2nd step of amendment process
The great compromise
A plan presented at the constitution conversation that upheld the large state position for the house its membership based on proportional representation balanced by the small state posture of equal representation in the senate
Referenda
Proposed by policy measures submitted for direct popular vote
Direct democracy
A type of government in which people govern themselves vote on polices and laws and live by majority rule
Intrest groups
Formal organizations of people who share a common outlook or social circumstance and who band together in hope of influencing the government
Confederation
A league of sovereign states that delegates powers on selected issues to a central government
Federal Mandates
A direct order from congress that the states must fulfill
Fulcrum Powers
The 5 constitutional provisions that dictate the balance of power between the national and state government in the federal structure. Interstate clause, general welfare clause, necessary and proper, supremacy, & 10th amendment
Compact
Agreement that legally binds two or more parties to enforce rules
Political Party
Organizations that exist to allow likeminded members of the population to group together and magnify their individual voices into a focus promoting individual candidates and government action
Block grants
Federal grants that provide money to states for general program funding with few or no strings attached
Three Fifths Compromise
Slaves were 3/5 of the population counted as three fifths of a person
Devolution
Reducing the size and authority of the federal government by returning the programs to the states
Federalist
Those in favor of the constitution
Implied Powers
Powers not specifically stated in the constitution but inferred from the express powers
Secession
the action of withdrawing formally from membership of a federation or body, especially a political state
Public opinion polls
Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.
The constitution
a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.
The basic written set of principles and precedents of federal government in the US, which came into operation in 1789 and has since been modified by twenty-six amendments.
Legitimacy
conformity to the law or to rules
ability to be defended with logic or justification; validity.
Anarchy
a state of disorder due to absence or non-recognition of authority or other controlling systems.
Electoral College
(in the US) a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.
Essay
Direct:government people govern themselves; vote on polices and laws
Representative: small # of people designate someone to represent their interest
Free elections, free press, competitive political parties, interest groups
Freedom stability equality order
Thomas Jefferson
author of Dio
John Locke
Most influential social contract theorist
Two treaties on government
Expressed powers
Judicial
Executive
Legislative
