Social Studies I

Question 1

checks and balances

Answer 1

the Constitutional mechanisms that authorize each branch of

Question 2

civil rights

Answer 2

the protections and privileges of personal liberty given to all U.S. citizens by the Constitution and Bill of Rights

Question 3

communism

Answer 3

a political and economic system in which factors of production are collectively owned and directed by the state

Question 4

confederate

Answer 4

of, or pertaining to, a group of states more or less permanently united for common purposes

Question 5

human resources

Answer 5

labor used to produce goods and services

Question 6

democracy

Answer 6

the practice of the principle of equality of rights, opportunity, and treatment

Question 7

dictatorship

Answer 7

a system of government in which one person has absolute authority, including complete domination of the citizens’ lives; the most basic of citizens’ rights are taken away in order to guarantee the leader’s hold on power

Question 8

due process of law

Answer 8

the right of every citizen to be protected against arbitrary action by government

Question 9

economics

Answer 9

the study of the process of producing and distributing a good and how it relates to buying, selling, and making a profit in a society

Question 10

entrepreneur

Answer 10

a person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture

Question 11

environment

Answer 11

everything near and on Earth’s surface

Question 12

equal protection of the law

Answer 12

the idea that no individual or group may receive special privileges from, nor be unjustly discriminated by, the law

Question 13

federalism

Answer 13

a form of political organization in which governmental power is divided between a central government and territorial subdivisions—in the United States, among the national, state, and local governments

Question 14

Federalists

Answer 14

advocates of a strong federal government and supporters of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution

Question 15

global warming

Answer 15

the progressive gradual rise of Earth’s surface temperature thought to be caused by the greenhouse effect and responsible for changes in global climate patterns

Question 16

amendment

Answer 16

changes in, or additions to, a constitution; must be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by a convention called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the state legislatures; ratified by approval of three-fourths of the states

Question 17

graph

Answer 17

a visual aid that makes comparisons of numbers or amounts by using lines, bars, circles, or pictures

Question 18

human capital

Answer 18

the knowledge and skills that enable workers to be productive

Question 19

immigration

Answer 19

the process of moving to a country (or other political unit)

Question 20

income tax

Answer 20

a percentage of wages, profits, and other income paid to federal, state, and local governments

Question 21

judicial review

Answer 21

the doctrine that permits the federal courts to declare unconstitutional, and thus null and void, acts of the Congress, the executive branch, and the states; the precedent was established in the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison

Question 22

latitude

Answer 22

the distance north or south of the equator, measured in degrees along a line of longitude

Question 23

Mayflower Compact

Answer 23

the document drawn up by the Pilgrims in 1620, while on the Mayflower, before landing at Plymouth Rock; provided a legal basis for self-government