The Study of American Government Vocab

Question 1

Democracy

Answer 1

Government by the people, both directly or indirectly, with free and frequent elections.

Question 2

Direct Democracy

Answer 2

Government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly.

Question 3

Representative Democracy

Answer 3

Government in which the people elect those who govern and pass laws; also called a republic.

Question 4

Constitutional Democracy

Answer 4

A government that enforces recognized limits on those who govern and allows the voice of the people to be heard through free, fair, and relatively frequent elections.

Question 5

Constitutionalism

Answer 5

The set of arrangements, including checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, rule of law, due process, and a bill of rights, that requires our leaders to listen, think, bargain, and explain before they act or make laws. We then hold them politically and legally accountable for how they exercise their powers.

Question 6

Statism

Answer 6

The idea that the rights of the nation are supreme over the rights of the individuals who make up the nation.

Question 7

Popular Consent

Answer 7

The idea that a just government must derive its powers from the consent of the people it governs.

Question 8

Majority Rule

Answer 8

Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority.

Question 9

Majority

Answer 9

The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election.

Question 10

Plurality

Answer 10

Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election, not necessarily more than half.

Question 11

Theocracy

Answer 11

Government by religious leaders, who claim divine guidance.

Question 12

Articles of Confederation

Answer 12

The first governing document of the confederated states drafted in 1777, ratified in 1781, and replaced by the present Constitution in 1789.

Question 13

Annapolis Convention

Answer 13

A convention held in September 1786 to consider problems of trade and navigation, attended by five states and important because it issued the call to Congress and the states for what became the Constitutional Convention.

Question 14

Constitutional Convention

Answer 14

The convention in Philadelphia, May 25 to September 17, 1787, that debated and agreed upon the Constitution of the United States.

Question 15

Shay’s Rebellion

Answer 15

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

Question 16

Bicameralism

Answer 16

The principle of a two-house legislature.

Question 17

Virgina Plan

Answer 17

Initial proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by the Virginia delegation for a strong central government with a bicameral legislature dominated by the big states.

Question 18

New Jersey Plan

Answer 18

Proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by William Paterson of New Jersey for a central government with a single-house legislature in which each state would be represented equally.

Question 19

Connecticut Compromise

Answer 19

Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators.

Question 20

Three-fifths Compromise

Answer 20

Compromise between northern and southern states at the Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives.

Question 21

Federalists

Answer 21

Supporters of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government.

Question 22

Anti-Federalists

Answer 22

Opponents of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government, generally.

Question 23

The Federalist

Answer 23

Essays promoting ratification of the Constitution, published anonymously by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison in 1787 and 1788.

Question 24

Power

Answer 24

The ability of one person to get another person to act in accordance with the first persons intentions.

Question 25

Authority

Answer 25

The right to use power.

Question 26

Legitimacy

Answer 26

Political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution.

Question 27

Elite

Answer 27

Persons who possess a disproportionate share of some valued resource such as money or power.

Question 28

Class view

Answer 28

View that the government is dominated by capitalists.

Question 29

Power elite view

Answer 29

View that the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside of the government.

Question 30

Bureaucratic view

Answer 30

View that the government is dominated by appointed officials.

Question 31

Pluralist view

Answer 31

The belief that competition among all affected interests will shape public policy.