Unit 1-3 Vocab Check 1 Words 1-19 Flashcards
social contract and natural rights
(4) He spoke for those “intending their minds” away from an
irrational and oppressive political order, away from a governmental theory that
rested in the divine right of kings and clergy to rule and misrule. The opening
sentence of his influential treatise, The Social Contract, dramatically lays out a
key human problem: “Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains.” The
social contract Rousseau describes is the agreement of free and equal people to
abandon certain natural rights in order to find secure protections for society
and to find freedom in a single body politic committed to the general good. He
envisioned popular sovereignty—the people as the ultimate ruling authority—
and a government of officials to carry out the laws.
that natural law is the law of
God and that this law is acknowledged through human sense and reason. In
contrast to Hobbes, he proposed that under natural law—in a state of nature—
people were born free and equal. According to this law, Locke reasoned, “No
one can be . . . subjected to the political power of another, without his own
consent.”
popular sovereignty
(4) the people as the** ultimate ruling authority**
participatory democracy
(10) In its purist form, a participatory democracy depends on the direct
participation of many,
if not most, people in a society, not only in
government but in public life as well. emphasizes
broad involvement of citizens in politics. Most important, citizens vote directly
for laws and other matters that affect them instead of voting for people to
represent their interests.
pluralist democracy
(11) In a pluralist democracy, **people with widely varying interests find others who share their interests and organize **and unite into nongovernmental groups to exert influence on political decision making.
(bonus) Interest groups
(11)
elite democracy
(11-12) In an elite democracy, e**lected representatives make decisions
and act as trustees for the people who elected them. **Elite democracy recognizes
an inequity in the spread of power among the general populace and the elites:
People with resources and influence dominate.
anti-federalists
(13) Those who opposed the consolidation of the states under a federal government
declaration of independence
(5-7, 10) The full body debated and then voted on July 4, 1776,
to approve the document, which became the Declaration of Independence. It
provided a moral and legal justification for the rebellion.
articles of confederation
(13)
bill of rights
(40-41)
great compromise (NJ and VA plans)
(33)
the Virginia Plan
which called for a three-branch system with a national executive, a judiciary,
and a bicameral—or two-house—legislature.
T**he New Jersey Plan **assured states their sovereignty through a national government with limited and defined powers
Sherman’s proposal
created **a two-house Congress composed of a House of Representatives and
a Senate. **His plan satisfied both those wanting population as the criteria for
awarding seats in a legislature, because House seats would be awarded based on
population, and those wanting equal representation, because the Senate would
receive two senators from each state, regardless of the state’s size.
amendment process/article V
(39) (37-38)
so they included the amendment
process in Article V. The Constitution can be altered or amended in a two-
stage process. Stage one is a proposal from either two-thirds of the House and
Senate, or with a two-thirds vote at a convention initiated by the states and
called by Congress. Stage two, ratification, is completed by a vote of three-
fourths of the state legislatures or three-fourths of state ratifying conventions.
Every proposal was passed through Congress, and all but one, the repeal of the
Twenty-first Amendment, was ratified via conventions.
checks and balances (include examples)
(49)
Each branch can limit the others with checks and balances.
constitution establishes a system of checks and balances among the branches of government and allocates power between federal and state governments. the system is based on the rule of law and the balance between majority rule and minority rule
examples
1) President can veto or sign a bill. if the president vetos congress can do a two-thirds override.
2) house of representatives have the power of impeachment
separation of powers
(47)The framers assigned the legislative, executive, and judicial branches distinct
responsibilities to dilute power among the three branches.
legislature= most representative branch and makes the public’s will become public policy
congress - two chambers (house of rep and senate) they need permission from each chamber to pass a bill into law
Executive = the president is ultimately the authority to enforce the law and carry out congress’s policies
Judicial=
judicial review
(~203?)
