UNIT 1: Foundations of American Democracy

Question 1

government

Answer 1

composed of the formal and informal institutions

Question 2

public policy

Answer 2

an exercise of government power in doing those things necessary to maintain authority over society.

Question 3

democracy

Answer 3

Rule by the people

Question 4

direct democracy

Answer 4

citizens meet and make decisions about public policy issues

Question 5

representative democracy

Answer 5

citizens choose officials who make decisions about public policy

Question 6

participatory democratic theory

Answer 6

government depends on the consent of the governed that can be given directly or through representatives; it emphasizes citizen participation

Question 7

pluralist theory

Answer 7

interest groups compete in the political arena.

Question 8

elite theory

Answer 8

small number of powerful elites(corporate leaders, top military officers) form an upper class, which rules in it’s own self interest.

Question 9

bureaucratic theory

Answer 9

allows bureaucrats to hold the real power over public policy

Question 10

hyperpluralism

Answer 10

where government is often pulled in several different directions at the same time by many groups in democracy

Question 11

social contract

Answer 11

a voluntary agreements between the government and the governed

Question 12

natural rights

Answer 12

refers to life, liberty, and property.

Question 13

Declaration of Independence

Answer 13

a document that declares independence for the colonies from Great Britain.

Question 14

Articles of Confederation

Answer 14

it planned the structure of the new government for the colonies

Question 15

federal system

Answer 15

where the same territory is controlled by two levels of government

Question 16

Great(Connecticut) Compromise

Answer 16

a combination of both the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan

Question 17

Virginia Plan

Answer 17

a compromise that made Congress a bicameral legislature, with representation based on population in the lower house, and equal representation in the upper house.

Question 18

Three-Fifths Compromise

Answer 18

each state would count three fifths of its slave population to determine both representation and taxation

Question 19

Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise

Answer 19

Congress was prohibited from taxing exports from the states and from banning slave trade for a period of 20 years

Question 20

ratification

Answer 20

giving formal consent to an agreement

Question 21

Federalists

Answer 21

they supported a strong central government with expanded legislative powers

Question 22

Federalist Papers

Answer 22

defended the new government created under the Constitution

Question 23

Anti-Federalists

Answer 23

believed that the new Constitution gave too much power to the national government, and wanted the Bill of Rights to be included for them to ratify it.

Question 24

Bill of Rights

Answer 24

ensures fundamental liberties

Question 25

constitution

Answer 25

details the structure of a government

Question 26

limited government

Answer 26

belief the gov is not all powerful; gov has only those powers given to it

Question 27

popular sovereignty

Answer 27

the people are the source of the gov’s authority

Question 28

separation of powers

Answer 28

power is separated among three branches of gov(legislative, executive, and judicial)

Question 29

checks and balances

Answer 29

each branch is subject to restraints by the other two branches.

Question 30

federalism

Answer 30

a division of governmental powers between the nation gov and the states

Question 31

amendments

Answer 31

they state the rights and restrictions of the government and the people

Question 32

judicial review

Answer 32

the power of the court to rule on the constitutionality of congressional laws, executive actions, and state laws.

Question 33

Maybury v. Madison(1803)

Answer 33

established judicial review