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| 4954019381 | Articles of Confederation | The original constitution of the United States, ratified in 1781, which was replaced by the US Constitution in 1789. | 0 | |
| 4954019382 | Checks and Balances | Counterbalancing influences by which an organization or system is regulated, typically those ensuring that political power is not concentrated in the hands of individuals or groups | 1 | |
| 4954019383 | Separation of Powers | The division governmental authority and powers and assigning them to distinct branches. | 2 | |
| 4954019384 | Federalists | a member of a former political party in the United States that favored a strong centralized federal government | 3 | |
| 4954019385 | Anti-federalists | People who opposed the new constitution because they felt a strong central government defeated the purpose of the war against Great Britain | 4 | |
| 4954019386 | The Federalist Papers | Series of essays written in support of ratifying the Constitution. Written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison. | 5 | |
| 4954019387 | Bill of Rights | The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, ratified in 1791 and guaranteeing such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship | 6 | |
| 4954019388 | Social Contract | The belief that people are free and equal by God-given right and that this in turn requires that all people give their consent to be governed. | 7 | |
| 4954019389 | Direct Democracy | A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives | 8 | |
| 4954019390 | Representative Democracy | Form of democracy in which individuals are represented by appointed representatives. | 9 | |
| 4954019391 | Popular Sovereignty | The notion that the ultimate authority in society rests with the people. | 10 | |
| 4954019392 | Republic | A government rooted in the consent of the governed; a representative or indirect democracy. | 11 | |
| 4954019393 | Pluralism | A theory of government that holds that open, multiple, and competing groups can check the asserted power by any one group. | 12 | |
| 4954019394 | Elitism | The attitude that society should be governed by an elite group of individuals | 13 | |
| 4954019395 | Enumerated Powers | Seventeen specific powers granted to Congress under Article I, section 8, of the US Constitution; these powers include taxation, coinage of money, regulation of commerce, and the authority to provide for a national defense. | 14 | |
| 4954019396 | Implied Powers | Powers derived from the enumerated powers and the necessary and proper clause. These powers are not stated specifically but are considered to be reasonably implied through the exercise of delegated powers. | 15 | |
| 4954019398 | privileges and immunities clause | Part of Article IV of the Constitution guaranteeing that the citizens of each state are afforded the same rights as citizens of all other states. | 16 | |
| 4954019399 | Gibbons v. Ogden | The Supreme Court upheld broad congressional power to regulate interstate commerce. The court's broad interpretation of the Constitution's commerce clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers. | 17 | |
| 4954019400 | Dual Federalism | The belief that having separate and equally powerful levels of government is the best arrangement. | 18 | |
| 4954019401 | Cooperative Federalism | The relationship between the national and state governments that began with the New Deal. | 19 | |
| 4954019402 | Categorical Grants | Grant for which Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose. | 20 | |
| 4954019403 | Block Grant | Broad grant with few strings attached; given to states by the federal government for specified activities, such as secondary education or health services. | 21 | |
| 4954019404 | Unfunded Mandates | National laws that direct states or local governments to comply with federal rules or regulations but contain little or no federal funding to defray the cost of meeting these requirement. | 22 | |
| 4954019405 | Elastic Clause | Also known as the Necessary and Proper Clause, gives Congress the authority to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers specified in the Constitution. | 23 | |
| 4954019406 | Supremacy Clause | Portion of Article VI of the U.S Constitution mandating that national law is supreme to all other laws passed by the states or by any other subdivision of government. | 24 | |
| 4954019407 | Commerce Clause | The clause in the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations. | 25 | |
| 4954019408 | Funded Mandates | those regulations passed by Congress or issued by regulatory agencies to the states with federal funds to support them | 26 | |
| 4954019409 | Amending Process | There are two formal two-stage methods of amending the Constitution. The first stage (methods of proposal) can be passed either by two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress, or by a national Constitutional Convention called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the state legislatures. The second stage (methods of ratification) can be passed either by legislatures in three-fourths of the sates, or by conventions in three-fourths of the states. | 27 | |
| 4954019410 | Fiscal Federalism | The pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system; it is the cornerstone of the national government's relations with state and local governments. | 28 | |
| 4954019411 | Categorical Grants | Federal grants to states or local governments that are for specific programs or projects. | 29 | |
| 4954019412 | Marbury v. Madison | The 1803 case in which Chief Justice John Marshall and his associates first asserted the right of the Supreme Court to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. The decision established the Court's power of judicial review over acts of Congress, (the Judiciary Act of 1789). | 30 | |
| 4954019415 | Federalism | A way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same area and people | 31 | |
| 4954019416 | Confederation | National government is weak and most of all of the power is in the hands of its components (such as states) | 32 | |
| 4954019417 | Articles of Confederation | a written agreement ratified in 1781 by the thirteen original states, it provided a legal symbol of their union by gave the central government no coercive power over the states or their citizens | 33 | |
| 4954019421 | McCulloch v. Maryland | (1819) the Supreme Court ruled that Congress has certain implied powers and that national policies take precedence over state policies. | 34 | |
| 4954019424 | Dual Federalism | A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies. | 35 | |
| 4954019425 | Layer Cake Federalism | used to describe dual federalism because the powers and policy assignments of the layers of government are distinct (as in a layer cake), and proponents of dual federalism believe that the powers of the national government should be interpreted narrowly. | 36 | |
| 4954019426 | Cooperative Federalism | in which the national and state governments share responsibility for public policies. | 37 | |
| 4954019427 | Marble Cake Federalism | American federalism is portrayed as a system with mingled responsibilities and blurred distinctions between the levels of government. (cooperative federalism) | 38 | |
| 4954019429 | Grants-in-aid | are the main instrument the national government uses to both aid and influence states and localities. | 39 | |
| 4954019431 | project grant | awarded on the basis of competitive applications | 40 | |
| 4954019432 | Formula grants | are distributed according to a formula based on factors such as population, per capita income, and percentage of rural population. | 41 | |
| 4954019433 | Block Grants | Federal grants given more or less automatically to states or communities to support broad programs in areas such as community development and social services | 42 | |
| 4954019435 | Categorical Grants | federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes, or "categories," of state and local spending. They come with strings attached, such as nondiscrimination provisions. | 43 | |
| 4954019436 | Cooperative Federalism | A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government | 44 | |
| 4954019437 | Devolution | transferring responsibility for policies from the federal government to state and local governments. | 45 | |
| 4954019438 | Dual Federalism | A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies. | 46 | |
| 4954019439 | Elastic Clause | The final paragraph of Article 1, Section 8, of the constitution, which authorizes Congress to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers. | 47 | |
| 4954019440 | Enumerated Powers | Powers of the federal government that are specifically addressed in the Constitution | 48 | |
| 4954019442 | Federalism | A way of organizing a nation so that two levels of government have formal authority over the same land and people. It is a system of shared power between units of government. | 49 | |
| 4954019443 | Fiscal Federalism | The pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system | 50 | |
| 4954019444 | Formula Grants | Federal categorical grants distributed according to a formula specified in legislation or in administrative regulations. | 51 | |
| 4954019445 | Full Faith and Credit Clause | A clause in Article IV, Section , of the constitution requiring each state to recognize the official documents and civil judgements rendered by the courts of other states | 52 | |
| 4954019446 | Gibbons vs. Ogden | A landmark case decided in 1824 in which the Supreme Court interpreted very broadly the clause in Article I, Section 8, of the constitution giving congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, as encompassing virtually every form of commercial activity. | 53 | |
| 4954019447 | Implied Powers | Powers of the federal government that go beyond those enumerated in the constitution. The constitution states that congress has the power to "make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution" the powers enumerated in Article I. | 54 | |
| 4954019448 | Intergovernmental Relations | The working of federal system - the entire set of interactions among national, state, and local governments | 55 | |
| 4954019449 | Mccullouch vs. Maryland | A 1819 Supreme Court decision that established the supremacy of the national government over state governments | 56 | |
| 4954019450 | Privileges and Immunities Clause | A clause in Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution according citizens of each state most of the privileges of citizens of other states. | 57 | |
| 4954019451 | Project Grants | Federal grants given for specific purposes and awarded on the basis of the merits of applications. A type of categorical grants available to states and localities. | 58 | |
| 4954019452 | Supremacy Clause | Article IV of the Constitution, which makes the Constitution, national laws, and treaties supreme over state laws when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits. | 59 | |
| 4954019455 | Unitary system | a government that gives all key powers to the national or central government | 60 | |
| 4954019456 | Confederate system (Confederation) | a government that gives all key powers to the states | 61 | |
| 4954019457 | cooperative federalism | Cooperation among federal, state, &local govts; "marble cake" federalism | 62 | |
| 4954019458 | Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation | very weak federal gov't, no power to tax, | 63 | |
| 4954019459 | Enumerated Powers | controlling trade between states; creating army; coin and printing money; admiting new states; declaring war and peace; making laws for immagration | 64 | |
| 4954019460 | categorical grants | Federal grants that can be used only for specific purposes or "categories," of state and local spending. They come with strings attached, such as nondiscrimination provisions. | 65 | |
| 4954019461 | Concurrent powers | Powers for both the national and state governments, such as the power to levy taxes. | 66 | |
| 4954019462 | Reserved powers | Control public schools,Control local elections,Set up governments, Control trade in states, provide laws for safety,health, and welfare. | 67 | |
| 4954019463 | Implied powers | powers that congress has that are not stated explicitly in the constitution | 68 | |
| 4954019464 | block grants | Money from the national government that states can spend within broad guidelines | 69 | |
| 4954019465 | Ex post facto laws | A law which punishes people for a crime that was not a crime when it was committed. Congress cannot pass these laws. | 70 | |
| 4954019466 | devolution | The effort to transfer responsibility for many public programs and services from the federal government to the states. | 71 | |
| 4954019467 | "Full faith and credit" clause | Constitution's requirement that each state accept the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state | 72 | |
| 4954019468 | interstate compacts | Agreements btwn states to work together on common issues | 73 | |
| 4954019470 | Necessary and proper clause | Constitutional clause that gives congress the power to make all laws "necessary and proper" for executing its powers | 74 | |
| 4954019471 | mandates | terms set by the national government that states must meet whether or not they accept federal grants | 75 | |
| 4954019472 | Supremacy clause | The constitutional provision that makes the Constitution and federal laws superior to all conflicting state and local laws. | 76 | |
| 4954019473 | Gibbons v. Ogden | Regulating interstate commerce is a power reserved to the federal government | 77 | |
| 4954019474 | Commerce clause | The section of the Constitution in which Congress is given the power to regulate trade among the states and with foreign countries. | 78 | |
| 4954019475 | Dual federalism | A system of government in which both the states and the national government remain supreme within their own spheres, each responsible for some policies. | 79 | |
| 4954019476 | Tenth Amendment | Amendment stating that the powers not delegated to the federal gov. are reserved to the states | 80 |
