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| 5893969911 | Articles of Confederation | 1st Constitution of the U.S. 1781-1788 (weaknesses-no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade) | 0 | |
| 5893969912 | Monarchy | A government ruled by a king or queen | 1 | |
| 5893969913 | Natural Law | A doctrine that society should be governed by certain ethical principals that are part of nature and as such can be understood by reason | 2 | |
| 5893969914 | Separation of powers | A way of dividing the power of government among the legislative, executive, and judicial branch | 3 | |
| 5893969915 | Shay's rebellion | 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. |  | 4 |
| 5893969917 | Anti-Federalist | Those who favored strong state governments and a weaker national government | 5 | |
| 5893969918 | Bicameral | A legislature consisting of two parts, or houses | 6 | |
| 5893969919 | Connecticut Compromise | 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. | 7 | |
| 5893969920 | Constitutional Convention | A meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 that produced a new constitution | 8 | |
| 5893969921 | Direct Democracy | A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives | 9 | |
| 5893969922 | Federalism | A system of government in which power is distributed among certain geographical territories rather than concentrated within a central government. | 10 | |
| 5893969923 | Federalists | Those who favored a stronger national government and weaker state governments | 11 | |
| 5893969924 | Federalist Papers | A collection of 85 articles written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison under the name "Publius" to defend the Constitution in detail. | 12 | |
| 5893969925 | Representative Democracy | a system of government that gives citizens the opportunity to vote for representatives who work on their behalf | 13 | |
| 5893969926 | New Jersey Plan | 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. | 14 | |
| 5893969927 | Virginia Plan | 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. | 15 | |
| 5893969928 | Republic | A form of government in which citizens choose their leaders by voting; indirect/Representative democracy | 16 | |
| 5893969929 | Three fifths Clause | slave counted as 3/5 of a person for population in congress. | 17 | |
| 5893969932 | Checks and Balances | A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power | 18 | |
| 5893969933 | Elastic Clause | Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which allows Congress to make all laws that are "necessary and proper" to carry out the powers of the Constitution. | 19 | |
| 5893969934 | Cooperative Federalism | A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government. | 20 | |
| 5893969935 | Majority Rule | Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority. | 21 | |
| 5893969936 | Plurality | Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election, not necessarily more than half. |  | 22 |
| 5893969937 | Popular Sovereignty | A government in which the people rule by their own consent. | 23 | |
| 5893969938 | Supremacy Clause | Article VI 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. (ex. McCulloch v. Maryland) | 24 | |
| 5893969939 | Amendment | A change in, or addition to, a constitution or law | 25 | |
| 5893969940 | Bill of Rights | A formal statement of the fundamental rights of the people of the United States, incorporated in the Constitution as Amendments 1-10, and in all state constitutions. | 26 | |
| 5893969944 | 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. | 27 | |
| 5893969945 | Concurrent Powers | Powers held jointly by the national and state governments. | 28 | |
| 5893969946 | Confederation | (also known as confederacy or league) is a union of political units for common action in relation to other units. | 29 | |
| 5893969947 | 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. | 30 | |
| 5893969951 | McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) | The court ruled that the states did not have the power to tax the national bank with the backing of the supremacy clause | 31 | |
| 5893969952 | Reserved Powers | belong to the states and the people; Powers not specifically granted to the federal government or denied to the states | 32 | |
| 5893969954 | Block Grants | Federal money given to the states with limited spending guidelines | 33 | |
| 5893969955 | Categorical Grants | Federal money given to the states with specific spending guidelines | 34 | |
| 5893969956 | Devolution | The transfer of power from a high level political office to a lower level; central government to regional, state, or local governments | 35 |
