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| 10581289475 | Popular Sovereignty | A government in which the people rule by their own consent. | 0 | |
| 10581291906 | Natural Rights | the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property | 1 | |
| 10581293812 | John Locke | English philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life, liberty and property. | 2 | |
| 10581303873 | Limited Government | The idea that certain restrictions should be placed on government to protect the natural rights of citizens. | 3 | |
| 10581306418 | Republicanism | A philosophy of limited government with elected representatives serving at the will of the people. The government is based on consent of the governed. | 4 | |
| 10581308859 | Social Contract | A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules. | 5 | |
| 10581317092 | participatory democracy | a system of democracy in which all members of a group or community participate collectively in making major decisions | 6 | |
| 10581324060 | pluralist theory | A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies. | 7 | |
| 10581325961 | Elite Theory of Democracy | A theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization. | 8 | |
| 10581328495 | Republic | A form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws. | 9 | |
| 10581333032 | 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. | 10 | |
| 10581335656 | 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) | 11 | |
| 10581338990 | Constitutional Convention | The meeting of state delegates in 1787 in Philadelphia called to revise the Articles of Confederation. It instead designed a new plan of government, the US Constitution. | 12 | |
| 10581341285 | Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise) | 1787 *Called for a bicameral legislative system in which the House of Representatives would be based on population and the Senate would have equal representation in Congress *Combined pieces of the New Jersey Plan, the Virginia Plan, and other proposals *Included the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of apportioning representation and called for direct taxation on the states | 13 | |
| 10581347670 | New Jersey Plan | The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state's population. | 14 | |
| 10581350063 | Virginia Plan | Virginia delegate James Madison's plan of government, in which states got a number of representatives in Congress based on their population | 15 | |
| 10581351936 | Electoral College | A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president | 16 | |
| 10581353655 | Three-Fifths Compromise | 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. | 17 | |
| 10581355933 | Slave Importation | Banned in 1808 | 18 | |
| 10581360186 | Amendment | A change to the Constitution | 19 | |
| 10581360208 | Ratification | Formal approval, final consent to the effectiveness of a constitution, constitutional amendment, or treaty | 20 | |
| 10581361909 | Ratification of the Constitution | required 9 out of 13 states to ratify (approve) it to become law. | 21 | |
| 10581363896 | Ratification Process | 22 | ||
| 10581367088 | Separation of Powers | Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law | 23 | |
| 10581371272 | 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 | 24 | |
| 10581377528 | Supermajority | a majority greater than a simple majority of one over half, e.g., 3/5, 2/3. | 25 | |
| 10581379014 | enumerated powers | The powers explicitly given to Congress in the Constitution. | 26 | |
| 10581380852 | delegated powers | Constitutional powers granted solely to the federal government. | 27 | |
| 10581383418 | implied powers | Powers inferred from the express powers that allow Congress to carry out its functions. (based on Elastic Clause) | 28 | |
| 10581389152 | reserved powers | powers that the Constitution does not give to the national government that are kept by the states | 29 | |
| 10581391512 | Impeachment | A formal document charging a public official with misconduct in office | 30 | |
| 10581395628 | Impeachment proceedings | The House may impeach, but the Senate must convict. | 31 | |
| 10581398521 | concurrent powers | Powers held jointly by the national and state governments. | 32 | |
| 10581401773 | 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. | 33 | |
| 10581404162 | 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. | 34 | |
| 10581406564 | Dual Federalism (Layer Cake) | 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 | |
| 10581413817 | Cooperative Federalism (Marble Cake) | A system of government in which powers and policy assignments are shared between states and the national government. They may also share costs, administration, and even blame for programs that work poorly. | 36 | |
| 10581421790 | McCulloch v. Maryland | Maryland was trying to tax the national bank and Supreme Court ruled that federal law was stronger than the state law | 37 | |
| 10581424142 | US v. Lopez | The Court held that Congress had exceeded its commerce clause power by prohibiting guns in a school zone. | 38 | |
| 10581748448 | Federalist #10 (factions) | penned by James Madison. He attacks the anti federalists fear that a republican form of government will inevitably give rise to "factions"- small political parties or groups united by a common interest- that will control the government. He explains there will be so many different factions, that no single one of them will dominate national politics. | 39 | |
| 10581753088 | Federalist #51 (Madison) | addresses means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government and also advocates a separation of powers within the national government. | 40 | |
| 10581757336 | Brutus #1 | October 18, 1787; need for homogeneity- impossibility of large republic because of lack of representation | 41 | |
| 10581763656 | James Madison | "Father of the Constitution," Federalist leader, and fourth President of the United States. | 42 | |
| 10581766321 | Alexander Hamilton | 1789-1795; First Secretary of the Treasury. He advocated creation of a national bank, assumption of state debts by the federal government, and a tariff system to pay off the national debt. Delegate to the Constitutional Convention | 43 | |
| 10581792987 | Bill of Rights | The first ten amendments to the Constitution added to alleviate the fears of the Anti-Federalists and those who wanted more protections FROM government | 44 | |
| 10581799759 | Formal Powers | specific grants of authority defined in the Constitution or in law | 45 | |
| 10581806105 | Informal Powers | Powers not directly granted by law usually in reference to the president. | 46 |
