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| 7334638688 | amendment (constitutional) | A change in, or addition to, a constitution. Amendments are proposed by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by a convention called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the state legislatures and ratified by approval of three-fourths of the states. | 0 | |
| 7334645460 | Annapolis Convention | A convention held in September 1786 to consider problems of trade and navigation, attended by five states and important because it issued the call to Congress and the states for what became the Constitutional Convention. | 1 | |
| 7334654222 | Antifederalists | Opponents of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government, generally | 2 | |
| 7334660827 | Antifederalists | Opponents to the ratification of the Constitution who valued liberty above all else and believed it could be protected only in a small republic. They emphasized states' rights and worried that the new central government was too strong. | 3 | |
| 7334669963 | Articles of Confederation | The first governing document of the confederated states drafted in 1777, ratified in 1781, and replaced by the present Constitution in 1789. | 4 | |
| 7334679765 | Articles of Confederation | The document establishing a "league of friendship" among the American states in 1781. The government proved too weak to rule effectively and was replaced by the current Constitution. | 5 | |
| 7334691556 | authority | The right to use power. | 6 | |
| 7334703384 | Bicameralism | The principle of a two-house legislature. | 7 | |
| 7334714838 | bill of attainder | A law that declares a person, without trial, to be guilty of a crime. The state legislatures and Congress are forbidden to pass such acts, Article 1, Sections 9 and 10, of the Constitution. | 8 | |
| 7334721800 | Bill of Rights | The first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, containing a list of individual rights and liberties, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. | 9 | |
| 7335764763 | bureaucratic theory | A theory that bureaucrats make the key governing decisions. According to this theory the influence of government bureaucracies has become so great that elected officials are almost powerless to affect policy. | 10 | |
| 7335779945 | bureaucrats | Appointed officials who operate government agencies and large corporations | 11 | |
| 7335786310 | Checks and balances | Constitutional grant of powers that enables each of the three branches of government to check some acts of the others and therefore ensure that no branch can dominate. | 12 | |
| 7335793408 | checks and balances | The power of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government to block some acts by the other two branches. | 13 | |
| 7335809437 | coalition Part of a theory | espoused by James Madison that hypothesized that different interests must come together to form an alliance in order for republican government to work. He believed that alliances formed in a large republic, unlike in small ones, would be moderate due to the greater variety of interests that must be accommodated. | 14 | |
| 7349297554 | 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. | 15 | |
| 7349300754 | Constitutional Convention | The convention in Philadelphia, May 25 to September 17, 1787, that debated and agreed upon the Constitution of the United States. | 16 | |
| 7349304417 | Constitutional Convention | A meeting of delegates in 1878 to revise the Articles of Confederation, which produced a totally new constitution still in use today. | 17 | |
| 7349311718 | Constitutional democracy | A government that enforces recognized limits on those who govern and allows the voice of the people to be heard through free, fair, and relatively frequent elections. | 18 | |
| 7349315927 | Constitutionalism | The set of arrangements, including checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, rule of law, due process, and a bill of rights, that requires our leaders to listen, think, bargain, and explain before they act or make laws. We then hold them politically and legally accountable for how they exercise their powers. | 19 | |
| 7349812291 | democracy | A word used to describe at least three different political systems that each embody the principle of popular rule, if only in the interests of the people. See democratic centralism, direct democracy, representative democracy. | 20 | |
| 7349815492 | Democracy | Government by the people, both directly or indirectly, with free and frequent elections. | 21 | |
| 7349817850 | democratic centralism | A form of democracy in which the true interests of the masses were discovered through discussion within the Communist party, and then decisions were made under central leadership to serve those interests. | 22 | |
| 7349820397 | direct (participatory) democracy | A form of democracy in which most, or all, of the citizenry participate directly by either holding office or making policy. | 23 | |
| 7349827826 | Direct democracy | Government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly. | 24 | |
| 7349834198 | Direct primary | Election in which voters choose party nominees. | 25 | |
| 7349837119 | Divided government | Governance divided between the parties, especially when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress. | 26 | |
| 7349981712 | elite | An identifiable group of persons who possess a disproportionate share of some valued resource | 27 | |
| 7349983827 | elitist theory | A theory that a few top leaders make the key decisions without reference to popular desires | 28 | |
| 7349985625 | ex post facto law | A law which makes criminal an act that was legal when in was committed, or that increases the penalty for a crime after it has been committed, or that changes the rules of evidence to make conviction easier. The state legislatures and Congress are forbidden to pass such laws by Article 1, Sections 9 and 10, of the Constitution. | 29 | |
| 7352684211 | faction | A term employed by James Madison to refer to interests that exist in society, such as farmers and merchants, northerners and southerners, debtors and creditors. Madison postulated that each interest would seek its own advantage and that the pulling and hauling among them would promote political stability on a national basis. | 30 | |
| 7352689817 | federalism | A political system in which ultimate authority is shared between a central government and state or regional governments. | 31 | |
| 7352694618 | Federalist No. 10 | An essay composed by James Madison which argues that liberty is safest in a large republic because many interests (factions) exist. Such diversity makes tyranny by the majority more difficult since ruling coalitions will always be unstable. | 32 | |
| 7352699590 | Federalist papers | A series of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay that were published in New York newspapers to convince New Yorkers to adopt the newly proposed Constitution. | 33 | |
| 7352706178 | Federalists | Supporters of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government. | 34 | |
| 7352712242 | Federalists | A term used to describe supporters of the Constitution during ratification debates in state legislatures. | 35 | |
| 7352717780 | great compromise | The agreement that prevented the collapse of the Constitutional Convention because of friction between large and small states. It reconciled their interests by awarding states representation in the Senate on a basis of equality and in the House of Representatives in proportion to each state's population. | 36 | |
| 7352722957 | Judicial review | The power of a court to refuse to enforce a law or a government regulation that in the opinion of the judges conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or, in a state court, the state constitution. | 37 | |
| 7352728804 | judicial review | The power of courts to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional. It is also a way of limiting the power of popular majorities. | 38 | |
| 7352731534 | legitimacy | What makes a law or constitution a source of rightful power. | 39 | |
| 7357182054 | Majority | The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election. | 40 | |
| 7357190043 | Majority rule | Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority. | 41 | |
| 7357201949 | Marbury v. Madison | A landmark case in United States law and the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States, under Article Three of the United States Constitution. The case resulted from a petition to the Supreme Court by William Marbury, who had been appointed as Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia by President John Adams shortly before leaving office, but whose commission was not delivered as required by John Marshall, Adams's Secretary of State. When Thomas Jefferson assumed office, he ordered the new Secretary of State, James Madison, to withhold Marbury's and several other men's commissions. Marbury and three others petitioned the Court to force Madison to deliver the commission to Marbury. The Supreme Court denied Marbury's petition, holding that the statute upon which he based his claim was unconstitutional. | 42 | |
| 7357211324 | Marxist theory | (1) The ideology espoused by Karl Marx which holds that government is a reflection of economic forces, primarily ownership of the means of production. The economic structure of a society shapes its politics and determines political outcomes. | 43 | |
| 7357218847 | Natural law | God's or nature's law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law | 44 | |
| 7357227305 | natural rights | A philosophical belief expressed in the Declaration of Independence that certain rights are ordained by God, are discoverable in nature and history, and are essential to human progress. The perception that these rights were violated by Great Britain contributed to the American Revolution. | 45 | |
| 7357238087 | 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. | 46 | |
| 7357249466 | New Jersey Plan | A plan of government proposed by William Patterson as a substitute for the Virginia Plan in an effort to provide greater protection for the interests of small states. It recommended that the Articles of Confederation should be amended, not replaced, with a unicameral Congress, in which each state would have an equal vote | 47 | |
| 7357257288 | pluralist theory | A theory that holds that political resources are divided among different kinds of elites, giving relevant interest the chance to influence the outcome of decisions. Policies are made by conflict and bargaining among organizations that represent affected groups. | 48 | |
| 7357268236 | Plurality | Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election, not necessarily more than half. | 49 | |
| 7367756746 | political power | Power used to determine who will hold government office and how the government will behave. | 50 | |
| 7367763943 | Popular consent | The idea that a just government must derive its powers from the consent of the people it governs. | 51 | |
| 7367786355 | power | The ability of one person to cause another person to act in accordance with the first person's intentions. | 52 | |
| 7367796766 | power elite | A political theory espoused by C. Wright Mills which holds that an elite of corporate leaders, top military officers, and key political leaders make most political decisions. | 53 | |
| 7367809315 | representative democracy | A political system in which political power is conferred on those selected by voters in competitive elections. | 54 | |
| 7367816360 | Representative democracy | Government in which the people elect those who govern and pass laws; also called a republic. | 55 | |
| 7367828280 | republic | The form of government intended by the Framers that operates through a system of representation. | 56 | |
| 7367841720 | 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. | 57 | |
| 7367852964 | separation of powers | An element of the Constitution in which political power is shared among the branches of government to allow self-interest to check self interest. | 58 | |
| 7367864983 | Shay's Rebellion | A rebellion in 1787 by ex-Revolutionary War soldiers who feared losing their property over indebtedness. The former soldiers prevented courts in western Massachusetts from sitting. The inability of the government to deal effectively with the rebellion showed the weakness of the political system at the time and led to support for revision of the Articles of Confederation. | 59 | |
| 7367877022 | Shays'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 | 60 | |
| 7367885529 | The Federalist papers | Essays promoting ratification of the Constitution, published anonymously by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison in 1787 and 1788. | 61 | |
| 7367895430 | 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. | 62 | |
| 7367902528 | unalienable rights | Rights thought to be based on nature and providence rather than on the preferences of people. | 63 | |
| 7367909523 | 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. | 64 | |
| 7367918444 | Virginia Plan | A plan submitted to the Constitutional Convention that proposed a new form of government, not a mere revision of the Articles of Confederation. The plan envisioned a much stronger national government structured around three branches. James Madison prepared the initial draft. | 65 | |
| 7367933254 | writ of habeas corpus | A court order directing a police officer, sheriff, or warden who has a person in custody to bring the prisoner before a judge to show sufficient cause for his or her detention. The purpose of the order is to prevent illegal arrests and unlawful imprisonment. Under the Constitution, the writ cannot be suspended, except during invasion or rebellion. | 66 | |
| 7367943351 | Writ of mandamus | Court order directing an official to perform an official duty. | 67 |
