Unit One: AP Government Flashcards

4818862951	legitimacy	Status of a government that people follow willingly and that are recognized by other nations	0
4818862952	totalitarianism	Type of government system characterized by rule by a single individual who uses force to keep the people in line	1
4818862953	Virginia Plan	Plan to create a unicameral legislature where each state had representation based on population	2
4818862954	Federalists	Group that favored ratification of the Constitution immediately after it was written	3
4818862955	concurrent powers	Powers granted to both the states and the federal government (e.g. court systems; taxation)	4
4818862956	block grants	Large sum of money granted to the states to enact various program but the money is used at the discretion of the state	5
4818862957	establishment clause	Clause in the first amendment that prohibits the US government from requiring any citizen to follow a specific religion	6
4818862958	Montesquieu	French social contract theorist who contributed the ideas of separation of powers & checks and balances to the US Constitution	7
4818862959	direct democracy	Style of democracy in which every citizen debates and votes the merits of new laws or actions taken by the government; Embodied in Athenian democracy	8
4818862960	pluralism	Theory of policy making that says that multiple groups are all vying for control of a policy area; one group never gains full control therefore compromise is a necessity in policy making	9
4818862961	Great Compromise	Agreement between delegates at the Constitutional Convention that led to the creation of a bicameral legislature (Congress); basically a merging of the NJ and VA plans; Also known as the Connecticut Compromise	10
4818862962	anti-Federalists	Group that wanted a guarantee of personal freedoms before voting in favor of ratification of the Constitution	11
4818862963	full faith and credit clause	Phrase used to describe the mutual respect and legality of laws, public records, and judicial decisions made by states.	12
4818862964	separation of powers	Concept of American democracy where each branch of the government has defined powers so that no single branch can ever assume full control	13
4818862965	selective incorporation	Process through which the Bill of Rights, originally written to only apply to federal crimes, are applied to state crimes through Supreme Court rulings	14
4818862966	Adams	Government theorist who wrote "Thoughts on Government" in 1776 which focused heavily on the need for a strict system of laws within a democracy; many of his ideas influenced the constitution	15
4818862967	representative democracy	Also known as a republic, this is a style of government where groups of people elect representatives who make laws and debate policy on their behalf	16
4818862968	Articles of Confederation	The first governing document of the United States which retained strong state sovereignty and a weak central government; failed largely due to flaws pointed out by Shays' Rebellion	17
4818862969	Three-Fifths Compromise	Agreement reached during the writing of the Constitution between slave states and free states where slaves are each counted as 3/5 of a person for the purpose of determining a state's population	18
4818862970	Bill of Rights	The first ten amendments to the Constitution, added to guarantee personal freedoms and individual rights to citizens of the United States	19
4818862971	privileges and immunities clause	the guarantees that the rights of a citizen in one state will be respected by other states. Also a clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that protects citizens from abuses by a state	20
4818862972	checks and balances	Process in US government through which each branch can prevent another branch from carrying out an action; designed to keep any one branch from getting and exerting too much power	21
4818862973	Hobbes	English philosopher who created the idea of a social contract in his book "Leviathan"	22
4818862974	Hume	Scottish philosopher who focused heavily on the idea of government needing laws in order to function and existing only at the consent of the governed	23
4818862975	Karl Marx	German philosopher who took some ideas from Thomas More and Jean Jacques Rousseau to create the idea of a communist society without any class separation as a way to solve the problems of abuse of factory workers in capitalism	24
4818862976	Shays Rebellion	Protest in Massachusetts by a group of farmers/Revolutionary War veterans over attempts by the government to collect taxes; failed attempts to quell the uprising without a federal army led to people questioning the efficacy of the Articles of Confederation	25
4818862977	federalism	Concept within the United States that the federal government and the state governments are two separate, sovereign entities	26
4818862978	delegated powers	Powers specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution	27
4818862979	supremacy clause	Defines the Constitution as the supreme law of the land	28
4818862980	amendment	Addition to the Constitution; to date, 27 amendments have been added to the Constitution	29
4818862981	Locke	English philosopher who extended the idea of the social contract to include the concept that if a king broke the concept, the people could rebel; His ideas regarding social contracts and natural rights inspired Jefferson during the writing of the Declaration of Independence	30
4818862982	More	English philosopher in the 16th century who wrote "Utopia" about a fictional, purely communist society with no property ownership of government	31
4818862983	socialism	Type of government/economic system where the government controls the economy and provides the people with their basic needs	32
4818862984	New Jersey Plan	Proposal by the New Jersey delegation to the constitutional convention whereby each state would have equal representation in the legislature, regardless of size	33
4818862985	dual federalism	Clearly defined powers for both the state and the federal government	34
4818862986	reserved powers	Powers that are given specifically to the states via the Constitution	35
4818862987	categorical grants	Money given by the federal government to be spent in specific ways on specific projects	36
4818862988	ratify	To approve or accept (in this case, the Constitution)	37
4818862989	Rousseau	Swiss philosopher who proposed a purely communist and direct democracy style government with no property ownership	38
4818862990	Unalienable Rights	The idea that you cannot voluntarily give up the rights granted to you by God nor can they be taken from you by anybody else	39
4818862991	Consent of the Governed	A key concept within the social contract and an important piece of Hume philoshophy that no government is legitimate unless the people agree to live under and obey the government	40
4818862992	loose construction	Typically an idea reserved for the Supreme Court but also applicable to others; this concept means that the Constitution is a set of guiding principles but that it can be changed and interpreted as appropriate for changing situations	41
4818862993	strict constructionists	This concept means that the Constitution should be taken literally and should not be subject to interpretation	42