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Am.Gov. Ch.1 quizlet

American Government Ch. 1 quizlet

QuestionAnswer
Government The institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies.
Public policies All of those things a government decides to do concerning matter ranging from taxation, defense, education, crime, healthcare, transportation, and environment, civil rights and working conditions. (law)
Legislative power The power to make and frame public policies.
Executive power The power to execute, enforce, and administer law.
Judicial power The power to interpret laws, determine their meaning and to settle disputes that arise within the society.
Constitution The body of fundamental laws, setting out the principles, structures, and processes of a government.
Dictatorship Exercise power by a single person or a small group.
Democracy The power rest with a majority of the people. Supreme authority rest with the people.
State A body of people living in a defined territory, organized politically, power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority.
Sovreign (every state) has supreme and absolute power within its own territory, and can decide its own foreign and domestic policies.
The Force Theory State was born of force
The Evolution Theory State developed naturally out of the early family
Divine Right Theory God created the state and that God had given those of royal birth a 'divine right' to rule.
The Social Contract Theory The state arose out of a voluntary act of free people. The state exists only to serve the will of the people. They are the sole source of political power.
Mikado Japanese emperoe
Philosophers --England a. Thomas Hobbes (1611-1677) b. James Harrington (1611-1677) c. John Locke (1632-1704)
Autocracy A government in which a single person holds unlimited political power.
Oligarchy A government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite.
Unitary Government A centralized government in which all government powers belong to a single, central agency.
Federal Government A form of government in which powers are divided between a central government and several local governments.
Division of Powers Basic principle of federalism. Governmental powers are divided on a geographic basis.
Confederation An alliance of independent states.
Presidential government A form of Government in which the executive and legislative branches of the government are separate, independent, and coequal.
Parliamentary Government A form of government in which the executive branch is made up of the prime minister, or premier, and that official's cabinet.
Compromise The process of blending and adjusting competing views and interest.
Free Enterprise System America's economic system. Based on four fundamental factors (also called capitalism) -- Private ownership, individual initiative, profit, and competition.
Law of Supply and Demand When supplies of goods and services become plentiful, prices tend to drop. When supplies become scarcer, prices tend to rise.
Mixed Economy An economy in which private enterprise exist in combination with considerable amount of government regulation and promotion.
Limited Government Government is restricted in what it may do and each individual has certain rights that government cannot take away.
Representative Government System of government in which public policies are made by officials selected by voters and held accountable in periodic elections.
Magna Carta A great charter -- at Runnymede in 1215. The power of monarchy was not absolute and guaranteed. Trial by jury and due process of law to the nobility. First document to limit the power of England's Monarch.
Petition of Right Limited the King's power. Monarch was subject to the law of the land.
English Bill of Rights Designed to prevent abuse of power by English Monarch agreed on by William and Mary of England in 1689.
Charter A written grant of authority from the king.
Bicameral A legislative body compromised out of two chambers.
Propeietary A person to whom the king had made a grant of land.
Unicameral A legislative body composed of one chamber (one house).
Confederation A joining of several groups for a common purpose.
Albany Plan of Union Meeting to discuss the problems of colonial trade and the danger of attacks by the French and their Native American Allies. (Benjamin Franklin)
Delegates Representatives.
Stamp act of 1765 Parliament passed a law that required the use of tax stamps on all legal documents, on certain business agreements, and on newspapers.
Boycott A refusal to buy or sell certain products or services.
Repealed Withdrawn or cancelled.
Popular Soverignty Government can exist only with the consent of the governed. AKA, "Power to the People".
Articles of Confederation Established "a firm league of friendship among the states. The stated came together" for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare.
Ratification Formal approval.
Presiding Officer The person chosen by congress to be their chair person or president. (Not of the U.S.)
Framers The group of delegated who attended the Philadelphia Convention.
Virginia Plan The first plan for a new constitution -- this plan called for three separate branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.
New Jersey Plan Presented as an alternative to the Virginia plan. Called for a unicameral legislature in which each state would be equally represented.
Connecticut Compromise (The Great Compromise) Congress should be composed of two houses. The Senate, the stated would be represented equally and in the house would be represented based upon its population.
Three-Fifths Compromise All "free persons" should be counted and three fifths of all persons to be counted (slaves). AKA -- Slaves are to be counted as three fifths of a person.
Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise Congress was forbidden the power to tax the export of goods from any state. Forbidden the power to act on the slave trade.
Federalists One of two groups that favored ratification.
Anti-Federalists This group opposed ratification of the constitution (ratification=formal approved).
Quorum A majority
Electoral College Group that makes the formal selection of the president.
Federalism The division of power among a central government and several regional governments.
Treaty A formal agreement between 2 or more sovereign states.
Unconstitutional To declare illegal a government action found to violate the Constitution.
Checks and balances Each branch of Government is subject to a number of constitutional restraints by the other branches.
Executive agreement A pact between the president with the head of another country.
Senatorial Courtesy Long established custom that presidential appointees are acceptable to the senator of the president's party.
Preamble The short introduction to the Constitution.
Constitutionalism Government must be conducted according to constitutional principles.
Articles The seven numbered sections of the Constitution
Formal Amendment Changed or additions that become part of the written language of the Constitution.
Rule of Law Government and its officers are always subject to and never above the law.
Veto Power of the president to reject any act of Congress.
Amendment Changes in the written words of the Constitution (change to the meaning or interpretation of the Constitution).
Bill of Rights First 10 amendments to the Constitution.
Judicial Review Power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of a government action.
Cabinet Advisory body to the president.
Separation of Powers Power is divided between 3 distinct and independent branches of government.
Federalism A system of government in which a written constitution divides power between a central, or national, government and several regional governments.
Division of powers Basic principle of federalism; the constitutional provisions by which governmental powers are divided on a geographic basis (in the U.S. between the National Government and the States).
Delegated powers Those powers expressed, implied, or inherent, granted to the National Government by the Constitution.
Expressed powers Those delegated powers of the National Government that are spelled out, expressly, in the Constitution; also called that "enumerated powers."
Implied powers Those delegated powers of the National Government that are suggested by the expressed powers set out in the Constitution; those "necessary and proper" to carry out the expressed powers.
Inherent powers Powers the Constitution is presumed to have delegated to the National Government because it is the government of a sovereign state within the world community.
Reserved powers Those powers that the Constitution does not grant to the National Government and does not deny to the States.
Exclusive powers Those powers that can be exercised by the National Government alone.
Concurrent powers Those powers that both the National Government and the Stated possess and exercise.
Supremacy Clause A provision of the U.S. Constitution that stated that the Constitution, federal law, and treaties of the United Stated are the "supreme law of the land".
Enabling act A congressional act directing the people of a U.S. territory to frame a proposed State constitution as a step towards admission to the Union.
Act of admission Congressional act admitting a new State to the Union.
Grant-in-aid program Grants of federal money or other resources to States, cities, countries, and other local units.
Categorical grant One type of federal grant-in-aid; made for some specific, closely defined purpose.
Block grant One type of federal grant-in-aid for some particular but broadly defined area of public policy.
Project grant One type of federal grants-in-aid; made for specific projects to States, localities, and private agencies who apply for them.
Interstate compact Formal agreement entered into with the consent of Congress, between or among States, or between Stated and a foreign state.
Full Faith and Credit Clause Constitution's requirement that each State accept the public acts, record, and judicial proceedings of every other State.
Extradition Legal process by which a fugitive from justice in one State is returned to that State.
Privileges and Immunities Clause Constitution's stipulation (Article IV,Sec.2) -- all citizens r entitled 2 certain"privileges and immunities,"regardless of where they live; no State can draw unreasonable distinctions between it own residents&those people who live in other States.
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