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UCC1 Vocab
UCC1 Vocabulary
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Popular Sovereignty | principle that the people are the source of all governmental power |
| Constitution | a society’s most fundamental and most important law |
| Preamble | a clause at the beginning of a constitution or statute that explains the reasons for its passage |
| Separation of Powers | the constitutional doctrine of dividing governmental power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches |
| Checks and Balances | the constitutional doctrine in which each branch of government shares some of the powers of the other branches in order to limit their actions |
| Quorum | the number of members in a group required to be present to carry out official business |
| Filibuster | unlimited and often irrelevant debate on a bill designed to prevent a vote on its passage. |
| Cloture | a procedural motion to end debate on a bill |
| Conference Committee | a joint committee of both houses of Congress that proposes compromise legislation when there are disagreements on bills |
| Veto | the president’s power to reject a bill passed by Congress |
| Pocket Veto | the power of the president to prevent passage of a bill by refusing to sign it during an adjournment of Congress |
| Line Item Veto | the power to reject specific provisions in a law without defeating the entire bill |
| Legislative Veto | the practice by which Congress voids actions of executive branch agencies or officials |
| Enumerated Powers | the powers of the national government specifically listed in the Constitution |
| Implied Powers | those powers not specifically listed in the Constitution that can be inferred from the enumerated powers |
| Inherent Powers | those powers that belong to the government of a sovereign state |
| Duties | taxes on imports |
| Imposts | taxes on imports or general taxes |
| Excises | taxes on domestic consumption of goods and services |
| Letters of marque and reprisal | authorization to attack the shipping of an enemy state without being punished as a pirate |
| Habeas Corpus | a court order directing that an officer who has custody of a prisoner show cause why the prisoner is being held |
| Bill of Attainder | a legislative act that punishes a person without a trial |
| Ex Post Facto Laws | those that criminalize actions after the fact |
| Direct Taxes | most commonly, taxes based on the value of land, as opposed to those based on privileges or uses |
| Executive Privilege | doctrine that the president does not have to share certain information with Congress or the judiciary |
| Cabinet | the president’s selected advisors, usually consisting of the heads of the executive departments |
| Bureaucracy | a large and complex administrative organization |
| Advice and Consent | the constitutional power of the Senate to approve treaties and presidential appointments |
| Judicial Restraint | philosophy under which judges avoid overturning statutes and precedents |
| Judicial Activism | philosophy under which judges do not avoid overturning statutes and precedents |
| Strict Construction | policy of construing the Constitution’s text narrowly to limit government power |
| Loose Construction | policy of construing the Constitution’s text broadly to allow flexible government power |
| Jurisdiction | the legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case |
| Advisory Opinions | determinations by the Supreme Court whether future actions of the president or Congress would be constitutional |
| Original Jurisdiction | cases that a court can hear directly, rather than through appeals |
| Appellate Jurisdiction | cases based on appeals from lower courts |
| Writ of Certiorari | an order issued by the U.S. Supreme Court that directs a lower court to transmit records for a case that it will hear on appeal |
| Attainder | the forfeiture of rights and property by a person convicted of treason |
| Corruption of Blood | revoking the inheritance of the descendants of a treasonous person |
| Extradition | the surrender by one state to another of a person accused or convicted of a crime in the other state |
| Ratification | approval of the U.S. Constitution or its amendments by state conventions or legislatures` |
| State Action | the requirement that government or its agents must be involved in order for the Constitution or the Bill of Rights to apply |
| Incorporation | process by which the Supreme Court applied the Bill of Rights to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment |
| Sedition | the act of inciting people to change the government |
| Pure speech | speech that involves only spoken words, without actions |
| Speech-plus | speech that combines spoken words with action, such as demonstrations and picketing |
| Symbolic speech | actions that are themselves a message, without spoken words; also known as “expressive conduct” |
| Public forum | a place such as a public park or street that is normally open to First Amendment activities |
| Obscenity | speech or action that portrays sex or nudity contrary to societal standards of decency |
| Defamation | hurting a person’s reputation by spreading falsehoods |
| Slander | defamation using spoken words |
| Libel | defamation using written words |
| Fighting words | abusive and insulting comments delivered face-to-face to a specific individual |
| Censorship | government control of free expression |
| Seditious Libel | printing criticism of the government |
| Actual malice | knowledge that a statement is false or reckless disregard of whether it is false |
| Prior restraint | censoring a work before it is published |
| Heckler's veto | ability of a hostile bystander to end a peaceful assembly |
| Militia | part-time citizen soldiers who defend their communities in emergencies |
| Standing army | a permanent army of professional soldiers |
| General warrants | orders allowing government agents to search anywhere and anyone they wanted |
| Writ of assistance | a type of general warrant used by British customs officials to search colonial homes and businesses for smuggled goods on which import taxes had not been paid |
| Warrants | court orders allowing certain actions, such as arrests or searches |
| Probable cause | a reasonable belief that a particular person has committed a particular crime |
| Exclusionary rule | legal doctrine that excludes from a trial any evidence seized illegally by police |
| Grand jury | a large jury, normally of twenty-three citizens, that determines if there is enough evidence to charge a defendant with a crime |
| Petit jury | a trial jury, usually of six to twelve citizens, that decides the facts in a civil or criminal case |
| Indictment | formal criminal charge issued by a grand jury when a prosecutor has enough evidence for trial |
| Presentment | formal criminal charge issued by a grand jury independent of a prosecutor |
| Information | a sworn statement by a prosecutor that he has enough evidence for a trial |
| Double jeopardy | trying a defendant more than once for the same offense |
| Self-incrimination | compelling a defendant to testify against himself |
| Inquisition | questioning accused persons under oath to determine their guilt |
| Accusation | forcing the government to prove its case through evidence |
| Eminent domain | the government’s power to take private property for public use |
| Venue | the location of a trial |
| Sequestering | isolating the jury from the community and the news media during a trial |
| Plea bargins | process in which the defendant pleads guilty to criminal charges in exchange for a reduced sentence |
| Voir dire | questioning potential jurors to reveal their biases and knowledge of the case |
| Peremptory challenge | excluding a potential juror without cause |
Created by:
wymommad
Popular American Government sets