click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Independence Vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Bicameral | having, consisting of, or based on two legislative chambers |
| Republic | a government in which the power belongs to a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by the leaders and representatives elected by those citizens to govern according to law |
| Ordinance | an authoritative decree or direction |
| Depreciate | to lower in honor or esteem |
| Depression | a long-lasting period of greatly reduced general economic activity marked especially by widespread unemployment and declines in trade and production and often by deflation |
| Manumission | the act or process of manumitting |
| Proportional | corresponding in size, degree, or intensity |
| Compromise | settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions |
| Federalism | the distribution of power in an organization (such as a government) between a central authority and the constituent |
| Legislative Branch | Congress, which is divided into two parts: the Senate and the House of Representatives |
| Executive Branch | headed by the President, who acts as head of state, leader of the government, and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The branch includes the Vice President, the Cabinet, executive departments, independent agencies, and other boards and commissions. |
| Electoral College | a body of electors |
| Judicial Branch | The federal judicial branch includes the Supreme Court, 13 courts of appeals, and 94 district courts |
| Check and Balances | a system that allows each branch of a government to amend, override, or veto acts of another branch so as to prevent any one branch from exerting too much power or power beyond its authority |
| Amendment | the process of altering or amending a law or document (such as a constitution) by parliamentary or constitutional procedure |