Ch 3

Front 1

Legislative Branch

Back 1

The law making branch of gov

Front 2

Checks and balances

Back 2

A gov structure that gives each branch some scrutiny of and control over other branches

Front 3

Executive branch

Back 3

The law enforcing branch of gov

Front 4

Federalism

Back 4

The division of power between a central gov and regional gov

Front 5

Judicial review

Back 5

The power to declare congressional (and presidential) acts invalid because they violate the Consitution

Front 6

Extraordinary majority

Back 6

A majority greater than minimum of 50 percent plus one

Front 7

Electoral college

Back 7

A body of electors chosen by voters to cast ballots for president and vice president

Front 8

Republicanism

Back 8

A form of gov in which power resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives

Front 9

Confederation

Back 9

A loose association of independent states that agree to cooperate on specified matters

Front 10

Necessary and Proper clause

Back 10

The last clause in Section 8 of Article 1 of the Constitution, which gives Congress the means to execute its enumerated powers. This clause is the basis for Congress's implied powers. Also called the ELASTIC CLAUSE.

Front 11

Implied powers

Back 11

Those powers that Congress needs to execute its enumerated powers

Front 12

Enumerated Powers

Back 12

The powers explicitly granted to Congress by the Consitution

Front 13

Articles of Confederation

Back 13

The compact among the thirteen original states that established the first gov of the USA

Front 14

Bill of Rights

Back 14

The first ten amendments to the Constitution. They prevent the national gov from tampering with fundamental rights and civil liberites, and emphasize the limited character of national power

Front 15

Judicial Branch

Back 15

The law interpreting branch of gov

Front 16

Republic

Back 16

A gov without a monarch; a gov rooted in the consent of the governed, whose power is exercised by elected representatives responsible to the governed

Front 17

New Jersey Plan

Back 17

Submitted by the head of the new Jersey delegation to the Constitutional Convention 1787, a set of nine resolutions that would have, in effect, preserved the Articles of Confederation by amending rather than replacing them

Front 18

Supremacy Clause

Back 18

The clause in Article VI of the Constitution that asserts that national laws take precedence over state and local laws when they conflict

Front 19

Social Contract theory

Back 19

The belief that the people agree to set up rulers for certain purposes and thus have the right to resist or remove rulers who act against those purposes

Front 20

Virginia Plan

Back 20

A set of proposals for a new gov, submitted to the Constitutional Convention 1787; it included separation of the gov into three branches, divisions of the legislature into two houses and proportional representation in the legislature

Front 21

Great Compromise

Back 21

Submitted by the Conneticut delegation to the Constitution Convention of 1787; ans thus also known as the Conneticut Compromise, a plan calling for a bicameral legislature in which the House of Representatives would be apportioned according to population and the states would be represented equally in the Senate

Front 22

Declaration of Independence

Back 22

Drafted by Thomas Jeffereson, the document that proclaimed the right of the colonies to separate from Great Britain

Front 23

Seperation of powers

Back 23

The assignment of lawmaking, law-enforcing, and law-interpreting functions to separate branches of gov