Government Vocabulary Quiz Ch. 1 & 2

Front 1

Government

Back 1

Institution through which a society makes and enforces its policies.

Front 2

Public policy

Back 2

All of the many goals that a government pursues in the many areas of human affairs in which it is involved.

Front 3

Legislative power

Back 3

To power to make a new law and to frame public policies.

Front 4

Executive power

Back 4

The power to execute, enforce, and administer law.

Front 5

Judicial power

Back 5

The power to interpret laws, to determine their meaning, and to settle disputes.

Front 6

Constitution

Back 6

The body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of a government.

Front 7

Dictatorship

Back 7

A form of government in which a leader has full absolute power.

Front 8

Democracy

Back 8

A form of government in which the supreme authority rests with the people.

Front 9

State

Back 9

Body of people living in a defined territory who have a government with the power to make laws without consent of any higher authority.

Front 10

Sovereign

Back 10

Having supreme power within its own territory.

Front 11

Autocracy

Back 11

Form of government in which a single person holds unlimited power.

Front 12

Oligarchy

Back 12

Form of government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite.

Front 13

Unitary government

Back 13

Centralized government in which all government powers belong to a single agency.

Front 14

Federal government

Back 14

Form of government in which powers are divided between a central government and local governments.

Front 15

Division of powers

Back 15

Basic principle of Federalism; constitutional provisions by which governmental powers are divided on a geographic basis.

Front 16

Confederation

Back 16

Joining of several groups for a common purpose.

Front 17

Presidential government

Back 17

Form of government in which the executive and legislative branches of the government are separate, independent, and coequal.

Front 18

Parliamentary government

Back 18

Form of government in which the executive branch is made up of the prime minister and his cabinet.

Front 19

Compromise

Back 19

Adjustment of opposing principles or systems by modifying some aspect of each.

Front 20

Free enterprise system

Back 20

An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods; investments that are determined by private decision rather than by state control, and determined in a free market.

Front 21

Law of supply and demand

Back 21

A law which states that when supplies of goods and services became plentiful, prices tend to drop.

Front 22

Mixed economy

Back 22

Economy in which private enterprise exists in combination with a considerable amount of government regulation and promotion.

Front 23

Limited government

Back 23

Basic principle of American government which states that government is restricted in what it may do, and each individual has rights.

Front 24

Representative government

Back 24

System of government in which public policies are made by officials selected by the voters and held accountable in elections.

Front 25

Magna Carta

Back 25

Great charter forced upon King John of England by his barons in 1215.

Front 26

Petition of Right

Back 26

Document prepared by Parliament and signed by King Charles I in 1628; challenged idea of the divine right of kings and declared that even the monarch was subject to laws of the land.

Front 27

English Bill of Rights

Back 27

Document written by Parliament and agreed on by William & Mary in 1689. Designed to prevent abuse of power.

Front 28

Charter

Back 28

A city's basic law, its constitution.

Front 29

Bicameral

Back 29

Two chambers

Front 30

Proprietary

Back 30

Organized by a proprietor.

Front 31

Unicameral

Back 31

One chamber.

Front 32

Albany Plan of Union

Back 32

Plan proposed by Ben Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies. It was rejected.

Front 33

Delegate

Back 33

Representative.

Front 34

Boycott

Back 34

Refusal to buy or sell a product.

Front 35

Repeal

Back 35

Recall.

Front 36

Popular sovereignty

Back 36

Basic principle of the American system of government which asserts that the people are the source of any and all government power.

Front 37

Articles of Confederation

Back 37

Plan of government adopted by Continental Congress after the American Revolution. Established firm league of friendship between the colonies.

Front 38

Ratification

Back 38

Formal approval, final consent to the effectiveness of a constitution, or treaty.

Front 39

Presiding officer

Back 39

Chair.

Front 40

Framers

Back 40

Delegates who drafted the US Constitution at the Philadelphia convention.

Front 41

Virginia Plan

Back 41

Plan presented by delegates from Virginia at Constitutional Convention.

Front 42

New Jersey Plan

Back 42

Plan presented as an alternative to the Virginia Plan at the Constitutional Convention; called for a unicameral legislature.

Front 43

Connecticut Compromise

Back 43

Agreement during the Constitutional Convention that congress should be composed of a senate.

Front 44

Three-Fifths Compromise

Back 44

Slaves count as three-fifths of a person.

Front 45

Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise

Back 45

Agreement protecting slave holders. Denied congress to tax the export of goods from any state.

Front 46

Federalists

Back 46

Supported constitution.

Front 47

Anti-Federalists

Back 47

Oppossed constitution.

Front 48

Quorum

Back 48

Last number of members who must be present for a legislative body to conduct business.