Govt 2

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Limited Government

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Basic principle of American government which states that governments is restricted in what it may do,and each individual has rights that government cannot take away;

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Representative Government

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

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Magna Carta

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Great Charter forced upon King John of England by his barons in 1215; established that the power of the monarchy was not absolute and guaranteed trial by jury and due process of law to the nobility

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Petition of Right

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Document prepared by Parliament and signed by King Charles 1 of England in 1628; challenged the idea of the divine right of kings and declared that even the monarch was subject to the laws of the land

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English Bill of Rights

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Document written by Parliament and agreed on by William and Mary of England 1689, designed to prevent abuse of power by English monarchs, forms the basic for much in American government and politics today

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Charter

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A city's basic law, its constitutions; a written grant of authority from the king

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Bicameral

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An adjective describing a legislative body composed of two chambers

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Proprietary

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Organized by a proprietor (a person to whom the kind had made a grant of land)

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Unicameral

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An adjective describing a legislative body with one chamber

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Confederation

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A joining of several groups of a common purpose

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Albany Plan of Union

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Plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies for trade, military, and other purposes; the plan was turned down by the colonies and the Crown

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Delegate

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Representative; lawmaker who views him or herself as the agent of those who elected him or her and votes accordingly; regardless of his or her personal opinions

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Boycott

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Refusal to buy or sell certain products or services

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Repeal

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Recall

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Popular Sovereignty

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Basic principle of the American system of government which asserts that the people are the source of any and all governmental power, and government can exist only with the consent of the governed.

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Articles of Confederation

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Plan of government adopted by the Continental Congress after the American Revolution; established "a frim league of friendship" among the States. but allowed few important powers to the central government

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Ratification

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

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Presiding Officer

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Chair

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Framers

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Group of delegates who drafted the United States Constitution at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787

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Virginia Plan

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Plan presented by delegates from Virginia at the Constitutional Convention; called for a three-branch government with a bicameral legsilature in which each State's membership would be determined by its population or its financial support for the central government

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New Jersey Plan

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Plan presented as an alternative to the Virginia Plan at the Constitutional Convention; called for a unicameral legislature in which each State would be equally represented

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Connecticut Compromise

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An agreement during the Constitutional Convention that Congress should be composed of a Senate, in which States would be represented equally, and a House, in which representation would be based on a State's population

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Three-Fifths Compromise

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An agreement at the Constitutional Convention to count a slave as three-fifths of a person when determining the population of a State

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Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise

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An agreement during the Constitutional Convention protecting slave holders; denied Congress the power to tax the export of goods from any State,and, for 20 years, the power to act on the slave trade

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Federalists

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Those persons who supported the ratification of the Constitution in 1787-1788

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Anti-Federalists

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Those persons who opposed the ratification of the Constitution in 1787-1788

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Quorum

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Least number of members who must be present for a legislative body to conduct business; majority