Political Science Chapter 2 Key Terms

Front 1

Bicameral

Back 1

Having a legislative assembly composed of two chambers or house.

Front 2

Checks and balances

Back 2

Mechanisms through which each branch of government is able to participate in and influence the activities of the other branches.

Front 3

Confederation

Back 3

A system of government in which states retain sovereign authority except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government.

Front 4

Elastic Clause

Back 4

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which enumerates the powers of Congress and provides Congress with the authority to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry them out.

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Expressed Powers

Back 5

Specific powers granted by the Constitution to Congress (Article I, Section 8) and to the President (Article II).

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Judicial Review

Back 6

The power of the courts to review and, if necessary, declare actions of the legislative and executive branches invalid or unconstitutional.

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Separation of Powers

Back 7

The division of governmental power among several institutions that must cooperate in decision making.

Front 8

Supremacy Clause

Back 8

Article IV of the Constitution, which state that laws passed by the national government and all treaties "shall be the supreme law of the land" and superior to all the laws adopted by any state or any subdivision.

Front 9

Three-Fifths Compromise

Back 9

The agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that stipulated that for purposes of the apportionment of congressional seats, every slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person.

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Commerce Clause

Back 10

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which delegates to Congress the power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States and with the Indian Tribes"; this clause was interpreted by the Supreme Court in favor of national power over the economy.

Front 11

Cooperative Federalism

Back 11

A type of federalism existing since the New Deal era in which grants-in-aid have been used strategically to encourage states and localities (without commanding them) to pursue nationally defined goals; also known as "intergovernmental cooperation".

Front 12

Devolution

Back 12

A policy to remove a program from one level of government by delegating it or passing it down to a lower level of government, such as from the national government to the state and local governments.

Front 13

Dual Federalism

Back 13

The system of government that prevailed in the United States from 1789 to 1937 in which most fundamental government powers were shared between the federal and state governments.

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Federalism

Back 14

A system of government in which power is divided, by a constitution, between the central (national) government and regional (state) governments.

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Federal System

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A system of government in which the national government shares power with lower levels of government such as states.

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Full Faith and Credit Clause

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Provision from Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution requiring that the states normally honor the public acts and judicial decisions that take place in another state.

Front 17

Implied Powers

Back 17

Powers derived from the necessary and proper clause of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution; such powers are not specifically expressed, but are implied through the expansive interpretation of delegated powers.

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New Federalism

Back 18

Attempts by presidents Nixon and Reagan to return power to the states through block grants.

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Preemption

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The principle that allows the national government to override state or local actions in certain policy areas; in foreign policy, the willingness to strike first in order to prevent an enemy attack.

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Reserved Powers

Back 20

Powers, derived from the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, that are not specifically delegated to the national government or denied to the states.