Pols Chapter 2 Terms

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Anti-Federalists

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The group of people who opposed a stronger national gov than existed under The Articles of Confederation and opposed the ratification of the Constitution

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Articles of Confederation

Back 2

The first constitution of the United States

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Bicameral

Back 3

A legislature with 2 chambers

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Check and Balance

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The idea that each branch of the federal gov should assert and protect its own rights but must also cooperate with the other branches. Each branch is to serve as a limit to the other's powers, balancing the overall distribution of power.

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Civil Liberties

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The freedoms and protections against arbitrary gov actions given the people in a democratic society

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Connecticut Compromise (Great Compromise)

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A proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for a 2-house legislature with a House of Representatives apportioned on the basis of population and a Senate representing each state on an equal basis

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Constiuency

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The group of people served by an elected official or branch of gov

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Constitution

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A document or unwritten set of basic rules that provides the basic principles that determine the conduct of political affairs

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Custom and Usage

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The term used to described constitutional change that occurs when the practices and institutions of gov not specifically mentioned in the constitution change over time through use and evolution

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Declaration of Independence

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A document written by Thomas Jefferson that lays the foundation of the constitutional theory. In the document, Jefferson justifies the struggle for independence from a republican theory of gov based on the concepts of natural rights and popular sovereignty

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Enumerated Powers

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The powers listed in the constitution as belonging to the national gov

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Executive privilege

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A prerogative power of the president to withhold information on matters of national security or personal privacy

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Faction

Back 13

In James Madison's terms, "A number of citizens, whether amounting to the majority or minority of a whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interests, adverse to the right of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community."

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Federalism

Back 14

A political system in which regional governments share power with a central or national gov, but each level of gov has legal powers that are independent of the other. This division of power between the national and state govs attempts to balance power by giving independent sources of authority and allowing one level of gov to serve as a check on the other.

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Federalist Papers

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A series of 85 political essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay with the intention of persuading New Yorkers to ratify the proposed Constitution. They remain the single best source for understanding the justifications for the political institutions and processes the Constitution established.

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Federalists

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The group of people who supported the adoption of the constitution and favored a stronger national gov

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Implied Powers

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Those powers belong to the national gov that are suggested in the Constitution's "necessary and proper" clause

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Inherent Powers (Prerogative Powers)

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Powers not listed or implied by the Constitution but rather have been claimed as essential to the national gov

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Judicial Review

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The power to review decisions of the lower courts and to determine the constitutionality of laws and actions of public officials

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Madisonian Dilemma

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The problem of limiting self-interested individuals administering stronger powers from using those powers to destroy the freedoms that gov is supposed to protect

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Mixed Government

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The idea that gov should represent both property and the number of people

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New Jersey Plan

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A proposal presented at the Constitutional Convention that called for a 1-house legislature with equal representation for each state

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Republican Form of Government

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A form of gov in which the gov operates with the consent of the governed through some type of representative institution

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Separation of Powers

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The idea that each branch of gov is authorized to carry out a separate part of the political process

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Shay's Rebellion

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An armed revolt by farmers in western Massachusetts who were resisting state efforts to seize their property for failure to pay taxes and debts

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Unicameral

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A legislature with 1 chamber

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Virginia Plan

Back 27

The first major proposal presented at the 1787 Constitutional Convention; the basis for the Constitution