The Constitution

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John Locke

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English empiricist philosopher who believed that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience

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Social Contract

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an implicit agreement among people that results in the organization of society; individual surrenders liberty in return for protection

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natural rights

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Belief that individuals are endowed with basic human rights so fundamental to human nature they cannot be taken away or given up.

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State of nature

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a term in political philosophy used in social contract theories to describe the hypothetical condition of humanity before the state's foundation

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Unalienable Rights

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basic human rights that can not be taken away or given up

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Thomas Hobbes

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advocated absolute sovereignty as the only kind of government

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Democracy

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government by the people or by their elected representatives

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Oligarchy

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a political system governed by a few people

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monarchy

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a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged with an individual

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mixed government

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a form of government that integrated facets of government by democracy, oligarchy, and monarchy

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Articles of Conferderation

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America's first plan of government that failed.

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Constitutional Convention

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A secret meeting of the founders of the US where they discussed how to amend the current government

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Shay's Rebellion

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an armed uprising in central and western Massachusetts

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Northwest Ordinance

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called for the land west of the Appalachian Mountains, north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River to be divided into ten separate states

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ex post facto law

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a law that makes an act criminal although the act was legal when it was committed

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factions

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a grouping of like-minded individuals

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bill of rights

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first ten amendments of teh Constituion that pertain to peoples inalienable rights

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Federalist Papers

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a series of 85 articles advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution

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Virginia Plan

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for setting forth the idea of population-weighted representation in the proposed National Legislature.

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proportional representation

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representation based on the population of each area.(House of Representatives)

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New Jersey plan

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an alternate plan that would have given one vote per state for equal representation under one legislative body

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Enumerated powers

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a list of nonspecific responsibilities found in Article 1 Section 8 of the United States Constitution, which iterates the authority granted to the United States Congress. Congress may exercise only those powers that are granted to it by the Constitution, limited by the Bill of Rights and the other protections found in the Constitutional text

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seperated powers

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constitutional authority is shared by three different branches of government

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The Great Compromise

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an agreement between large and small states that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution.

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necessary and proper clause

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The Congress shall have Power - To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

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apportionment

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means distribution or allotment in proper shares.

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supremacy clause

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establishes the Constitution, Federal Statutes, and U.S. treaties as "the supreme law of the land." The text establishes these as the highest form of law in the American legal system, mandating that state judges uphold them, even if state laws or constitutions conflict.

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treason

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the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of betrayal of one's sovereign or nation.

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fugitive slave clause

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A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

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Republic

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form of government in which the power is based on the consent of the people.

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veto

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is the power of an officer of the state to stop unilaterally a piece of legislation.

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Judicial review

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review by a court of law of actions of a government official or entity or of some other legally appointed person or body

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electoral college

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is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office.

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separation of powers

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divided power between the three branches of government

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original jurisdiction

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the right to hear a case for the first time as opposed to appellate jurisdiction when a court has the right to review a lower court's decision.

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appellate jurisdiction

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is the power of a court to review decisions and change outcomes of decisions of lower courts.

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federalism

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a political concept in which a group of members are bound together with a governing representative head

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line-item veto

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an executive's ability to block a particular provision in a bill passed by the legislature

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popular sovereignty

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the belief that the legitimacy of the state is created by the will or consent of its people

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Coalition

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an electoral alliance

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Bill of Attainder

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a legislative act finding a person guilty of treason or felony without a trial