The Terms For Ap Government From Chapter 5 Of Cracking The Ap U.s. Government & Politics Exam 2012

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Amendment

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Addition to the Constitution. Amendments require approval by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-quearters of the states. The first ten amendments make up the Bill of Rights.

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Articles of Confederation

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The United States' first constitution. The government formed by the AoC lasted from 1781 (the year before the end of the Revolutionary War) to 1789. The government under the AoC proved inadequate because it did not have the power to collect taxes from the states, nor could it regulate foreigh trade to generate revenue from import and export tariffs.

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Bicameral

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Cosisting of two legislative houses. The U.S. has a bicameral legislature; its two houses are the House of Representatives and the Senate.

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Bill of Rights

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First 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The BoR guarantees personal liberties and limits the powersof the government.

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Block Grants

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Federal money given to states with only general guidelines for its use. The states have the authority to decide how the money will be spent.

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Categorical Grants

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Federal aid given to states with strings attached. To receive the money, the states must agree to adhere to federally mandated guidelines for spending it.

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Checks and Balances

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The system that prevents any branch of government from becoming too powerful by requiring the approval of more than one branch for all important acts.

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Concurrent Powers

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Constitutional powers shared by the federal and state governments.

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Delegated Powers

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Constitutional powers granted solely to the federal government.

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Dual Federalism

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Form of U.S. federalism during the nation's early history. During this period, the federal and state governments remained separate and independent. What little contact most Americans had with government occured on the state level, as the national government concerned itself primarily with international trade, construction of roads, harbors, and railways, and the distribution of public land in the West.

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Establishment Clause

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Section of the Constitution that prohibits the government from designating one faith as the official religion of the U.S.

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Extradition

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Process by which governments return fugitives to the jurisdiction from which they have fled.

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Federalism

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Term describing a system under which the national government and local governments (state governments, in the case of the U.S.) share powers. Other federal governments include canada, Switzerland, and Australia.

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Federalist Papers

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A series of essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay to defend the Constitution and persuade Americans that it should be ratified. These documents presented the concerns and issues the framers faced as they created a blueprint for the new government.

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Full Faith and Credit Clause

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Section of the Constitution that requires states to honor one another's licenses, marriages, and other acts of state courts.

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Great Compromise

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Settlement reached at the Constitutional Convention between large states and small states. The GC called for two legoslative houses:One in which states were represented by their populations (favoring the large states) and one in which states received equal representation (favoring the small states).

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Judicial Review

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The power of the Supreme court to declare laws and executive actions unconstitutional.

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Line-Item Veto

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Power held by some chief executives (e.g., governors) to excise some portions of a spending bill without rejecting the entire bill. The purpose of this power is to allow executives to eliminate frivolous apporpriations. The president's claim to the line-item veto was denied by the Supreme Court.

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Override

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The Constitutional power of Congress to supersede a president's veto by a two-thirds majority in both houses. Such a vote is difficult to achieve, however, so overrides are fairly rare.

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Pardon

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Cancellation of criminal punishment. Presidents and governors have the power to grant pardons to those awaiting trial and to those convicted of crimes.

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Privileges and Immunities Clause

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Section of the Constitution stating that a state may not refuse police protection or access to its courts to U.S. citizens because they live in a different state.

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Representative Democracy

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Form of government under which citizens vote for delegates who in turn represent citizens' interests within the government. In contrast, a direct democracy requires all citizens to vote on all government issues. The U.S. is a representative democracy.

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Reserved Powers

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Constitutional powers that belong solely to the states. According to the Tenth Amendment, these pwers include any that the Constitution does not either specifically grant the national government or deny the state governments.

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Selective Incorporation

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Process by which the Supreme Court has selectively applied the Fourteenth Amendment to state law.

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Separation of Powers

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The system that prevents any branch of goverment from becoming too powerful by dividing important tasks among the three branches. Also called the system of checks and balances.

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Supremacy Clause

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Section of the Constitution that requires conflicts between federal and state law to be resolved in favor of federal law. State soncittutions and laws that violate the U.S. Constitution, federal laws, or international treaties can be invalidated through the supremacy clause.

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Three-fifths Compromise

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Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention between Southern and Northern states, The South wanted slaves counted among the population for vioting purposes but not for tax purposes; the North wanted the exact opposite. Both sides agreed that three-fifths of a stat'es slave population would be counted toward both congressional apportionment and taxation.

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Veto

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The power held by chief executives (e.g., the president or governors) to reject acts of the legislature. A presidential veto can be overridden by a two-thirds majority vote of both houses of Congress.