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23 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Legislative Branch
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The law making branch of gov
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Checks and balances
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A gov structure that gives each branch some scrutiny of and control over other branches |
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Executive branch |
The law enforcing branch of gov |
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Federalism |
The division of power between a central gov and regional gov |
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Judicial review |
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Extraordinary majority |
A majority greater than minimum of 50 percent plus one |
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Electoral college |
A body of electors chosen by voters to cast ballots for president and vice president |
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Republicanism |
A form of gov in which power resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives |
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Confederation |
A loose association of independent states that agree to cooperate on specified matters |
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Necessary and Proper clause |
The last clause in Section 8 of Article 1 of the Constitution, which gives Congress the means to execute its enumerated powers. This clause is the basis for Congress's implied powers. Also called the ELASTIC CLAUSE. |
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Implied powers |
Those powers that Congress needs to execute its enumerated powers |
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Enumerated Powers
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The powers explicitly granted to Congress by the Consitution |
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Articles of Confederation
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The compact among the thirteen original states that established the first gov of the USA |
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Bill of Rights |
The first ten amendments to the Constitution. They prevent the national gov from tampering with fundamental rights and civil liberites, and emphasize the limited character of national power |
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Judicial Branch
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The law interpreting branch of gov |
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Republic |
A gov without a monarch; a gov rooted in the consent of the governed, whose power is exercised by elected representatives responsible to the governed |
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New Jersey Plan |
Submitted by the head of the new Jersey delegation to the Constitutional Convention 1787, a set of nine resolutions that would have, in effect, preserved the Articles of Confederation by amending rather than replacing them |
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Supremacy Clause
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The clause in Article VI of the Constitution that asserts that national laws take precedence over state and local laws when they conflict |
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Social Contract theory
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The belief that the people agree to set up rulers for certain purposes and thus have the right to resist or remove rulers who act against those purposes |
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Virginia Plan |
A set of proposals for a new gov, submitted to the Constitutional Convention 1787; it included separation of the gov into three branches, divisions of the legislature into two houses and proportional representation in the legislature |
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Great Compromise
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Submitted by the Conneticut delegation to the Constitution Convention of 1787; ans thus also known as the Conneticut Compromise, a plan calling for a bicameral legislature in which the House of Representatives would be apportioned according to population and the states would be represented equally in the Senate |
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Declaration of Independence |
Drafted by Thomas Jeffereson, the document that proclaimed the right of the colonies to separate from Great Britain |
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Seperation of powers |
The assignment of lawmaking, law-enforcing, and law-interpreting functions to separate branches of gov |