Foundations of American Democracy: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)
46 flashcard terms for AP US Government Unit 1, written to match the course framework. Read them here, drill them as flashcards, or take the 27-question quiz. Free, no account needed.
John Locke's idea that all people are born with inherent rights to life, liberty, and property that government cannot take away.
Social Contract
Theory that people surrender some freedoms to a government in exchange for protection of their remaining natural rights; government's power derives from the consent of the governed.
Popular Sovereignty
The principle that political authority rests with the people, who are the ultimate source of governmental power.
Declaration of Independence (1776)
Document drafted by Jefferson asserting natural rights, consent of the governed, and the right of the people to alter or abolish tyrannical government.
Articles of Confederation
First U.S. national government (1781-1789); a weak league of states with no power to tax, no executive, and no national judiciary; required unanimity to amend.
Shays's Rebellion
1786-87 uprising of Massachusetts farmers that exposed the Articles' inability to maintain order and spurred calls for a stronger national government.
Great (Connecticut) Compromise
Agreement creating a bicameral Congress: a House based on population and a Senate with equal representation for each state.
Three-Fifths Compromise
Agreement to count each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for purposes of a state's population, affecting representation and taxation.
Federalism
Division of power between a national government and state governments, with each holding some independent authority.
Separation of Powers
Division of government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each with distinct functions (from Montesquieu).
Checks and Balances
System in which each branch can limit the powers of the others (e.g., veto, override, judicial review, confirmation) to prevent tyranny.
Federalist No. 10
Madison's essay arguing that a large republic is the best defense against the dangers of factions by making it hard for any single faction to dominate.
Federalist No. 51
Madison's essay defending separation of powers and checks and balances, arguing 'ambition must be made to counteract ambition.'
Brutus No. 1
Anti-Federalist essay warning that a large, powerful central government (via the necessary and proper and supremacy clauses) would endanger individual liberty and state sovereignty.
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
Federalists supported ratification and a strong national government; Anti-Federalists feared centralized power and demanded a bill of rights.
Enumerated (Delegated) Powers
Powers specifically granted to the national government in the Constitution, such as coining money and declaring war.
Reserved Powers
Powers kept by the states under the Tenth Amendment, not delegated to the national government nor prohibited to the states.
Concurrent Powers
Powers shared by both national and state governments, such as taxing, borrowing, and establishing courts.
Article VI provision making the Constitution and federal law the supreme law of the land, overriding conflicting state laws.
Necessary and Proper (Elastic) Clause
Grants Congress power to make all laws needed to carry out its enumerated powers, allowing implied powers and federal expansion.
Participatory, Pluralist, and Elite Democracy
Three models: participatory emphasizes broad citizen involvement; pluralist emphasizes group competition; elite emphasizes influence by a small number of wealthy/educated citizens.
Republicanism (Constitutional sense)
Government in which citizens elect representatives who make policy; the framers preferred it to direct democracy as a filter on popular passions.
Limited Government
Principle that governmental power is restricted by law, usually a written constitution, so that officials cannot act arbitrarily.
Federalist No. 10 on Faction Causes
Madison held that the causes of faction are 'sown in the nature of man,' especially the unequal distribution of property, so only the effects, not the causes, can be controlled.
Brutus No. 1 on Standing Armies
Warned that the taxing power plus a standing army under central control would let the national government coerce states and citizens without limit.
Annapolis Convention (1786)
Poorly attended meeting on trade disputes that produced Hamilton's call for a broader convention in Philadelphia to revise the Articles.
Virginia Plan
Madison's proposal for a bicameral legislature apportioned by population with a national executive and judiciary; favored large states.
New Jersey Plan
Paterson's proposal keeping a unicameral Congress with one vote per state but adding taxing and trade powers; favored small states.
Compromise on Importation of Slaves
Congress could not ban the international slave trade before 1808, in exchange for Southern support of a simple-majority commerce power.
Electoral College Compromise
Framers rejected both direct election and selection by Congress, giving each state electors equal to its House plus Senate seats.
Article V Amendment Process
Proposal by two-thirds of both houses or a convention called by two-thirds of states; ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures or conventions.
Ratification Debate Bargain
Federalists secured ratification in key states (Massachusetts, Virginia, New York) by promising to add a bill of rights in the First Congress.
Access Points
The many places (committees, agencies, courts, state governments) where citizens and groups can try to influence policy; a product of separation of powers and federalism.
Stakeholders in Policy
Individuals, groups, and institutions with an interest in a policy outcome; multiple access points let stakeholders lobby at several levels.
Impeachment as a Check
House impeaches by majority; Senate convicts by two-thirds; applies to president, vice president, and civil officers including judges.
Exclusive Powers
Powers only the national government may exercise, such as coining money, regulating interstate commerce, and making treaties.
Article IV requirement that states honor the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of other states.
Privileges and Immunities Clause
Article IV bar on states discriminating against citizens of other states in fundamental rights, e.g., access to courts or employment.
Extradition Clause
Article IV requirement that a state return a fugitive from justice to the state where the crime was charged.
Categorical Grants
Federal money for a specific purpose with strings attached; the main tool by which the national government steers state policy.
Block Grants
Federal money for a broad policy area with fewer conditions; favored by devolution advocates like the 1996 welfare reform (TANF).
Unfunded Mandates
Federal requirements imposed on states without money to pay for them; the 1995 Unfunded Mandates Reform Act sought to limit them.
Devolution
Transfer of policy responsibility from the national government back to the states, associated with the Reagan era and the 1990s Republican Congress.
Dual vs. Cooperative Federalism
Dual (layer cake) treats national and state spheres as separate; cooperative (marble cake) mixes responsibilities and funding across levels.
Fiscal Federalism
The pattern of spending, taxing, and grants by which the national government shapes state behavior, e.g., highway funds tied to a drinking age of 21.
Commerce Clause and United States v. Lopez (1995)
Court held that carrying a gun near a school was not economic activity, so the Gun-Free School Zones Act exceeded Congress's commerce power, reviving limits on federal reach.