Unit 1- Vocabulary

Question 1

Advice and Consent Clause

Answer 1

the Senate’s formal approval on presidential appointments

Question 2

Antifederalist

Answer 2

group of people who opposed the Constitution

Question 3

Articles of Confederation

Answer 3

series of statements that defined the initial national governments and redefined the former colonies as states

Question 4

Bicameral

Answer 4

two-house

Question 5

Bill of Rights

Answer 5

list of rights that guaranteed basic liberties

Question 6

Checks and Balances

Answer 6

limiting powers each branch can use on the others

Question 7

Commerce Clause

Answer 7

empowers Congress to “regulate commerce with other nations, and among the several states”

Question 8

Declaration of Independence

Answer 8

an official statement which justified the colonies break from Britain, listing the moral and legal justification for the rebellion

Question 9

Electoral College

Answer 9

compromise for choosing Chief Executive in which each state had same number electors as representatives in Congress, and the people would vote for the electors

Question 10

Elite Democracy

Answer 10

elected representatives make decisions and act as trustees for the people who elected them

Question 11

Enumerated powers

Answer 11

powers that are listed out

Question 12

Extradition

Answer 12

states were expected to return fugitives to states where they had committed crimes and runaway slaves to states that they had fled

Question 13

Federalist Papers

Answer 13

series of essays written to argue in favor of the Constitution

Question 14

Federalism

Answer 14

a system of government that divides the power between the national and state governments

Question 15

Federalists

Answer 15

a group of people who endorsed the Constitution

Question 16

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Answer 16

requires states to be open about their laws and encourages states to respect one another’s law

Question 17

Grand Committee

Answer 17

committee made up of one delegate from each of the states represented at the convention

Question 18

Great (Connecticut) Compromise

Answer 18

compromise between Virginia and New Jersey Plan

Question 19

House of Representative

Answer 19

house of Congress which would award seats based on population of state

Question 20

Impeachment

Answer 20

an accusation, an indictment of wrongdoing

Question 21

James Madison

Answer 21

his influence in creating the plan for the new government and his stalwart support of it during the ratification process earned him the nickname Father of the Constitution

Question 22

Judicial Review

Answer 22

federal courts can deem an act of the legislature unconstitutional when deciding on a case

Question 23

National supremacy

Answer 23

unite the nation under stronger national policy

Question 24

Natural Law

Answer 24

law of god, acknowledge through human sense and reason under which people were born free and equal

Question 25

Necessary and Proper (elastic) Clause

Answer 25

“Congress shall have power to make all law which shall necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers” granting implicit powers

Question 26

New Jersey Plan

Answer 26

proposed system of government in which states would retain sovereignty

Question 27

Participatory Democracy

Answer 27

people vote directly for laws and other matters that affect them

Question 28

Pluralist Democracy

Answer 28

nongovernment groups organize to try to exert influence on political decision making

Question 29

Pocket veto

Answer 29

president refusing to sign a bill at the end of a legislative session, killing the bill

Question 30

Popular sovereignty

Answer 30

the people as the ultimate ruling authority

Question 31

Preamble

Answer 31

mission statement of the Constitution

Question 32

Representative republic

Answer 32

collection of sovereignty states gathered for the national interest, national needs, and national defense

Question 33

Republicanism

Answer 33

political ideology in which men were entitled to “life, liberty, and property” and these could not be taken away except under laws created through the consent of the governed

Question 34

Reserved Powers

Answer 34

powers given to the states

Question 35

Senate

Answer 35

house of Congress which would receive two senators from each state regardless of the two state’s size

Question 36

Separation of powers

Answer 36

distinct responsibilities and limits each branch to keep any one branch from becoming too powerful

Question 37

Social Contract

Answer 37

agreement between a democratic government and its’ people that if violated, the people could take the power back

Question 38

Supremacy Clause

Answer 38

makes certain that all states must adhere to the Constitution

Question 39

Three-Fifths Compromise

Answer 39

agreement to count only three of every five slaves to determine representation in the House

Question 40

Two-thirds Override

Answer 40

each house of Congress separately votes in favor of a vetoed bill by a supermajority of two-thirds can make a vetoed bill into law

Question 41

USA PATRIOT Act

Answer 41

Act law covering intelligence gathering and sharing by executive branch agencies, points of criminal procedure, and border protection

Question 42

Veto

Answer 42

president reject a bill

Question 43

Virginia Plan

Answer 43

proposed three-branch system of government bicameral legislature, and made the national government supreme over the states which became blueprint for the Constitution