Vocab Section 1

Question 1

Natural rights

Answer 1

the rights to life, liberty, and property; believed to be given by God; no government may take these rights away

Question 2

State of nature

Answer 2

the idea of living under no government and having no rules for society

Question 3

Due process

Answer 3

the requirement that the government, when dealing with people, has a fair procedure that applies equally to all

Question 4

Chamber

Answer 4

one of the houses of a legislature (in the U.S., Congress has two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate)

Question 5

Social contract

Answer 5

a basic agreement between people and their government in which citizens consent to be governed, as long as the government protects their natural rights; the social contract provides a definition of human nature, specifies the natural rights to be protected, and describes the shared interests of the citizens

Question 6

Social contract theory

Answer 6

the idea that society is not natural but created by the people

Question 7

Direct democracy

Answer 7

a form of democracy where people participate personally in making government decisions instead of choosing representatives to do this for them

Question 8

Enlightenment

Answer 8

A period of Western European history following the Middle Ages; the source of people’s ideas about natural rights

Question 9

State of nature

Answer 9

a theory on how people might have lived before societies came into existence

Question 10

Political spectrum

Answer 10

a way to classify political ideologies; the American political spectrum consists primarily of liberalism (left) and conservatism (right), with most Americans identifying themselves as conservative, liberal, or moderate (center); in general, people on the left prefer more governmental involvement, while those on the right prefer less

Question 11

Declaration of Independence

Answer 11

the original document, authored principally by Thomas Jefferson, that “birthed” the United States and started the Revolutionary War; lists important natural rights and grievances against the king of England, and declares independence

Question 12

Bill of Rights

Answer 12

the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791; they list citizens’ civil liberties and civil rights

Question 13

sovereignty

Answer 13

the principle that a government has the authority to manage its political affairs within its own geographical boundaries

Question 14

bicameral legislature

Answer 14

a lawmaking body (group) in the legislative branch that consists of two separate chambers or two separately elected groups of officials, such as senators and representatives, like the Virginia Plan; bi, meaning “two,” and camera, meaning “chamber,” are Latin

Question 15

legislature

Answer 15

the official lawmaking body of a government

Question 16

habeas corpus

Answer 16

meaning, in Latin, “show me the body”; this is the right for a jailed citizen to appear before a judge to hear about a criminal charge; prohibits imprisoning people without due process of law

Question 17

enumerated rights

Answer 17

rights given to the federal government by the Constitution (Article I, Section 8) to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, raise and support armies, declare war, coin money, and conduct foreign affairs

Question 18

ratification

Answer 18

approval or confirmation

Question 19

political ideologies

Answer 19

philosophies about the structure, power, and purpose of government; American political ideologies include progressive, liberal, moderate, independent, conservative, and libertarian

Question 20

Articles of Confederation

Answer 20

the first attempt at organizing the government of the United States, consisting of a unicameral (one-chamber) Congress; did not permit Congress to tax, regulate foreign or interstate commerce, or enforce its laws; failed as it formed an alliance of sovereign states with too weak a national government

Question 21

delegates

Answer 21

people given the authority to make decisions on the behalf of a group

Question 22

popular vote

Answer 22

the outcome of a democratic election in which all qualified voters are eligible to participate, and the winner is the person who receives the largest number of individual votes

Question 23

Virginia Plan

Answer 23

a plan proposed by the representatives of Virginia at the Constitutional Convention for a two-house (i.e., bicameral) legislature, wherein the number of a state’s representatives in each chamber would be based on that state’s population

Question 24

New Jersey Plan

Answer 24

a plan proposed by the representatives of New Jersey at the Constitutional Convention that required a one-house national legislature in which each state would have one vote

Question 25

unicameral legislature

Answer 25

a lawmaking body in the legislative branch that consists of only one chamber, like the New Jersey Plan; uni, meaning “one,” and camera, meaning “chamber,” are Latin​

Question 26

lower chamber

Answer 26

the larger of the two chambers in a bicameral legislature; in the United States, this is the House of Representatives

Question 27

upper chamber

Answer 27

the smaller of the two chambers in a bicameral legislature; in the United States, this is the Senate

Question 28

Great Compromise

Answer 28

also known as the Connecticut Compromise; a 1787 agreement that created a bicameral legislature in the new United States, with representation based on population in the House of Representatives and equal representation of states in the Senate

Question 29

Three-Fifths Compromise

Answer 29

during the creation of the U.S. Constitution, an agreement made between Northern and Southern states that required counting all of a state’s free population and 60 percent of its enslaved population for the twin purposes of federal taxation and representation in Congress

Question 30

institution of slavery

Answer 30

the establishment and practice of enslaving people by depriving them of liberty, extracting free labor, treating them as property, and usually subjecting them to harsh, inhumane conditions

Question 31

veto

Answer 31

the power of a president to reject a law passed by Congress; the Latin term meaning “I forbid”

Question 32

checks and balances

Answer 32

constitutional powers that allow each branch of government to limit the use of power of the other two branches or approve their actions; this system requires different parts of government to work together and find agreement in order to accomplish new official actions

Question 33

separation of powers

Answer 33

the division of a government’s powers among three separate branches of government, managed by different groups of people; in the United States, the three branches of government are legislative, executive, and judicial

Question 34

federal system

Answer 34

a form of government in which power is divided between state governments and a national government

Question 35

enumerated powers

Answer 35

powers given explicitly to the federal government by the Constitution in Article I, Section 8; the powers to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, raise and support armies, declare war, coin money, and conduct foreign affairs

Question 36

reserved powers

Answer 36

any powers not prohibited by the Constitution or delegated to the national government; powers reserved to the states and denied to the federal government as outlined in the 10th Amendment

Question 37

republic

Answer 37

a system of government in which political power is held by the people through their ability to elect representatives who make laws on their behalf

Question 38

levy

Answer 38

to demand payment of a tax

Question 39

The Federalist Papers

Answer 39

a series of 85 essays written and published by several of the Founding Fathers—Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay—in 1787-88, in favor of ratifying the newly written Constitution

Question 40

faction

Answer 40

a group of like-minded people competing for the same interests; this is characteristic of interest groups, which is a group of people who gather to petition the government for their special concerns