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| A collective of individuals and institutions, the formal vehicles through which policies are made and affairs of state are conducted. |
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| Member of the political community to whom certain rights and obligations are attached. |
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| The study of who gets what, when, and how-- or how policy decisions are made. |
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| A form of government in which power is vested in hereditary kings and queens who govern in the interests of all. |
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| An economic system in which the government has total control over the economy. |
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| A form of government in which the right to participate is conditioned on the possession of wealth, social status, military position, or achievement. |
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| A system of government that gives power to the people, whether directly or through their elected representatives. |
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| An agreement between the people and their government signifying their consent to be governed. |
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| The belief that people are free and equal by God- given right and that this in turn requires that all people give their consent to be governed; espoused by John Locke and influential in the writing of the Declaration of Independence. |
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| A system of government in which members of the polity meet to discuss all policy decisions and then agree to abide by majority rule. |
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| indirect (representative) democracy |
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| A system of government that gives citizens the opportunity to vote for representatives who will work on their behalf. |
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| A government rooted in the consent of the governed; a representative or indirect democracy. |
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| Commonly shared attitudes, beliefs, and core values about how government should operate. |
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| A key characteristic of U.S. democracy. Initially meaning freedom from governmental interference, today it includes demands for freedom to engage in a variety of practices free from governmental discrimination. |
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| The idea that governments must draw their powers from the consent of the governed. |
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| The central premise of direct democracy in which only policies that collectively garner the support of a majority of voters will be made into law. |
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| The right of the majority to govern themselves. |
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| a doctrine that society should be governed by certain ethical principles that are part part of nature and, as such, can be understood by reason. |
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| Society created when citizens are allowed to organize and express their views publicly as they engage in an open debate about public policy. |
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| The coherent set of values and beliefs about the purpose and scope of government held by groups and individuals. |
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| One thought to believe that a government is best that governs least and that big government can only infringe on individual, personal, and economic rights. |
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| One considered to favor extensive governmental involvement in the economy and the provision of social services and to take an activist role in protecting the rights of women, the elderly, minorities, and the environment. |
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| One who favors a free market economy and no governmental interference in personal liberties. |
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| An American ideal of happy, successful life, which often includes wealth,a house, a better life for one's children, and, for some, the ability to grow up to be president. |
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| An economic theory designed to increase a nation's wealth through the development of commercial industry and a favorable balance of trade. |
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| Meeting of representatives of nine of the thirteen colonies held in New York City in 1765, during which representatives drafted a document to send to the king listing how their rights had been violated. |
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| Committees of Correspondence |
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| Organizations in each of the American colonies created to keep colonists abreast of developments with the British; served as powerful molders of public opinion against the British. |
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| First Continental Congress |
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| Meeting held in Philadelphia from September 5th to October 26, 1774, in which 56 delegates (from every colony except Georgia) adopted a resolution in opposition to the Coercive Acts |
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| Second Continental Congress |
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| Meeting that convened in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, at which it was decided that an army should be raised and George Washington of Virginia was named commander in chief. |
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| Type of government where the national power derives it powers from the states; a league of independent states. |
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| Declaration of Independence |
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| Document drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of the American colonies to separate from Great Britain. |
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| Articles of Confederation |
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| The compact among the thirteen original states that was the basis of their government. Written in 1776, the Articles were not ratified by all the states until 1781. |
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| A 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled and angry farmers led by Daniel Shays marched to Springfield , Massachusetts, and forcibly restrained the state court from foreclosing mortgages on their farms. |
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| A document establishing the structure, functions, and limitations of government. |
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| The first general plan for the Constitution, proposed by James Madison. Its key points were a bicameral legislature, an executive chosen by the legislature, and a judiciary also named by the legislature. |
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| A framework for the Constitution proposed by a group of small states; its key points were a one-house legislature with one vote for each state, the establishment of the acts of Congress as the "supreme law" of the land, and a supreme judiciary with limited power. |
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| A decision made during the Constitutional Convention to give each state the same number of representatives in the Senate regardless of size; representation in the House was determined by population. |
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| Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention stipulating that each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of determining population for representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. |
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| A way of dividing power among three branches of government in which members of the House of Representatives, members of the Senate, the president, and the federal courts are selected by and responsible to different constituencies. |
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| A governmental structure that gives each of the three branches of government some degree of oversight and control over the actions of the others. |
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| Plan of governmental created in the U.S. Constitution in which power is divided between the national government and the state governments and in which independent states are bound together under one national government. |
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| Seventeen specific powers granted to Congress under Article 1, section 8, of the U.S. Constitution; these powers include taxation, coinage of money, regulation of commerce, and the authority to provide for a national defense. |
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| necessary and proper clause |
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| The final paragraph of Article I, section 8, of the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress the authority to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers specified in the Constitution; also called the elastic clause. |
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| Powers derived from the enumerated powers and the necessary and proper clause. These powers are not stated specifically but are considered to be reasonably implied through the exercise of delegated powers. |
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| Portion of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution mandating that national law is supreme to (that is, supersedes) all other laws passed by the states or by any other subdivision of government. |
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| Those who favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed U.S. Constitution; later became the first U.S. political party. |
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| Those who favored strong state governments and a weak national government; opposed the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. |
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| A series of 85 political papers written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison in support of ratification of the U.S. Constitution. |
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| The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. |
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| System of government where the national government and state governments derive all authority from the people. |
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| System of government where the local and regional governments derive all authority from a strong national government |
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| seventeen specific powers granted to Congress under Article I, section 8, of the U.S. Constitution; these powers include taxation, coinage of money regulation of commerce, and the authority to provide for a national defense. |
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| privileges and immunities clause |
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| Part of Article IV of the Constitution guaranteeing that the citizens of each state are afforded the same rights as citizens of all other states. |
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| The final part of the Bill of Rights that defines the basic principle of American federalism in stating: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." |
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| reserve (or police) powers |
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| Powers reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment that lie at the foundation of a state's right to legislate for the public health and welfare of it citizens. |
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| Authority possessed by both the state and national governments that may be exercised concurrently as long as that power is not exclusively within the scope of national power or in conflict with national law. |
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| A law declaring an act illegal without a judicial trial. |
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| Law passed after the fact, thereby making previously legal activity illegal and subject to current penalty; prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. |
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| full faith and credit clause |
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| Portion of Article IV of the Constitution that ensures judicial decrees and contracts made in one state will be binding and enforceable in any other state |
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| Contracts between states that carry the force of law; generally now used as a tool to address multi-state policy concerns. |
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| McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) |
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| The Supreme Court upheld the power of the national government and denied the right of a state to tax the bank. The Court's broad interpretation of the necessary and proper clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers. |
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| The Supreme Court upheld broad congressional power to regulate interstate commerce. The Court's broad interpretation of the Constitution's commerce clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers. |
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| The belief that having separate and equally powerful levels of government is the best arrangement. |
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| Authorized Congress to enact a national income tax. |
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| Made senators directly elected by the people; removed their selection from state legislatures. |
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| The relationship between the national and state governments that began with the New Deal. |
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| Grant for which Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose. |
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| Federal/ state relationship proposed by Reagan administration during the 1980's; hallmark is returning administrative powers to the state governments. |
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| Broad grant with few strings attached; given to states by the federal government for specified activities, such as secondary education or health services. |
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| National laws that direct states or local governments to comply with federal rules or regulations (such as clean air or water standards) but contain no federal funding to defray the cost of meeting these requirements. |
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| A concept derived from the Constitution's supremacy clause that allows the national government to override or preempt state or local actions in certain areas. |
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| The right of a state to be free from lawsuit unless it gives permission to the suit. Under the Eleventh Amendment, all states are considered sovereign. |
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