American Government Institutions & Policies Chapter 2
Madisonian view of human nature
A philosophy holding that accommodating individual self-interest provided a more practical solution to the problem of government than aiming to cultivate virtue.
Shays's Rebellion
A 1787 rebellion in which ex-Revolutionary War soldiers attempted to prevent foreclosures of farms as a result of high interest rates and taxes.
John Locke
A British philosopher whose ideas on civil government greatly influenced the Founders.
separation of powers
A constitutional principle separating the personnel of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.
writ of habeas corpus
A court order requiring police officials to produce an individual held in custody and show sufficient cause for that person's detention.
Declaration of Independence
A document written in 1776 declaring the colonists' intention to throw off British rule.
Republic
A form of democracy in which leaders and representatives are selected by means of popular competitive elections.
Pennsylvania Constitution
A governing document considered to be highly democratic yet with a tendency toward tyranny as the result of concentrating all powers in one set of hands
Faction
A group with a distinct political interest
bill of attainder
A law that would declare a person guilty of a crime without a trial.
ex post facto law
A law that would declare an act criminal after the act was committed.
Constitutional Convention
A meeting of delegates in Philadelphia in 1787 charged with drawing up amendments to the Articles of Confederation.
Federalist papers
A series of eighty-five essays published in New York newspapers to convince New Yorkers to adopt the newly proposed Constitution.
Massachusetts Constitution
A state constitution with clear separation of powers but considered to have produced too weak a government.
Articles of Confederation
A weak constitution that governed America during the Revolutionary War.
Confederation
An agreement among sovereign states that delegates certain powers to a national government.
Coalition
An alliance between different interest groups or parties to achieve some political goal.
Coalition
An alliance of factions.
Thomas Jefferson
Author of the Declaration of Independence.
Bill of Rights
First ten amendments to the Constitution.
federalism
Government authority shared by national and local governments.
Great Compromise
Plan to have a popularly elected House based on state population and a state-selected Senate, with two members for each state.
reserved powers
Powers that are given exclusively to the states
Virginia Plan
Proposal to create a strong national government.
New Jersey Plan
Proposal to create a weak national government.
natural rights
Rights of all human beings that are ordained by God, discoverable in nature and history, and essential to human progress
inalienable rights
Rights thought to be based on nature and providence rather than on the preferences of people.
Federalists
Supporters of a stronger central government who advocated ratification of the Constitution and then founded a political party.
line-item veto
The power of an executive to veto some provisions in an appropriations bill while approving others.
judicial review
The power of the courts to declare acts of the legislature and of the executive unconstitutional and therefore null and void
checks and balances
The power of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government to block some acts by the other two branches.
enumerated powers
Those powers that are given to the national government exclusively.
Concurrent powers
Those powers that are shared by both the national and state governments.
Antifederalists
Those who opposed giving as much power to the national government as the Constitution did, favoring instead stronger states' rights.
Amendment (constitutional).Change in
or addition to, a constitution.
