A system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units.
What is federalism?
Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.
What are the three branches of government?
This is the first ten amendments to the Constitution that protect individual liberties.
What is the Bill of Rights?
This is the primary source of government power in the United States.
What is the consent of the governed?
This is a document declaring the colonies' independence from British rule, written in 1776.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
The power to coin money is exclusive to this government.
What is the federal government?
To make laws is the primary responsibility of this branch.
What is the legislative branch?
This amendment guarantees freedom of speech.
What is the First Amendment?
This is the principle that the authority of the government is created and sustained by the consent of its people.
What is popular sovereignty?
This document's purpose was to establish the framework of the government and outline the rights of citizens.
What is the Consitution?
This establishes that the Constitution and federal laws take precedence over state laws.
What is the significance of the Supremacy Clause?
Vetoing legislation is a way that this branch can check the power of the legislative branch.
What is the executive branch?
The fourth amendment protects against this.
What is unreasonable search and seizures.
This is when each branch of government has the ability to limit the powers of the others to prevent abuse of power.
What is the system of checks and balances?
This was a series of essays written to promote the ratification of the Constitution.
What are the Federalist Papers?
How does federalism affect the relationship between state and national governments?
It creates a division of responsibilities and powers, allowing both levels to operate independently within their spheres.
This is the power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of laws.
What is Judicial Review?
This amendment guarantees equal protection under the law and due process for all citizens.
What is the fourteenth amendment?
These are powers that are shared by both the federal and state governments, such as the power to tax.
What is a concurrent power?
This was the first governing document of the United States that created a weak federal government.
What are the Articles of Confederation?
What role does the Tenth Amendment play in federalism?
It reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or the people.
This is the division of responsibilities among the three branches to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.
What is separation of powers?
The eighth amendment protects from this kind of punishment.
What is cruel and unusual/excessive bail?
Through grants, funding, and mandates, the federal government can do this to state policies.
What is influence?
This process through Article V provides a process for change and adaption over time to the Constitution.
What is amending the Consitution?