Constitution and Foundations
These opening words of the Constitution explain that the document is being established by the people and identify goals such as justice, tranquility, and the common defense.
What is the Preamble?
A person's belief that they can understand politics and have an impact on government is called political ______.
What is efficacy?
This group supported ratification of the Constitution and generally favored a stronger national government.
Who were the Federalists?
This clause gives Congress the power to make laws that are necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers.
What is the Necessary and Proper Clause, or Elastic Clause?
The ability of a government or individual to exercise independent authority over a territory or population is known as this.
What is sovereignty?
This group worried that the proposed Constitution gave too much power to the national government and threatened individual liberties.
Who were the Anti-Federalists?
This clause establishes that the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties are the supreme law of the land.
What is the Supremacy Clause?
In this type of government, political power is concentrated in the hands of a single leader or small group, with limited political freedoms.
What is an authoritarian government?
Anti-Federalists were especially concerned that the original Constitution lacked a specific list of protections for individual freedoms. Their concerns helped lead to this.
What is the Bill of Rights?
A constitutional amendment can be proposed and ratified through the process described in this article.
What is Article V?
Unlike an authoritarian system, this type of government seeks extensive control over political, social, and private life.
What is a totalitarian government?
A Federalist argues that the country needs a stronger national government because the states under the Articles of Confederation were too weak to effectively address national problems. This argument supports this side of the ratification debate.
Who were the Federalists?
Congress passes a law, but a state law conflicts with it. Under the Constitution, the federal law takes priority. This principle is known as this.
What is federal preemption?
A researcher examines whether the amount of political education a student receives affects their level of political efficacy. In this study, political education is the ______ variable and political efficacy is the ______ variable.
What are the independent variable and dependent variable?
An Anti-Federalist argues that a distant national government could become too powerful and threaten individual liberty. This concern helps explain why Anti-Federalists wanted this addition to the Constitution.
What is a Bill of Rights?