Foundations of Government
The formal institutions and processes through which decisions are made for a group
What is government?
A system where citizens elect representatives to govern
What is a republic?
The belief that rulers received authority directly from God
What is the Divine Right of Kings?
The first direct tax placed on American colonists
What is the Stamp Act?
The idea that power comes from the people
What is popular sovereignty?
The supreme authority within a territory
What is sovereignty?
A government ruled by a single leader with supreme authority
What is a monarchy?
The theory that governments exist to protect rights and maintain order
What is social contract theory?
The weak government created after independence
What are the Articles of Confederation?
The principle that limits government power to protect individual rights
What is limited government?
The function of government focused on enforcing laws and protecting citizens from crime
What is maintaining order?
Ancient Athens is best known as this form of government
What is direct democracy?
The 1215 document that limited the English king’s power
What is the Magna Carta?
This rebellion revealed the weaknesses of the Articles
What is Shay’s Rebellion?
The power of courts to declare laws unconstitutional
What is judicial review?
The function of government focused on protecting the nation from foreign threats
What is ensuring national security?
A system that combines executive and legislative powers
What is a parliamentary system?
The English document requiring parliamentary approval for laws and taxes
What is the English Bill of Rights?
The plan that favored representation based on population
What is the Virginia Plan?
Powers shared by state and national governments
What are concurrent powers?
A political unit with population, territory, sovereignty, and legitimacy
What is a state?
A system where power is divided between national and state governments
What is a federal system?
The Enlightenment thinker who influenced natural rights and popular sovereignty
Who is John Locke?
This compromise resolved disputes between large and small states by creating a bicameral legislature with population-based and equal representation
What is the Great Compromise?
This set of amendments was demanded by Antifederalists to protect individual liberties from the national government
What is the Bill of Rights?