| A | B |
|---|
| Articles of Confederation | 1st plan of gov't, failed because federal gov't was too weak |
| Bill of Rights | 1st 10 amendments, guarantees personal liberties |
| checks & balances | system prevents any 1 branch from becoming too powerful |
| Constitutional amendments | additions & changes to original Constitution |
| elastic clause | allows Congress to pass laws "necessary & proper" to the performance of its duties |
| federal gov't | national & state gov'ts share power |
| judicial review | power of Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional |
| John Locke | Enlightenment thinker; life, liberty, & property are God-given rights |
| separation of powers | important gov't tasks are divided among 3 branches |
| unwritten Constitution | aspects of gov't not mentioned in Constitution; political parties, cabinet, etc. |
| civil disobedience | nonviolent protest against unjust laws, Martin Luther King Jr. |
| Cold War | period of confrontation between US & Soviet Union after WWII until 1991 |
| collective security | forming mutual defense groups like NATO to fight off aggression |
| containment | try to stop countries from becoming communist after WWII |
| Cuban Missile Crisis | 1962, Kennedy presured Soviets into removing missiles in Cuba |
| detente | friendlier relations between US and Soviet Union in 1970s |
| domino theory | if 1 country becomes communist in region, the rest will follow; SE Asia |
| W.E.B. DuBois | founded NAACP, civil rights advocate |
| executive privilege | right of president to withhold information he feels should not be public |
| Washington's "Farewell Address" | said nation should remain neutral; foreign policy for 150 years |
