| A | B |
|---|
| allegiance | devotion or loyalty owed by a citizen to a government |
| anarchy | state of political disorder resulting from the absence of government |
| census | count of the population |
| citizen | a person who gives allegiance to a government & is entitled to government protection |
| democracy | government in which power is held by the people and exercised either directly or by representatives |
| government | organization that controls and directs the making and administration of a society's policies |
| inalienable | impossible to be taken away |
| monarchy | government in which the ruler is a hereditary head of state who rules for life |
| habeous corpus | the right of an arrested person to be brought before a judge who determines if his imprisonment is legal |
| legislative | branch of government that makes the laws |
| libel | written or published statement that damages someone's reputation |
| Mayflower Compact | America's first "written" constitution; a plan for governing the Pilgrim colony |
| Parliament | bicameral national legislature of Great Britain consisting of the House of Commons and the House of Lords |
| repeal | withdraw or cancel an existing law |
| republic | form of government run by elected representatives without a king or queen |
| social contract | unspoken agreement by which people are joined to their government |
| veto | the right or power to prevent a bill that has passed the legislative form of law |
| amendment | change or addition to document or plan, such as the Constitution |
| Anti-Federalist | opponent of the central government as defined by the Constitution |
| constitution | plan of government, blah, blah, blah...the supreme law of the land |
| Federalism | system of government in which power is shared between central government and state government |
| checks & balances | system in which the power of each government is balanced and checked by the powers of the other branches |
| Federalist | supporter of the ratification of the Constitution |
| judicial branch | the part of the government that interprets the laws in its decisions of legal cases |
| legislative branch | the part of the government that makes the laws |
| executive branch | the part of the government that carries out laws; headed in the U.S. by the president or governor |
| New Jersey Plan | the plan presented by several states at the Constitutional Convention to give an equal number of representatives and to make a weak government |
| Virginia Plan | plan presented by Edmund Randolph at the Constitutional Convention providing the base for the Constitution |
| ratify | approve and make official |
| double jeopardy | cannot be tried for the same crime twice |
| eminent domain | right of the government to take private property for public use |
| incriminate | to make a person appear guilty of a crime |
| probable cause | grounds for a responsible person to believe that a crime may have been committed |
| slander | the act of telling lies to ruin someone's reputation and also doing so |
| treason | crime of endangering the country by giving information to or helping an enemy |
| warrant | legal document issued by a judge authorizing actions such as a search, seizure, or arrest |
| secede | to formally withdraw from a group organization |
| suffrage | right to vote |
| Emancipation Proclamation | document issued by President Lincoln that freed the slaves in 1863 in the Confederacy |
| bill | proposed law presented for approval to a legislative body |
| elastic clause | part of Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to make laws necessary for carrying |
| bicameral | composed of 2 legislative chambers |
| amnesty | pardon given to a group of people that break the law |
| bureaucracy | large, complex hierarchical of a bureaucracy |
| execute | to carry out or enforce |
| pardon | to give legal forgiveness for a crime and thus prevent future punishment |
| pension | retirement income or allowance, paid by an employee |
| duties | taxes on goods entering the country |
| impeachment | formal charge of an official of a crime of corruption |
| appeal | request made after a trial for a review of the trial court's decision by a higher court (appeals courts) |
| rule of four | Supreme Court practice for selecting cases; states that a case will be selected when any 4 judges agree to hear it |
| judicial review | constitutional provision for courts to decide if acts of the government are consitutional |
| jurisdiction | area of power or authority; in the judiciary it defines |
| county | large division for local government within a state |
| alderman | city council member; legislator in a local government |
| council | group of people elected or appointed to serve as legislators or administrators |
| grant | money given for a specific purpose |
| mayor | head of government of a city or town |
| euphemisms | words or terms used to make something sound less unpleasant |
| propaganda | communication of information to spread certain ideas, beliefs, or practices...also used to shape public opinion |
| spin | way of describing an event or crisis to make a group's role appear positive |
| law | rule or regulation requiring or forbidding certain conduct that is made by a governing body and applies to all members of a society |
| economy | system of the material needs, expenses, and resources of a human society |
| capitalism | economic system based on private property and private enterprise; allows individuals and businesses to own property and profits with little government interference |
| communism | political and economic system of public ownership of property and production, based on Marx's theories |
| socialism | economic system in which basic factors of production in industries are under government ownership and control; some private ownership of businesses and profits are permitted |
| scarcity | situation in which there are not enough resources to satisfy needs/wants |
| resource | factors of production that include natural resources, human resources, and capital |
| supply | amount of a particular good or service that producers are willing and able to provide at a given price |
| demand | amount of a particular good or service that people are willing to buy at various prices |
| market | activities that occur when and where buyers and sellers meet |
| laissez faire | policy of complete non-intervention by government and the economy...leaving all decisions to the market, the economy, and free enterprise are shaped only by the market without any government rules |
