Magruder Government

Unit 1

Vocabulary

Use this to help you with your Government Unit 1 Vocabulary Test!

------------------------------------------------ALL vocab from the

2007 ver. of Magruder's American Government

by William A. McClenaghan

Government

• the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies

Gov

pg 4

Constitution

• The body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and process of a government.

Gov

Pg 4

Dictatorship

• a form of government in which the leader has absolute power and authority

Gov

Pg 5

State

• a body of people living in a defined territory who have a government with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority

Gov

Pg 5

Sovereign

• having supreme power within its own territory

• neither subordinate nor responsible to any other authority

Gov

Pg 6

Unitary Government

• A centralized government in which all government powers belong to a single, central agency.

Gov

Pg 14

Confederation (Government)

• A joining of several groups for a common purpose.

Gov

Pg 15, 35

Federal Government

• A form of government in which powers are divided between a central government and several local governments.

Gov

Pg 14

Parliamentary Government

• A form of government in which the executive branch is made up of the prime minister, or premier, and that official's cabinet.

Gov

Pg 16

Oligarchy

• A form of government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite.

Gov

Pg 13

Autocracy

• A form of government in which a single person holds unlimited political power.

Gov

Pg 13

Autocracy

• A form of government in which a single person holds unlimited political power.

Gov

Pg 13

Magna Carta

• Great Charter forced upon King John of England by his barons in 1215;

• Established that the power of the monarchy was not absolute and garanteed trial by jury and due process of law to the noblility

Gov

Pg 29

English Bill of Rights

• The first ten ammendments to the constitustion

Gov

Pg 76, 532

Delegates / Delagated Powers

• Those powers, expressed, implied, or inherent, granted to the National Government by the Constitution.

Gov

Pg 89

Repealed / Repeal

• Recall

Gov

Pg 37

Articles of Confederation

• Plan of government adopted by the Continental Congress after the American Revolution:

• Established "a firm league of friendship" among the States, but allowed few important powers to the central government

Gov

Pg 44

Ratification

• Formal approval, final consent to the effectiveness of a constitution, constitutional amendment, or treaty

Gov

Pg 44

Framers

• Group of delegates who drafted the United States Constitution at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787

Gov

Pg 48

Federalists

• A form of government in which powers are divided between a central govenment and several local governments.

Gov

Pg 56

Anti-Federalists

• Those persons who opposed the ratification of the Constitution in 1787-1788.

Gov

Pg 56

Articles

• Numbered sections of a document.

• The unamended Constitution is divided into seven articles.

Gov

Pg 65

Rule of Law

• Concept that holds that government and its officers are always subject to the law.

Gov

Pg 66

Veto

• Chief executive's power to reject a bill passed by a legislature;

• literally (Latin) "I forbid"

Gov

Pg 67, 346

Amendment

• A change in, or addition to, a constitution or law

Gov

Pg 72

Electoral College

• Group of persons chosen in each State and the District of Columbia every four years who make a formal selection of the President and Vice President.

Gov

Pg 81, 366

Cabinet

• Presidential advisory body, traditionally made up of the heads of the executive departments and other officers

Gov

Pg 81