Government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly.

Government in which the people elect those who govern and pass laws; also called a
republic.

A government that enforces recognized limits on those who govern and allows the
voice of the people to be heard through free, fair, and relatively frequent elections.

The set of arrangements, including checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, rule
of law, due process, and a bill of rights, that requires our leaders to listen, think, bargain, and explain before they act 
or make laws. We then hold them politically and legally accountable for how they exercise their powers.

The idea that the rights of the nation are supreme over the rights of the individuals who make up the
nation.

The idea that a just government must derive its powers from the consent of the people it
governs.

Governance according to the expressed preferences of the majority.

The candidate or party that wins more than half the votes cast in an election.

Candidate or party with the most votes cast in an election, not necessarily more than half.

Government by religious leaders, who claim divine guidance.

The first governing document of the confederated states drafted in 1777, ratified in
1781, and replaced by the present Constitution in 1789.

A convention held in September 1786 to consider problems of trade and navigation,
attended by five states and important because it issued the call to Congress and the states for what became the 
Constitutional Convention.

The convention in Philadelphia, May 25 to September 17, 1787, that debated and
agreed upon the Constitution of the United States.

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting
mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional 
Convention went out.

The principle of a two-house legislature.

Initial proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by the Virginia delegation for a strong central
government with a bicameral legislature dominated by the big states.

government with a single-house legislature in which each state would be represented equally.

Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral
legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which 
each state would have two senators.

Compromise between northern and southern states at the Constitutional Convention
that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the 
House of Representatives.

Supporters of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government.

Opponents of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government, generally.

Essays promoting ratification of the Constitution, published anonymously by Alexander Hamilton,
John Jay, and James Madison in 1787 and 1788.

God or nature’s law that defines right from wrong and is higher than human law.

Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches,
with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the 
law.

Constitutional grant of powers that enables each of the three branches of government to
check some acts of the others and therefore ensure that no branch can dominate.

Governance divided between the parties, especially when one holds the presidency and the
other controls one or both houses of Congress.

Election in which voters choose party nominees.

Procedure whereby a certain number of voters may, by petition, propose a law or constitutional
amendment and have it submitted to the voters.

Procedure for submitting to popular vote measures passed by the legislature or proposed
amendments to a state constitution.

Procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term.

A landmark case in United States law and the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the
United States, under Article Three of the United States Constitution. The case resulted from a petition to the 
Supreme Court by William Marbury, who had been appointed as Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia by 
President John Adams shortly before leaving office, but whose commission was not delivered as required by John 
Marshall, Adams's Secretary of State. When Thomas Jefferson assumed office, he ordered the new Secretary of 
State, James Madison, to withhold Marbury's and several other men's commissions. Marbury and three others 
petitioned the Court to force Madison to deliver the commission to Marbury. The Supreme Court denied Marbury's 
petition, holding that the statute upon which he based his claim was unconstitutional.

The power of a court to refuse to enforce a law or a government regulation that in the opinion of
the judges conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or, in a state court, the state constitution.

Court order directing an official to perform an official duty.

Formal accusation by the lower house of legislature against a public official, the first step in removal
from office.

Directive issued by a president or governor that has the force of law.

The power to keep executive communications confidential, especially if they relate to national
security.

Presidential refusal to allow an agency to spend funds that Congress authorized and appropriated.

The effort to slow the growth of the federal government by returning many functions to the
states.

Constitutional arrangement in which power is distributed between a central government and sub
divisional governments, called states in the United States. The national and the sub divisional governments both 
exercise direct authority over individuals.

Views the Constitution as giving a limited list of powers—primarily
foreign policy and national defense—to the national government, leaving the rest to the sovereign states. Each level 
of government is dominant within its own sphere. The Supreme Court serves as the umpire between the national 
government and the states in disputes over which level of government has responsibility for a particular activity.

Stresses federalism as a system of intergovernmental relations in delivering
governmental goods and services to the people and calls for cooperation among various levels of government.

Conceives of federalism as a marble cake in which all levels of government are involved
in a variety of issues and programs, rather than a layer cake, or dual federalism, with fixed divisions between layers 
or levels of government.

Views the national government, 50 states, and thousands of local governments as
competing with each other over ways to put together packages of services and taxes. Applies the analogy of the 
marketplace: we have some choice about which state and city we want to “use”, just as we have choices about what 
kind of telephone service we use.

Implies that although federalism provides “a sharing of power and authority between the
national and state governments, the state’s share rests upon the permission and permissiveness of the national 
government.”

– Championed by Ronald Reagan, presumes that the power of the federal government is limited in
favor of the broad powers reserved to the states.

Constitutional arrangement that concentrates power in a central government.

Constitutional arrangement in which sovereign nations or states, by compact, create a central
government but carefully limit its power and do not give it direct authority over individuals.

Powers the Constitution specifically grants to one of the branches of the national government.

Powers inferred from the express powers that allow Congress to carry out its functions.

Clause of the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3) setting forth the implied
powers of Congress. It states that Congress, in addition to its express powers has the right to make all laws 
necessary and proper to carry out all powers the Constitution vests in the national government.

The clause in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1) that gives Congress the power to
regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations.

Clause in the Constitution (Article 4, Section 1) requiring each state to recognize the
civil judgments rendered by the courts of the other states and to accept their public records and acts as valid.

The powers of the national government in foreign affairs that the Supreme Court has declared do
not depend on constitutional grants but rather grow out of the very existence of the national government.

A requirement the federal government imposes as a condition for receiving federal funds.

Powers that the Constitution gives to both the national and state governments, such as the
power to levy taxes.

Legal process whereby an alleged criminal offender is surrendered by the officials of one state to
officials of the state in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.

An agreement among two or more states. Congress must approve most such agreements.

Constitutional doctrine that whenever conflict occurs between the constitutionally authorized
actions of the national government and those of a state or local government, the actions of the federal government 
will prevail.

The right of a federal law or a regulation to preclude enforcement of a state or local law or regulation.

Powers expressly or implicitly reserved to the states.

People who favor national action over action at the state and local levels.

People who favor state or local action rather than national action.

Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose, such as school lunches or for
building airports and highways. These funds are allocated by formula and are subject to detailed federal conditions, 
often on a matching basis; that is, the local government receiving the federal funds must put up some of its own 
dollars. Categorical grants, in addition, provide federal supervision to ensure that the federal dollars are spent, as 
Congress wants.

Congress appropriates a certain sum, which is allocated to state and local units and sometimes to
nongovernmental agencies, based on applications from those who wish to participate. Examples are grants by the 
National Science Foundation to universities and research institutes to support the work of scientists or grants to 
states and localities to support training and employment programs.

These are broad state grants to states for prescribed activities—welfare, childcare, education, social
services, preventive health care, and health services—with only a few strings attached. States have greater flexibility 
in deciding how to spend block grant dollars, but when the federal funds for any fiscal year are gone, there are no 
more matching federal dollars.

– A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Direct orders must be complied with under
threat of criminal or civil sanction. An example is the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, barring job 
discrimination by state and local governments on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Federal grants may
establish certain conditions that extend to all activities supported by federal funds, regardless of their source. The first 
and most famous of these is Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which holds that in the use of federal funds, no 
person may be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, or national origin. More than 60 crosscutting 
requirements concern such matters as the environment, historic preservation, contract wage rates, access to 
government information, the care of experimental animals, and the treatment of human subjects in research projects.

A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. These sanctions permit the use of
federal money in one program to influence state and local policy in another. For example, a 1984 act reduced federal 
highway aid by up to 15 percent for any state that failed to adopt a minimum drinking age of 21.

A technique of Congress to establish federal regulations. Total preemption rests on
the national governments power under the supremacy and commerce clauses to preempt conflicting state and local 
activity. Building on this constitutional authority, federal law in certain areas entirely preempts state and local 
governments from the field. Sometimes federal law provides for partial preemption in establishing basic policies but 
requires states to administer them. Some programs give states an option not to participate, but if a state chooses not 
to do so, the national government steps in and runs the program. Even worse from the state’s point of view is 
mandatory partial preemption, in which the national government requires states to act on peril of losing other funds 
but provides no funds to support state action.

During the Great Society, the marble cake approach of intergovernmental relations.

Through different grant programs, slices up the marble cake into many different pieces, making
it even more difficult to differentiate the functions of the levels of government.

The means by which individuals can express preferences regarding the development of
public policy.

Photo opportunities set up by the candidates. The media have been accused of simplifying complicated
political issues by relying on photo ops to explain them to the public.

30-second statements on the evening news shows. The media have been them to the public.