Government Vocan.docx

Essential EOC Vocabulary American Government Unit 2 1. Popular Sovereignty: Basic principle of the American system of government which asserts that the people are the source of any and all governmental power, and government can exist only with the consent of the governed. 2. Separa...

Essential EOC Vocabulary American Government Unit 2 1. Popular Sovereignty: Basic principle of the American system of government which asserts that the people are the source of any and all governmental power, and government can exist only with the consent of the governed. 2. Separation of Powers: Basic principle of American system of government, that the executive, legislative, and judicial powers are divided among three independent and coequal branches of government. 3. Checks and Balances: System of overlapping the powers of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches to permit each branch to check the actions of others. 4. Judicial Review: The power of a court to determine the constitutionality of a governmental action. 5. Federalism: A system of government in which a written constitution divides power between a central, or national, government and several regional governments. 6. Limited Government: Power of the ruler is limited by a contract, constitution, election, term limits, etc. 7. Due Process of Law: The constitutional Principle, guaranteed by the Constitution, that federal and state government must not deprive an individual of life, liberty, or property by unfair or unreasonable actions. 8. Delegated Powers: Those powers, expressed, implied, or inherent, granted to the National Government by the Constitution. 9. Supremacy clause: Provision added to the Constitution which joins the National Government and the States into a federal government, by stating that the Constitution is the "supreme law of the land". 10. Federalist Papers: Papers written to encourage support for the ratification of the Constitution.