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level: Level 1

Questions and Answers List

level questions: Level 1

QuestionAnswer
The senates authority to approve or reject the presidents top appointments and negotiated treatiesAdvice and consent
Individuals ndividuals who opposed ratification of the Constitution because they were deeply suspicious of the powers it gave the national government and of the impact those powers would have on states’ authority and individual freedoms.anti federalist
Legislature comprising two parts, called chambersBicameral Legislature
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, which were ratified in 1791, constituting an enumeration of the individual liberties with which the government is forbidden to interfere.Bill of Rights
A system in which each branch of government can monitor and limit the functions of the other branchesChecks and Balances
A union of independent states in which each state retains its sovereignty, this is, its ultimate power to govern, and agrees to work collaboratively on matters the states expressly agree to delegate to a central governing body.Confederation
The compromise between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan that created a bicameral legislature with one chamber’s representation based on population and the other chamber having two members for each state (also known as the Great Compromise)Connecticut Compromise
The fundamental principles of a government and the basic structures and procedures by which the government operates to fulfill those principles; may be written or unwritten.Constitution
A system of government in which ultimate governing authority is divided between two levels of government, a central government and regional governments, with each level having ultimate authority over different matters.Dual sovereignty
The name given to the body of representatives elected by voters in each state to elect the president and vice president.Electoral College
Individuals who supported the new Constitution as presented by the Constitutional Convention in 1787.Federalist
Court authority to determine that an action taken by any government official or governing body violates or does not violate the Constitution; established by the Supreme Court in the 1803 Marbury v. Madison case.MarburyJudicial Review
The 1803 Supreme Court case that established the power of judicial review, which allows the Court to strike down laws passed by the other branches that it views to be in conflict with the Constitution.Marbury v. Madison
The rights possessed by all humans as a gift from nature, or God, including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (also called unalienable rights).Natural Rights
The proposal presented in response to the Virginia Plan by the less populous states at the Constitutional Convention, which called for a unicameral national legislature in which all states would have an equal voice (equal representation), an executive office composed of several people elected by Congress, and a Supreme Court whose members would be appointed by the executive officeNew Jersey Plan
A government that derives its authority from the people and in which citizens elect government officials to represent them in the processes by which laws are made; a representative democracy.Republic
The Constitution’s delegation of authority for the primary governing functions among three branches of government so that no one group of government officials controls all the governing functionsSeparation of Powers
A clause in Article VI of the Constitution that states that the Constitution and the treaties and laws created by the national government in compliance with the Constitution are the supreme law of the land.Supremacy clause
A series of essays, written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, that argued for the ratification of the Constitution.The Federalist Papers
The negotiated agreement by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention to count each slave as three-fifths of free man for the purpose of representation and taxes.Three-Fifths Compromise
A legislative body with a single chamber.Unicameral Legislature
The president’s rejection of a bill, which is sent back to Congress with the president’s objections noted.Veto
The new governmental structure proposed by the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention, which consisted of a bicameral legislature (Congress), and executive elected by the legislature, and a separate national judiciary; state representation in Congress would be proportional, based on population; the people would elect members of the lower house, and members of the lower house would elect the members of the upper house.Virginia Plan