Shea Feagin

Coach Aldrich

Due: August 8, 2011

http://wps.ablongman.com/long_edwards_ga_12/33/8514/2179655.cw/index.html

AP Government – Summer Assignment

Unit 1: Constitutional Underpinning

1. Public Policy- a choice that government makes in response to some issue on its agenda
2. Policymaking Institutions- the core of the political system- Congress, the presidency, and the
courts
3. Linkage Institutions- Parties, elections, interest groups, and the media that show the preferences
between the citizens and the government's policy agenda in a Democratic society
4. Deceleration of Independence- written primarily by Thomas Jefferson; a political polemic,
announcing and justifying a revolution; studied today more as a statement of philosophy.
5. Articles of Confederation- a plan for a permanent union of the states; became the new nation's
first governing document
6. Shays' Rebellion- A postwar depression that left many small farmers unable to pay their debts
made them threatened with mortgage foreclosures; in Massachusetts, a small band of farmers
led by Captain Daniel Shays undertook a series of armed attacks on courthouses to prevent
judges from foreclosing on farms; this spurred the birth of the Constitution and reaffirmed the
belief of the Philadelphia delegates that the new federal government needed to be a strong one.
7. Checks and Balances- power against power to constrain government actions
8. Separation of Powers- each of the three branches of government would be relatively
independent so that no single branch could control the others; also countered by system of
checks and balances
9. Federalist #10- Essay written by James Madison; tenth of the Federalist Papers arguing for the
ratification of the Constitution
10. Federalist #51- Part of the Federalist Papers; addresses means by which appropriate checks and
balances can be created in government
11. Limited Government- The sole purpose of government was to protect natural rights.
Government must be built on the consent of the governed; governments must provide laws so
that people know in advance whether or not their acts will be acceptable; government cannot
take any person's property without his or her consent
12. Connecticut Compromise- Resolution of the conflict over representation for the states; under
which a bicameral legislature would have equal representation for the states in the Senate and
representation based on population in the House of Representatives
13. Bill of Rights- 10 constitutional amendments that were a part of the Federalist Papers written by
James Madison and ratified in order to give individual people rights
14. a.) Anti-Federalist- Opposer's of the Constitution
b.) Federalist- Supports of the Constitution
15. Natural Rights- Locke's philosophy that states before governments arise, people exist in a state
of nature where they are governed only by the laws of nature.
16. Federalism- a way of organizing a nation so that two or more levels of government have formal
 authority over the same area and people
17. Division of Power- differentiated legislative, executive, and judicial powers
18. Supremacy Clause- three items are listed as the supreme law of the land: the Constitution; laws
of the national government (when consistent with the Constitution); and treaties
19. Social Contract Theory- an important historical role in the emergence of the idea that political
authority must be derived from the consent of the governed
20. Supremacy Clause- three items are listed as the supreme law of the land: the Constitution; laws
of the national government (when consistent with the Constitution); and treaties
21. Federalist #39-