1. Authority- the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.

- The Police have the authority to search your house with a warrant.

2. Aristocracy- The highest class in certain societies.
- In England, the royal family are higher than the other families that live in England.

3. Apportionment - the distribution of seats in the House of Representatives among the state
- Each State is apportioned a number of seats in the House of Representatives which is due to
the total population of the state.

4. Bills - proposed laws
- Congress comes up with an idea to help solve a problem nationwide and it becomes a Bill.

5. Bureaucracy- a type of organization, either in government or the private sector, having the
following features: a clear formal structure, a division of labor, and a set of rules and procedures
by which it operates
- Both candidates pledge to simplify the state's bloated bureaucracy.




6. Bail- money pledged by a person accused of a crime that he or she will return to court for trial
- In order to get my Aunt out of Jail, we needed Bail money in exchange for my aunt.

7. Bench Trial-a trial in which a judge, not a jury, hears and decides the case
- Tv show, Judge Judy is not what a Bench Trial looks like.

8. census- official count of the United States population
- In 1996, the US Census said that about half the population was white.

9. Commander in Chief- another title for the president, takes on the role of the symbolic
figurehead of the United States; also known as the head of state
-President Obama is also known as out Commander in Chief.









10. Checks and Balances- the system that gives each branch of government the power to change or
cancel acts of another branch.
- The system of Checks and Balances keeps each branch of government in check from being too
powerful.

11. Citizens- a legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either native or
naturalized.
- You and I are citizens of the United States of America.

12. Constituents - the people of a particular geographic area who are represented by a lawmaking
body
- Certain Senators are in charge of getting what we want, and we are his or her Constituents.

13. Constitutional Convention - a group of people defying the British to write the new Constitution
to replaces the Articles of Confederation.
- Before the Revolutionary War with Britian, the 13 colonies rounded up a group to write the
constitution called the Constitutional Convention.





14. Commerce: social dealings between people.
- Buying and selling are key principals of Commerce.

15. Civil Rights - rights of fair and equal status and treatment and the right to participate in
government.
- The Civil Rights Movement took place in the 60s and was a success.

16. DICTATORSHIP- small group or dictator holds absolute authority and makes all decisions
- When Hitler was in charge of Germany, we ran a government completely controlled by him
otherwise known as a dictatorship.

17. Democracy - The citizens elect one candidate to represent the United States, they become the
president. The citizens choose a president by voting for who they believe will help our country
and make the best decisions, and who will listen to their problems.
- Here in the US, we live in a democracy where we pick and choose who are our officials for our
best interests and preferences.

18. Declaration of Independence- a document written by Thomas Jefferson that listed the
grievances against the English crown from the Continental Congress
- To get Britain off of our backs, the US wrote a letter to the English Parliament called the
Declaration of Independence.



19. Denaturalization -is how the US government revokes or cancels your US citizenship because
you've done something that's contrary to being a US citizen.
- By being a terrorist and trying to kill innocent people, the US will take away your citizenship
and you will go through denaturalization.

20. Diplomacy - negotiating with foreign governments
-By talking to Egypt and Isreal, we helped the two countries sign a peace treaty through
diplomacy.

21. Executive Branch- the section of government that carries out, enforces, and administrates the
laws.
- The president, Vice President and the Cabinet are all apart of the Executive Branch.

22. Enlightenment- European movement that questioned the traditional authority of the monarch
to rule. It was heavily influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and
Newton, and its prominent exponents include Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam
Smith.
- The Enlightenment was a movement of Religion.


23. Equality- the principle that all people possess a fundamental, moral worth that entitles them to
fair treatment under the law and equal opportunity in all aspects of life-political, social, and
economic
- In the US, everyone is equal no matter what class or ethnicity and we call this equality.

24. Electoral College- a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes
for the election of the president and vice president.
- After the public votes, their votes are represented by a group of elected officials and they are
who matter in elections.

25. Free Enterprise- an economic system in which individuals and businesses are free to engage in
economic activity with a minimum of government interference
- In a Free Enterprise I can sell my truck to my neighbor for ten dollars if I would like.

26. Federal Reserve System - created by Congress in the early 20th century to ward off inflation and
monitor the value of a dollar
- The Federal Reserve System was created by Andrew Jackson.




27. First Continental Congress- a group of delegates that met during the beginning of the American
revolution in Philadelphia
-12 states sent delegates to the First Continental Congress, in response to the Intolerable Acts.

28. Great Society: a domestic program in the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson that
instituted federally sponsored social welfare programs.
- Lyndon B. Johnson founded programs like TVA, AAA and Social Security.

29. Impeachment- the process of charging officials in the executive and judicial branches with
wrongdoing and bringing them to trial.
- When Bill Clinton was President, he almost was impeached because of situations regarding his
coworker.

30. Judicial Review- the power to determine whether the actions of the legislative and executive
branches are constitutional. This principle became firmly established by the Supreme Court in
the Marbury v. Madison case in 1803.
- If a law is passed by the Congress, vetoed by the President, then passed again, the Supreme
Court gets to rule if it is Constitutional or not due to Judicial Review.





31. Labor Unions- organizations of workers who do the same job or work in related industries.
- Kroger and Meijer are Labor Unions.

32. Limited Government - The principle that the powers and functions of government are restricted
by the U.S. Constitution and other laws.
- The Constitution keeps the Government from slapping me every day due to the Constitution.
33. Magna Carta- The Great Charter forcibly signed by King John in 1215 by the people to note that
even Kings and Queens had to obey English laws. Also noting, the accused had a fair trial by a jury, and
the king couldn't levy taxes without approval
- When writing the Constitution, men like James Madison and Ben Franklin kept the Magna Carta in
mind as reference.

34. Misdemeanor- a minor crime
- Slapping a police officer with a cream pie would arouse a misdemeanor on your file.

35. Natural Rights- people have the right to life, liberty, and property, and the government cannot
deny these rights
- Natural rights are rights that the government cannot violate.


36. Popular Sovereignty- The people establish government and are the source of its power.
- The Kansas- Nebraska Act was decided by the people, or popular sovereignty.

37. Propaganda- information designed to shape public opinion
-The Colts use Propagnada to rally the fans to believe.

38. Ratified- To formally approve; to give formal consent to, such as a treaty
- By signing a contract with Verizon, you have ratified the agreement to make monthly payments
until the contract is done.

39. Three-Fifths Compromise- Agreement written in 1787 stating that enslaved people would be
counted as three-fifths of a person when determining a state's population for representation in the
lower house of Congress
- States could not agree upon slavery, and amidst other compromises the Three Fifths compromise was
one of the many of 1850.

40. Unconstitutional - a law or government action that is found to violate any part of the Constitution
-Unconstitutional is typically decided by the Judicial branch, as a part of the Judicial review.