| constitution | 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
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| natural rights | (also called unalienable rights), the rights possessed by all humans as a gift from nature, or God, including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
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| republic | 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
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| bicameral legislature | legislature comprising two parts, called chambers
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| bill of rights | a written list of citizens' liberties within a constitution that establishes a limited government by ensuring that both the people and the government know what freedoms the government cannot violate
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| confederation | a union of independent states in which each state retains its sovereignty, rights, and power, which is not by their agreement expressly delegated to a central governing body
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| unicameral legislature | a legislative body with a single chamber
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| dual sovereignty | 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 policy matters
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| supremacy clause | 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
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| separation of powers | 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 functions
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| checks and balances | a system in which each branch of government can monitor and limit the functions of the other branches
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| Virginia Plan | the new governmental structure proposed by the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention, which consisted of a bicameral legislature (Congress), an executive elected by the legislature, and a separate national judiciary; state representation in Congress would be proportional, based on state population; the people would elect members to the lower house, and members of the lower house would elect the members of the upper house
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| New Jersey Plan | 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 office
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| Connecticut Compromise | (also known as the Great Compromise), 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
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| Electoral College | the name given to the body of representatives elected by voters in each state to elect the president and the vice president
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| Three-Fifths Compromise | the negotiated agreement by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention to count each slave as three-fifths of a free man for the purpose of representation and taxes
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| veto | the president's rejection of a bill, which is sent back to Congress with the president's objections noted
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| advice and consent | the Senate's authority to approve or reject the president's appointments
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| Marbury v. Madison | the 1803 Supreme Court case that established the power of judicial review, which allows courts to determine that an action taken by any government official or governing body violates the Constitution
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| judicial review | court authority to determine that an action taken by any government official or governing body violates the Constitution; established by the Supreme Court in the 1803 Marbury v. Madison case
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| Federalists | individuals who supported the new Constitution as presented by the Constitutional Convention in 1787
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| Anti-Federalists | individuals who opposed ratification of the Constitution because they were deeply suspicious of the powers it gave to the national government and of the impact those powers would have on states' authority and individual freedoms
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| The Federalist Papers | a series of essays, written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, that argued for the ratification of the Constitution
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| Bill of Rights | the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which were ratified in 1791, constituting an enumeration of the individual liberties with which the government is forbidden to interfere
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