Key Terms: Principles of Government



Key Terms: Principles of Government

|Popular sovereignty |The rule by the people. Basic principle of the American System of government that asserts that the |

| |people are the source of any and all governmental power and that government can exist only with the |

| |consent of the governed. |

|Rule of law |The principle that every member of a society, even a ruler, must follow the law. |

|Separation of powers |The distribution of power and authority among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the |

| |government. |

|Judicial Review |The power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of legislative and executive branch actions.|

| |The precedent for Judicial Review was established in the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison. |

|Federalism |A political system that divides powers between the national and state governments. |

|Due process of Law |The right of every citizen to be protected against arbitrary action by the government. |

|Equal Protection under the |The idea that no individual or group may receive special privileges from nor be unjustly discriminated |

|Law |against by the law. |

|Majority rule |A principle of democracy that asserts that the greater number of citizens in any political unit should |

| |select officials and determine policies. |

|Declaration of Independence |Written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 and was a list of colonists' grievances against the King of |

| |England. |

|U.S. Constitution |The fundamental, underlying document which establishes the government of the United States and was |

| |adopted in 1787. |

|Bill of Rights |First ten amendments to the Constitution which restrict the federal government's power to take away |

| |certain basic rights of people. |

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