Unit 1 AP US Government and Politics
Enlightenment: The era in which new ideas regarding how government should work were
formed.
Declaration of Independence: The document in which the colonies asked for independence from
Great Britain.
limited government: The concept that government involvement in civilian matters should be as
little as possible.
Natural rights: The idea that everyone has the right to life,liberty and property for being a
human.
social contract: When you vote, you're affirming a politician's action, and if the government is
bad, the people have the duty to remove the bad officials from office.
Popular sovereignty: The government should be for the people, and although minorities are
protected, the majority rule.
Republicanism: The idea of assembling together as one nation.
Separations of powers: Government power should be divided into branches, and each branch
should only have power for specific things.
checks and balances: The system that stops one branch of the government from becoming too
powerful.
inalienable rights: The rights given for simply being born human, and those rights cannot be
taken away.
participatory democracy: The system in which there are qualifications to vote, and only people
with those qualifications can vote. This is slow and deliberate action.
pluralist democracy: The system which allows everyone to vote. This system forces
compromise.
elite democracy: This system only allows the upper class of society to make decisions, and this
leads to stability.
Hyper-pluralism: The system with too many conflicts over decisions, no decision can be made,
and is very unstable.
Enlightenment: The era in which new ideas regarding how government should work were
formed.
Declaration of Independence: The document in which the colonies asked for independence from
Great Britain.
limited government: The concept that government involvement in civilian matters should be as
little as possible.
Natural rights: The idea that everyone has the right to life,liberty and property for being a
human.
social contract: When you vote, you're affirming a politician's action, and if the government is
bad, the people have the duty to remove the bad officials from office.
Popular sovereignty: The government should be for the people, and although minorities are
protected, the majority rule.
Republicanism: The idea of assembling together as one nation.
Separations of powers: Government power should be divided into branches, and each branch
should only have power for specific things.
checks and balances: The system that stops one branch of the government from becoming too
powerful.
inalienable rights: The rights given for simply being born human, and those rights cannot be
taken away.
participatory democracy: The system in which there are qualifications to vote, and only people
with those qualifications can vote. This is slow and deliberate action.
pluralist democracy: The system which allows everyone to vote. This system forces
compromise.
elite democracy: This system only allows the upper class of society to make decisions, and this
leads to stability.
Hyper-pluralism: The system with too many conflicts over decisions, no decision can be made,
and is very unstable.
