AP US Government Study Guide
Questions and Answers 100% Pass
Chapter 1: The Study of American Government - ✔✔...
Legitimacy - ✔✔political authority conferred by law or by a state or national
constitution
Authority - ✔✔the power or right to give orders or make decisions
Democracy - ✔✔a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens
who can elect people to represent them
Political elite - ✔✔An identifiable group of persons who poses a disproportional share
of some valued resource, such as money or political power; people who possess more
political power than others and are commonly referred to in the U.S. as "activists"
Direct democracy - ✔✔A form of government in which citizens rule directly and NOT
through representatives
Representative democracy - ✔✔A system of government in which citizens elect
representatives, or leaders, to make decisions about the laws for all the people.
Katelyn Whitman, All Rights Reserved © 2025 1
,Bureaucratic theory - ✔✔The hierarchical structure and standarized procedures of
government allow bureaucrats to hold the real power over public policy; proposed by
Max Weber
Power elite theory - ✔✔the theory that a small number of very wealthy individuals,
powerful corporate interest groups, and large financial institutions dominate key policy
areas.
Pluralist theory - ✔✔A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is
mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies.
Marxist theory - ✔✔the ideology espoused by Karl Marx which holds that government
is a reflection of economic forces, primarily ownershop of the means of production
Chapter 2: The Constitution - ✔✔...
Unalienable - ✔✔incapable of being repudiated or transferred to another, natural rights
that belong to everyone and cannot be taken away
Federalists - ✔✔Supporters of the Constitution that were led by Alexander Hamilton
and John Adams. They firmly believed the national government should be strong. They
didn't want the Bill of Rights because they felt citizens' rights were already well
protected by the Constitution.
Katelyn Whitman, All Rights Reserved © 2025 2
,Articles of Confederation - ✔✔this document, the nations first constitution, was
adopted by the second continental congress in 1781during the revolution. the document
was limited because states held most of the power, and congress lacked the power to
tax, regulate trade, or control coinage
Anti-Federalists - ✔✔They opposed the ratification of the Constitution because it gave
more power to the federal government and less to the states, and because it did not
ensure individual rights. Many wanted to keep the Articles of Confederation. The
Antifederalists were instrumental in obtaining passage of the Bill of Rights as a
prerequisite to ratification of the Constitution in several states. After the ratification of
the Constitution, the Antifederalists regrouped as the Democratic-Republican (or
simply Republican) party.
Declaration of Independence - ✔✔the document recording the proclamation of the
second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies
from Great Britain
The Federalist Papers - ✔✔This collection of essays by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton,
and James Madison, explained the importance of a strong central government. It was
published to convince New York to ratify the Constitution.
Constitutional Convention - ✔✔The meeting of state delegates in 1787 in Philadelphia
called to revise the Articles of Confederation. It instead designed a new plan of
government, the US Constitution.
Katelyn Whitman, All Rights Reserved © 2025 3
, Separation of powers - ✔✔Constitutional division of powers among the legislative,
executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive
applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law
Shays's Rebellion - ✔✔Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western
Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need
for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went
out; Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787,
protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national
government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.
Bill of attainder - ✔✔A law that declares a person, without a trial, to be guilty of a crime
Great Compromise - ✔✔Compromise made by Constitutional Convention in which
states would have equal representation in one house of the legislature and
representation based on population in the other house
Writ of habeas corpus - ✔✔a court order that requires police to bring a prisoner to court
to explain why they are holding the person
Bill of Rights - ✔✔The first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, containing a list of
individual rights and liberties, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press.
Ex post facto law - ✔✔a law that would allow a person to be punished for an action that
was not against the law when it was committed
Katelyn Whitman, All Rights Reserved © 2025 4
Questions and Answers 100% Pass
Chapter 1: The Study of American Government - ✔✔...
Legitimacy - ✔✔political authority conferred by law or by a state or national
constitution
Authority - ✔✔the power or right to give orders or make decisions
Democracy - ✔✔a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens
who can elect people to represent them
Political elite - ✔✔An identifiable group of persons who poses a disproportional share
of some valued resource, such as money or political power; people who possess more
political power than others and are commonly referred to in the U.S. as "activists"
Direct democracy - ✔✔A form of government in which citizens rule directly and NOT
through representatives
Representative democracy - ✔✔A system of government in which citizens elect
representatives, or leaders, to make decisions about the laws for all the people.
Katelyn Whitman, All Rights Reserved © 2025 1
,Bureaucratic theory - ✔✔The hierarchical structure and standarized procedures of
government allow bureaucrats to hold the real power over public policy; proposed by
Max Weber
Power elite theory - ✔✔the theory that a small number of very wealthy individuals,
powerful corporate interest groups, and large financial institutions dominate key policy
areas.
Pluralist theory - ✔✔A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is
mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies.
Marxist theory - ✔✔the ideology espoused by Karl Marx which holds that government
is a reflection of economic forces, primarily ownershop of the means of production
Chapter 2: The Constitution - ✔✔...
Unalienable - ✔✔incapable of being repudiated or transferred to another, natural rights
that belong to everyone and cannot be taken away
Federalists - ✔✔Supporters of the Constitution that were led by Alexander Hamilton
and John Adams. They firmly believed the national government should be strong. They
didn't want the Bill of Rights because they felt citizens' rights were already well
protected by the Constitution.
Katelyn Whitman, All Rights Reserved © 2025 2
,Articles of Confederation - ✔✔this document, the nations first constitution, was
adopted by the second continental congress in 1781during the revolution. the document
was limited because states held most of the power, and congress lacked the power to
tax, regulate trade, or control coinage
Anti-Federalists - ✔✔They opposed the ratification of the Constitution because it gave
more power to the federal government and less to the states, and because it did not
ensure individual rights. Many wanted to keep the Articles of Confederation. The
Antifederalists were instrumental in obtaining passage of the Bill of Rights as a
prerequisite to ratification of the Constitution in several states. After the ratification of
the Constitution, the Antifederalists regrouped as the Democratic-Republican (or
simply Republican) party.
Declaration of Independence - ✔✔the document recording the proclamation of the
second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies
from Great Britain
The Federalist Papers - ✔✔This collection of essays by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton,
and James Madison, explained the importance of a strong central government. It was
published to convince New York to ratify the Constitution.
Constitutional Convention - ✔✔The meeting of state delegates in 1787 in Philadelphia
called to revise the Articles of Confederation. It instead designed a new plan of
government, the US Constitution.
Katelyn Whitman, All Rights Reserved © 2025 3
, Separation of powers - ✔✔Constitutional division of powers among the legislative,
executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive
applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law
Shays's Rebellion - ✔✔Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western
Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need
for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went
out; Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787,
protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national
government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.
Bill of attainder - ✔✔A law that declares a person, without a trial, to be guilty of a crime
Great Compromise - ✔✔Compromise made by Constitutional Convention in which
states would have equal representation in one house of the legislature and
representation based on population in the other house
Writ of habeas corpus - ✔✔a court order that requires police to bring a prisoner to court
to explain why they are holding the person
Bill of Rights - ✔✔The first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, containing a list of
individual rights and liberties, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press.
Ex post facto law - ✔✔a law that would allow a person to be punished for an action that
was not against the law when it was committed
Katelyn Whitman, All Rights Reserved © 2025 4
