POLS 2311 STUDY EXAMS GUIDE ALL QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Constitutional Democratic Republic - ✔✔government that is constitutional in its
provisions for minority rights and rule by law; democratic in its provisions for majority
influence through elections; and a republic in its mix of deliberative institutions
✔✔Delegates - ✔✔elected representatives whose obligation is to act in accordance with
the expressed wishes of the people they represent
✔✔Denials of Power - ✔✔constitutional means of limiting governmental action by listing
those powers that government is expressly prohibited from using
✔✔Electoral College - ✔✔unofficial term that refers to the electors who cast the states
electoral votes
✔✔Electoral Votes - ✔✔method of voting used to choose the US President
✔✔Federalists - ✔✔term used to describe supporters of the constitution during the
debate over ratification
✔✔Grants of Power - ✔✔method of limiting the US government by confining its scope of
authority to those powers expressly granted in the Constituion
, ✔✔Great Compromise - ✔✔agreement of the constitutional convention to create a two-
chamber Congress with the House apportioned by population and the Senate
apportioned equally by state
✔✔Inalienable (Natural) Rights - ✔✔rights that a person theoretically possessed in the
state of nature, prior to the formation of the governments; including life, liberty, and
property
✔✔Judicial Review - ✔✔power of the courts to decide whether a governmental
institution has acted within its constitutional powers, and if not, to declare its action null
and void
✔✔Limited Government - ✔✔government that is subject to strict limits on its lawful uses
of power and its ability to deprive people of their liberty
✔✔New Jersey (small state) Plan - ✔✔constitutional proposal for a strengthened
Congress but one in each state would have a single vote, thus granting a small state the
same legislative power as a larger state
✔✔Primary Election - ✔✔election in which voters choose a party's nominees for public
office
✔✔Representative Government - ✔✔government in which the people govern through
the selection of their representatives
✔✔Republic - ✔✔form of government in which the peoples representatives decide
policy through institutions structured in a way the foster deliberation, slow the process of
decision making, and operate within restraints that protect individual liberty
✔✔Separated Institutions Sharing Power - ✔✔principle that, as a way to limit
government, its power should be divided among separate branches, each of which also
shares in the power of the others as a means of checking and balancing them
✔✔Separation of Powers - ✔✔division of the powers of the government among
separate institutions or branches
✔✔Social Contract - ✔✔voluntary agreement by individuals to form a government that is
then obligated to work within the confines of that agreement
✔✔Three-Fifths Compromise - ✔✔compromise between northern and southern states
that each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of federal
taxation and congressional apportionment
AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Constitutional Democratic Republic - ✔✔government that is constitutional in its
provisions for minority rights and rule by law; democratic in its provisions for majority
influence through elections; and a republic in its mix of deliberative institutions
✔✔Delegates - ✔✔elected representatives whose obligation is to act in accordance with
the expressed wishes of the people they represent
✔✔Denials of Power - ✔✔constitutional means of limiting governmental action by listing
those powers that government is expressly prohibited from using
✔✔Electoral College - ✔✔unofficial term that refers to the electors who cast the states
electoral votes
✔✔Electoral Votes - ✔✔method of voting used to choose the US President
✔✔Federalists - ✔✔term used to describe supporters of the constitution during the
debate over ratification
✔✔Grants of Power - ✔✔method of limiting the US government by confining its scope of
authority to those powers expressly granted in the Constituion
, ✔✔Great Compromise - ✔✔agreement of the constitutional convention to create a two-
chamber Congress with the House apportioned by population and the Senate
apportioned equally by state
✔✔Inalienable (Natural) Rights - ✔✔rights that a person theoretically possessed in the
state of nature, prior to the formation of the governments; including life, liberty, and
property
✔✔Judicial Review - ✔✔power of the courts to decide whether a governmental
institution has acted within its constitutional powers, and if not, to declare its action null
and void
✔✔Limited Government - ✔✔government that is subject to strict limits on its lawful uses
of power and its ability to deprive people of their liberty
✔✔New Jersey (small state) Plan - ✔✔constitutional proposal for a strengthened
Congress but one in each state would have a single vote, thus granting a small state the
same legislative power as a larger state
✔✔Primary Election - ✔✔election in which voters choose a party's nominees for public
office
✔✔Representative Government - ✔✔government in which the people govern through
the selection of their representatives
✔✔Republic - ✔✔form of government in which the peoples representatives decide
policy through institutions structured in a way the foster deliberation, slow the process of
decision making, and operate within restraints that protect individual liberty
✔✔Separated Institutions Sharing Power - ✔✔principle that, as a way to limit
government, its power should be divided among separate branches, each of which also
shares in the power of the others as a means of checking and balancing them
✔✔Separation of Powers - ✔✔division of the powers of the government among
separate institutions or branches
✔✔Social Contract - ✔✔voluntary agreement by individuals to form a government that is
then obligated to work within the confines of that agreement
✔✔Three-Fifths Compromise - ✔✔compromise between northern and southern states
that each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of federal
taxation and congressional apportionment
