Florida Civics EOC flashcards
Florida Civics EOC · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Popular sovereignty
- The principle that government authority comes from the consent and will of the people, who express it through elections, representation, and constitutional processes.
- Limited government
- A system in which government power is restricted by law, usually a written constitution, and officials may not act beyond their granted authority.
- Natural rights
- Rights believed to belong to all people from birth, such as life, liberty, and property; Locke's idea that Jefferson adapted in the Declaration of Independence.
- Social contract
- The idea that people agree to give up some freedom to a government in exchange for protection, and may change or abolish a government that violates that trust.
- Separation of powers
- Dividing national government authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches so no single branch holds all power.
- Checks and balances
- Powers each branch uses to limit the others, such as the presidential veto, congressional override, Senate confirmation, and judicial review.
- Judicial review
- The power of courts to declare laws or government actions unconstitutional; established by Marbury v. Madison in 1803.
- Federalism
- A system dividing power between a national government and state governments, with each level having its own defined authority.
- Enumerated powers
- Specific powers granted to Congress by Article I, Section 8, such as coining money, declaring war, and regulating interstate commerce.
- Reserved powers
- Powers not given to the national government and not denied to states, kept by states under the Tenth Amendment, such as education and local policing.
- Concurrent powers
- Powers shared by national and state governments, including taxing, borrowing money, establishing courts, and making laws.
- Supremacy clause
- Article VI rule that the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties are the highest law of the land when state law conflicts.
- Necessary and proper clause
- Article I clause letting Congress make laws needed to carry out its expressed powers; also called the elastic clause.
- Bill of Rights
- The first ten amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1791, protecting individual freedoms from national government overreach.
- Establishment clause
- First Amendment rule that Congress may not create an official religion or favor one religion over another.
- Free exercise clause
- First Amendment protection allowing people to hold and practice their religious beliefs, subject to reasonable limits for public safety and order.
- Symbolic speech
- Nonverbal expression such as flag burning or armbands; protected by the First Amendment when it communicates a message (Texas v. Johnson).
- Prior restraint
- Government action blocking speech or publication before it occurs; courts generally treat it as unconstitutional censorship.
- Fourth Amendment
- Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures and requires warrants based on probable cause, with exceptions like consent and plain view.
- Fifth Amendment rights
- Protections including no self-incrimination, no double jeopardy, grand jury indictment, due process, and just compensation for taken property.
- Sixth Amendment rights
- Guarantees a speedy and public trial, impartial jury, notice of charges, confrontation of witnesses, and the right to counsel (Gideon v. Wainwright).
- Eighth Amendment
- Bars excessive bail and fines and cruel and unusual punishment; applied to states through the Fourteenth Amendment.
- Due process
- Fair legal procedures required before government deprives someone of life, liberty, or property; protected by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.
- Equal protection clause
- Fourteenth Amendment rule that states may not deny any person equal protection of the laws, the basis for desegregation and civil rights rulings.
- Brown v. Board of Education
- 1954 Supreme Court decision holding racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson's separate but equal doctrine.
- Marbury v. Madison
- 1803 case establishing judicial review, the power of courts to strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution.
- Fifteenth Amendment
- Ratified 1870; prohibits denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
- Nineteenth Amendment
- Ratified 1920; guarantees women the right to vote nationwide by barring denial of suffrage on account of sex.
- Twenty-Sixth Amendment
- Ratified 1971; lowers the voting age to 18 for national and state elections.
- Naturalization process
- Steps for immigrants to become citizens: eligibility, application, fingerprinting, interview and civics test, oath of allegiance.
- Civic responsibilities
- Duties and voluntary actions of citizens such as voting, jury service, paying taxes, obeying laws, and community service.
- Electoral College
- Body of electors chosen by states that formally elects the president; each state's electors equal its congressional delegation total.