GED Social Studies flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Checks and Balances

A system in which each branch of government can limit the powers of the others, such as a presidential veto, a congressional override, or a court ruling that a law is unconstitutional.

Supremacy Clause

Article VI of the U.S. Constitution states that the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties are the highest law of the land and override conflicting state laws.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791, which protect individual freedoms such as speech, religion, assembly, and fair trial rights from government interference.

Electoral College

The group of 538 electors who formally choose the U.S. president and vice president; a candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win, and states award electors based on their popular vote.

Federalism

A system of government in which power is divided between a national government and state governments, with the Tenth Amendment reserving undelegated powers to the states or the people.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that government authority comes from the consent of the people, who express that consent through voting, elections, and the Constitution's opening words, 'We the People.'

Amendment Process

A constitutional change requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states, or a convention requested by two-thirds of the states.

Judicial Review

The power of courts to review laws and executive actions and declare them unconstitutional, established by the Supreme Court's 1803 decision in Marbury v. Madison.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln that took effect January 1, 1863, declaring enslaved people in Confederate-held territory free and making abolition a Union war aim.

Louisiana Purchase

The 1803 purchase of about 828,000 square miles of land from France for $15 million, which doubled the size of the United States under President Thomas Jefferson.

Reconstruction

The period after the Civil War, roughly 1865 to 1877, when the federal government readmitted Southern states, enforced the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, and rebuilt the South's politics and economy.

New Deal

A series of federal programs and reforms enacted under President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1939 to relieve the Great Depression, including Social Security and job-creation agencies.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A federal law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public places and employment, and banned segregation in schools receiving federal funds.

Manifest Destiny

The nineteenth-century belief that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent, encouraging westward settlement, the annexation of Texas, and war with Mexico.

Containment

The Cold War U.S. foreign policy of preventing the spread of communism beyond its existing borders, carried out through the Marshall Plan, NATO, and military action such as the Korean War.

Marbury v. Madison

The 1803 Supreme Court case in which Chief Justice John Marshall established judicial review, the power of courts to strike down laws that violate the Constitution.

Latitude

Imaginary horizontal lines measured in degrees north or south of the Equator, which sits at 0 degrees; latitude determines a place's distance from the equator and affects its climate.

Longitude

Imaginary vertical lines measured in degrees east or west of the Prime Meridian at 0 degrees, used together with latitude to locate any point on Earth's surface.

Rain Shadow

A dry area on the leeward side of a mountain range, created when moist air rises on the windward side, drops rain, and descends as warm, dry air.

Push and Pull Factors

Conditions that drive people away from a place, called push factors, such as war or famine, and conditions that attract them elsewhere, called pull factors, such as jobs or safety.

Population Density

The average number of people living per unit of land area, usually calculated by dividing a region's total population by its area in square miles or kilometers.

Subduction Zone

A boundary where one tectonic plate slides beneath another, often producing deep ocean trenches, volcanic mountain chains, and powerful earthquakes.

Renewable Resource

A natural resource that is replenished by natural processes faster than humans use it, such as sunlight, wind, flowing water, and sustainably managed forests.

Map Scale

The ratio that shows how distance on a map relates to distance on the ground, such as one inch representing ten miles, allowing real distances to be calculated.

Opportunity Cost

The value of the next best alternative given up when a choice is made, reflecting the trade-off involved in every economic decision.

Law of Demand

The principle that, all other things equal, as the price of a good rises the quantity demanded falls, and as the price falls the quantity demanded rises.

Equilibrium Price

The price at which the quantity of a good buyers are willing to buy equals the quantity sellers are willing to supply, so there is no shortage or surplus.

Gross Domestic Product

The total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country's borders in a given period, commonly used to measure economic output.

Inflation

A sustained rise in the general price level of goods and services, which reduces the purchasing power of money and is often measured by the Consumer Price Index.

Federal Reserve

The central bank of the United States, which controls the money supply and sets interest rates to pursue stable prices and maximum employment.

Fiscal Policy

The use of government spending and taxation by Congress and the president to influence the economy, such as raising spending or cutting taxes to fight a recession.

Comparative Advantage

The ability of a country to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than another country, which is the basis for gains from specialization and international trade.