MCAS Grade 8 Civics flashcards

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 of the people, who hold ultimate political power and can alter or abolish government that fails to protect their rights.

Limited government

The idea that government power is restricted by law, usually a written constitution, so officials cannot act arbitrarily and citizens retain rights government cannot violate.

Separation of powers

The division of government authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches so that no single branch holds all governing power and each has distinct responsibilities.

Checks and balances

Provisions letting each branch limit the others, such as a presidential veto, congressional override, Senate confirmation of judges, and judicial review of laws.

Federalism

A system dividing power between a national government and state governments, each with its own authority, so states keep powers not granted or denied by the Constitution.

Delegated powers

Powers specifically granted to the national government by the Constitution, including enumerated powers listed in Article I, Section 8, and powers implied by the necessary and proper clause.

Reserved powers

Powers retained by the states under the Tenth Amendment, covering matters such as public schools, local elections, licensing, and most criminal law within state borders.

Concurrent powers

Powers shared by national and state governments, such as taxing, borrowing money, building roads, establishing courts, and enforcing laws within their jurisdictions.

Necessary and proper clause

Article I, Section 8 provision letting Congress make laws needed to carry out its enumerated powers; McCulloch v. Maryland upheld this implied-power authority.

Supremacy clause

Article VI rule that the Constitution, national laws, and treaties are the supreme law of the land, binding state judges even when state law conflicts.

Judicial review

The power of courts to declare laws or official actions unconstitutional, established in Marbury v. Madison (1803) and exercised by federal and state courts.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1791, protecting individual liberties such as speech, religion, assembly, due process, and fair trial.

First Amendment freedoms

Protections for religion (establishment and free exercise), speech, press, assembly, and petition, though some speech categories such as incitement and true threats remain unprotected.

Establishment clause

First Amendment rule barring Congress from making a law respecting an establishment of religion, limiting government endorsement or funding of religious activity.

Free exercise clause

First Amendment protection of individuals' right to practice their religion, though neutral laws of general applicability may still restrict religious conduct.

Symbolic speech

Nonverbal expression conveying a message, such as wearing an armband or burning a flag; Tinker v. Des Moines protected student armbands as expression.

Due process

Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that government follow fair procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property, including notice and a hearing.

Equal protection clause

Fourteenth Amendment provision requiring states to treat people equally under law; courts apply heightened scrutiny to racial classifications and sex-based distinctions.

Selective incorporation

Process by which the Supreme Court has applied most Bill of Rights protections to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause.

Civic participation

Citizens engaging in public life through voting, attending meetings, contacting officials, serving on juries, volunteering, and joining political or community organizations.

Voting eligibility

Constitutional and state rules: citizens aged eighteen or older may vote; the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Sixth Amendments barred discrimination by race, sex, poll tax, and age.

Electoral College

Body of electors chosen by states that formally elects the president; each state's electors equal its congressional delegation, and most states use winner-take-all.

Political parties

Organized groups that recruit candidates, adopt platforms, raise funds, and mobilize voters, linking citizens to government and structuring elections around party competition.

Interest groups

Organizations that seek to influence policy by lobbying officials, running advertisements, and mobilizing members, differing from parties because they do not nominate candidates.

Media as watchdog

The press's role monitoring government and exposing misconduct, supported by First Amendment protection and functioning as a check on abuse of power.

Rule of law

The principle that laws, not individual officials, govern society; laws apply equally, are publicly known, and even leaders are accountable under them.

Civic virtue

Willingness of citizens to act for the common good, such as obeying laws, paying taxes, serving on juries, and volunteering, sustaining a self-governing republic.

Natural rights

Rights held by all people by virtue of being human, such as life, liberty, and property, which government exists to protect according to Locke and the Declaration.

Social contract

The idea that people consent to be governed in exchange for protection of their rights, and may alter or abolish government that violates that trust.

Majority rule with minority rights

Democratic principle that decisions follow majority preference while constitutional protections safeguard minority groups' basic liberties against majority overreach.

State vs. federal courts

Two parallel systems: state courts hear most criminal and civil cases under state law, while federal courts hear federal questions and disputes between states.

Jury service

A civic duty in which citizens serve as jurors, deciding facts in trials and grand jury proceedings, providing ordinary citizens a direct role in the justice system.