Government Key Terms

7. America’s first national constitution, which loosely bound the states under a weak national Congress.
8. The leader of the House of Representatives, elected by the majority party.
11. A law passed in 2001 that expanded federal funding to schools but required increased testing and accountability.
12. The body that elects the president of the United States; composed of electors from each state equal to that state’s representation in Congress; a candidate must get a majority of electoral votes to win.
13. The rights of equality under the law.
15. A law passed in 1965 that banned discrimination in voter registration requirements.
16. A court opinion that reflects the reasoning of the majority of justices.
18. A system of government in which power is shared by national and state governments.
19. Segregation that exists due to economic and residential patterns, not because of law.
20. A Supreme Court case that granted the federal government extensive power to carry out its enumerated powers.
21. The men who wrote the Constitution.

1. The ability of different branches of government to stop each other from acting; designed to prevent one branch from gaining too much power.
2. A change to the Constitution.
3. A set of rules that govern how power will be distributed and used legitimately in a state.
4. Discrimination against majority-status people due to affirmative action policies.
5. Passed in 1920, it gave women the right to vote.
6. A plan at the constitutional convention that gave each state equal representation in the legislature.
9. A loose relationship among a number of smaller political units.
10. An opinion issued by a judge who votes with the winning side but disagrees with the majority or plurality opinion.
14. A plan at the constitutional convention to base representation in the legislature on population.
17. A legal member of a political unit.