Glossary for Vocabulary Terms

Glossary for Vocabulary Terms
CE.6 - American Constitutional Government

amendment - a change or addition to a legal document, such as the Constitution.

Board of Supervisors - the legislative (lawmaking) branch at the local level of government for a county. It has powers and functions similar to those of a City Council.

Chairman of the Board of Supervisors - the head of the executive branch at the local level of county government. The Chairman has powers and functions similar to those of a city mayor.

Congress - the legislative (lawmaking) branch of government at the national (federal) level. It consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Congress meets at the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

checks and balances - the rules in the Constitution that give each branch of government the power to stop or limit unwise actions by the other branches. Example: the president can veto a law passed by Congress.

City Council - the legislative (lawmaking) branch at the local level of city government.

concurrent powers - powers that, under the Constitution, are allowed to both the states and the national government. Example: both the state and the national levels of government can collect taxes, and both can enforce laws.

executive branch - the branch of government which carries out laws made by the legislative branch. At the national level, the executive branch is headed by the president. At the state level, it is headed by the governor.

expressed powers - powers of the national government that are actually listed in the Constitution. Example: Congress has the power to declare war. (These are also sometimes called enumerated powers.)

federalism - a design for government that divides or shares power between a national level and the state level. Example: the U.S.

General Assembly - the legislative (lawmaking) branch of the Virginia government. It consists of the House of Delegates and the state Senate. The General Assembly meets at the Capitol building in Richmond.

governor (of a state) - the head of the executive branch at the level of state government.

impeach - the power of Congress to accuse a president of wrongdoing. The House of Representatives votes to impeach, then the Senate holds a trial. If found guilty, the Senate can vote to remove the president from office.

implied powers - powers not actually listed in the Constitution, but implied by a power that is listed. Example: the power to create a draft of men for the army is implied by the expressed power given to Congress to create an army.

judicial branch - the branch of government that includes the courts.

judicial review - the power of the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional. This power was established in the famous legal case Marbury v. Madison, in 1803.

legislative branch - the lawmaking branch of government. Example: Congress at the national level, the General Assembly at the state level in Virginia.

mayor - the head of the executive branch at the local level of city government.

president (of the U.S.) - the head of the executive branch of the national (federal) government.

ratify - to make a formal vote of approval.

reserved powers - powers that, under the Constitution, are kept or reserved by the states.

separation of powers - the dividing of government power into branches, so no one branch can gain too much power and abuse it.

Supreme Court - the highest court in the judicial branch. There is a U.S. Supreme Court, but each state also has its own state Supreme Court.

veto - the power of the president to block a law passed by Congress. (Virginia's governor can veto laws passed by the General Assembly.)