This activity is part of Module 3: Road to the Convention from the Constitution 101 Curriculum.
In this activity, you will learn more about concepts related to the events leading up to the Constitutional Convention.
For each key term, list the following:
- Examples
- Key Resource of Text
Key Terms:
Faction
Any group of people, either a majority or a minority, animated by passion rather than reason, devoted to self-interest rather than the common good.
Mob
A large group of people engaging in disorderly, illegal conduct.
Constitutionalism
The principle that a government’s powers are defined and limited in advance.
Demagogue
A leader who uses false claims and false promises to play on the popular passions and prejudices of the people in order to gain political power.
Republicanism
A government in which ultimate authority resides in the people—with the people exercising their power by voting for elected representatives and those representatives exercising power on behalf of the people in ways consistent with virtue, reason, the rule of law, and the common good.
Passion
An intense, immediate feeling that drives particular preferences—often distinct from decision driven by reason and a concern for the common good.
Self-interest
A concern for one’s own advantage and well-being rather than the good of the wider community.
Reason
The power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by the process of logic. (Source: Oxford Languages)
Public good
A goal or policy that serves the interests of the wider community — not simply one’s own self-interest.
Virtue
A commitment to exercise one’s judgment through reason (not passion) and a concern for the common good (not private self-interest).
