American Government/Civics Unit 1 Vocab

State of nature

a hypothetical condition of humanity before the establishment of organized societies or governments

Natural rights

rights that all people have just by virtue of being  human (John Locke specified that these rights include “life, liberty and property”)

Social contract

an agreement in which people give up some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of a government in exchange for security, protection, and the maintenance of social order

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)

known for his 1651 book Leviathan, which proposes that the state of nature was “nasty, brutish, and short” and that to avoid it, people gave up their absolute freedom and submitted to a monarch, giving their ruler absolute power over them.

John Locke (1663-1704

Proposed the social contract theory, which asserts that people have natural rights, and that to preserve these rights, they agreed to create a representative government, giving up the total freedom they had in the state of nature. He also asserted that people have the right to change the government if it ever violates their natural rights.

Charles de Montesquieu (1689-1755)

Theorist who emphasized the importance of separation of powers and checks and balances in government

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

Rousseau's social contract theory suggests that people must give up all of their individual rights to the entire community, which then governs itself by following the "general will" to create laws for the public good.

Power

The ability of one person or group to make another person or group do something, even if they don't want to.

Authority

The right to use power, which is often given by law, tradition, or the consent of the people

Authoritarianism

a form of government where power is held by a single person or a small group, and the citizens have little to no say in how they are governed

Autocracy

a government where a single person, such as a dictator or an absolute monarch, holds all of the power

Absolute monarchy

a type of government where a king or queen holds all of the power, and this power is typically inherited

Dictatorship

a government where a single leader, or dictator, comes to power and holds onto it by using force and limiting citizens' rights

Oligarchy

 a government where a small group of people, such as a wealthy elite or a military council, holds all the power

Theocracy

 a government where religious leaders rule in the name of a god or a higher power

Single-party state

 a government where only one political party is legally allowed to exist and hold power

Totalitarianism

an autocracy or oligarchy in which the government has complete and total control over every aspect of a person's public and private life.

Democracy

a type of government where the people hold the power and can influence government decisions through voting and participation

Direct democracy

 a system where all citizens vote directly on every law and public policy

Representative democracy

a system where citizens elect a group of people to make laws and public policies on their behalf

Parliamentary democracy

a government where the executive leader, called a prime minister, is chosen from the leading party in the legislature and can be removed by that legislature

Presidential democracy

a government where the president is elected separately from the law-making body and leads the executive branch, while both branches have their own powers

Constitutional monarchy

a government in which a monarch, such as a king or queen, shares power with a constitutionally organized government and typically has limited authority.

Limited government

powers exercised by the government are restricted, usually by a written constitution

Rule of law

government is based on clear and fairly enforced laws; these laws apply to everyone

Popular sovereignty

the principle that the people are the ultimate source of authority and legitimacy of a government

Constitution

a written plan that sets up a government, outlines its powers, and lists the rights of the people

Separation of powers

 powers of a government are split between two or more independent branches to prevent any one person or group from gaining too much power

Checks and balances

 each branch of government can limit the power of the other branches

Federal system

Power is shared between a strong central (national) government and strong state or regional governments. Both levels have their own powers, like in the United States.

Unitary system

All the power is held by one central government. Local governments exist but only have the power the central government gives them, like in France.

Confederal system

Most of the power is held by the individual states or regional governments, and the central government is very weak, like the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation.