Government Chapter 1 Vocab

Vocab test Monday (we also don’t have to know any of the people)

Government

The institution though with a society makes and enforces public policies

Public Policies

All of the things a government decides to do

Legislative power

Power to make laws and frame public policies

executive power

power to execute, enforce, and adminster laws

judicial power

power to interpret laws, determine their meaning, and settle disputes that arise within society.

Dictatorship

When ultimate responsibility for the exercise of these powers s held by a single person or small group

democracy

When the responsibility of the exercise of the three powers rests with the majority of the people

state

a body of people living in a defined territory, organized politically, and with the power to make and enforce laws without the consent of a higher authority.

sovereign

has the supreme and absolute power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign and domestic policies.

autocracy

A govt in which a single person holds unlimited political power

oligarchy

A govt in which power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite.

unitary government

A centralized government in which all government powers belong to a single, central agency.

federal govt

powers of govt are divided between a central govt and several local governments.

division of powers

basic principle of federalism. the constitutional provisions by which governmental powers are divided on a geographic basis.

confederation

an alliance of independent states

presidential govt

separation of powers between executive and legislative branches of govt

parliamentary

executive branch is made up of a prime minister or premier and that official’s cabinet

patricians

rich upper-class land owning aristocrats.

plebians

common folk

feudalism

loosely organized system in which powerful lords divided their lands among other, lesser lords.

sovereignty

utmost authority in decision making and in maintaining order

legitimacy

belief of the people that the govt has the right to make a public policy

divine right of kings

european monarchs basing their right to rule on the belief that God gave them the authority to rule

colonialism

control of one nation over lands abroad

mercantilism

economic and political theory emphasizing money as the chef source of wealth to increase the absolute power of the monarchy and the nation

majority rule

the majority of the people will be right more often than not, and will be right more often than any one person or small group.

compromise

an adjustment of opposing principles or systems by modifying some aspect of each.

Citizen

one who holds both rights and responsibilities in a state

Free enterprise system

The American economic system