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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
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