Chapter 4 - Political, Economic, and Legal Systems

Political System

Structures, processes, and activities by which a nation governs itself

Totalitarianism

Political system in which individuals govern regardless of the people's support, tightly control people's lives, and do not tolerate opposing viewpoints

Theocracy

Political system in which a country's religious leaders are also its political leaders

Theocratic Totalitarianism

Political system under the control of totalitarian religious leaders

Secular Totalitarianism

Political system in which totalitarian leaders maintain control through military and bureau-cratic power

Communism

Political system that believes social and economic equality can be obtained only by establishing an all-powerful Communist Party, violently seizing control over economic resources, and eliminating political opposition

Socialism

Political system in which government owns and controls all types of economic activity to achieve social and economic equality

Tribal Totalitarianism

Political system in which one ethnic group imposes its will on others with whom it shares a national identity

Right-Wing Totalitarianism

Political system in which a government grants few (if any) political freedoms and endorses private ownership of property and a market-based economy

Democracy

Political system in which government leaders are elected directly by the wide participation of the people or by their representatives

Representative Democracy

Democracy in which citizens elect individuals from their groups to represent their political views

Economic system

Structure and processes that a country uses to allocate its resources and conduct its commercial activities

Centrally Planned Economy

Economic system in which the government owns a nation's land, factories, and other economic resources and plans nearly all economic activity

State Capitalism

Economic system in which the state plays the role of leading economic actor and used markets primarily for political gain

Mixed Economy

Economic system in which land, factories, and other economic resources are rather equally split between private and government ownership

Privatization

policy of selling government owned economic resources to private operators

Market Economy (Capitalism)

Economic system in which most of a nation's land, factories, and other economic resources are privately owned, either by individuals or businesses

Supply

Quantity of a good or service that producers are willing to provide at a specific selling price

Demand

Quantity of a good or service that buyers are willing to purchase at a specific selling price

Antitrust (Antimonopoly) Laws

Laws designed to prevent companies from fixing prices, sharing markets, and gaining unfair monopoly advantages

Property Rights

Legal rights to resources and any income they generate

Legal System

Country's set of laws and regulations, how its laws are enacted and enforced, and how its courts hold parties accountable

Nationalism

Devotion of a people to their nation's interests and advancement

Common Law

legal system based on a country's legal history (tradition), past cases that have come before its courts (precedent), and how laws are applied in specific situations (usage)

Civil Law

legal system based on a detailed set of written rules and statutes that constitute a legal code

Theocratic Law

Legal system based on religious teachings

Intellectual Property

Property that results from people's intellectual talent and abilities

Cloud Computing

Delivery of computing services over the internet

Industrial Property

Intellectual property consisting of patents and trademarks

Patent

property right granted to the inventor of a product or process that excludes others from making, using, or selling the invention

Trademark

property right in the form of words or symbols that distinguish a product and its manufacturer

Copyright

property right giving creators of original works the freedom to publish or dispose of them as they choose

Product Liability

responsibility of manufacturers, sellers, individuals, and others for damage, injury, or death caused by defective products

Value Added Tax (VAT)

tax levied on each party that adds value to a product throughout its production and distribution

Democracy

Which political system stresses individual concerns over group ones?

Anarchism and totalitarianism

Arranging the world's three political ideologies on a horizontal scale with pluralism in the middle, what would be on the two extremes?

Totalitarianism

Which form of government is characterized by imposed authority, lack of constitutional guarantees, and restricted participation?

Communism and right-wing totalitarianism

China's current political system is a combination of which two ideologies?

predominantly consists of independently owned firms that seek profits.

In theory, commerce prospers when an economy…

To protect society from excessive greed.

What is the intent of a mixed economy?

The price mechanism

What dictates supply and demand in a market economy?

individual freedom and responsibilities are above group concerns.

Market economics is rooted in the belief that

Theocratic law

Islamic, Hindu, and Jewish law are prominent examples of which type of legal system?

counterfeit products.

Intellectual property is harmed by

There is a low probability that protest groups will disrupt business activities in the totalitarian country.

Which of the following is a true statement about doing business in a totalitarian country?

representative democracies.

Full civil and property rights, periodic elections, and nonpolitical bureaucracies are characteristics of…

a legal system that protects property rights.

In democracies, governments maintain stable business environments through…

the failure of planners to create economic value.

The decline of centrally planned economies was partly due to…

engage in privatization.

To increase economic efficiency and raise living standards, governments of mixed economies began to…

Free choice

To function properly, a market economy requires price flexibility, free enterprise, and what else?

far less than it is in a mixed or centrally planned economy.

Government's role in a market economy is…

Legal System

A country's set of laws and regulations, how its laws are enacted, and how its courts hold parties accountable

common law, civil law, and theocratic law.

The world's three main types of legal systems include…

Considers each case's particular circumstances

Which of the following is a positive feature of a common law system?

tend to be codified and concise.

One fact about civil law systems is that they…

20 years.

Patents are typically granted for a period of…

distinctive.

Trademark protection typically lasts indefinitely, provided the word or symbol continues to be…

70 years.

Today, new original works are copyrighted for the creator's lifetime plus…

copyright.

The work of a photographer, painter, author, musical composer, and software developer are protected by a…

They intend to prevent companies from gaining unfair monopoly advantages.

Which of the following is a true statement about antitrust regulations?