Social Studies 30-2 Diploma Review

John Locke

British liberal thinker who believed in natural rights

social contract

The idea that a contract exists between the government and the people they rule.

tablula rasa

blank slate

natural rights

The concept that, at birth, all humans should have the right to life, liberty, and property.

John Locke

British liberal thinker who promoted the concept of natural rights and a "social contract" between government and the governed

The Harm Principle

The idea that people should be free to do what they like as long as they don't hurt others.

Montesquieu

French liberal thinker who advocated that the powers of government be separated in to branches based on the different functions of government.

Separation of Powers

Concept that government power should be divided between legislative, executive and judicial branches.

Divine Right of Kings

The idea that monarchs were chosen by God to rule.

philosphes

Term for thinkers during the Enlightenment.

communism

Collectivist, extreme left-wing ideology

Hyperinflation

a rapid and severe decrease in the purchasing power of a currency

Lenin

First Soviet leader

Bloody Sunday

1905 massacre of protestors outside of the czar's palace.

Karl Marx

Father of communism

Mussolini

Italian dictator, founded fascism

collectivization

Government confiscation of individuals' private lands to form a commonly owned public enterprise

Bolsheviks

Early Russian communists

Gulag

Term of the collection Soviet prison camps in Siberia often used to house dissidents and political prisoners

Enabling Act

Law the gave Hitler dictatorial power

Hitler

Leader of the German Nazi party during the 1930s & 1940s

oligarchy

Authoritarian rule by a small group of people

junta

Rule by a small group of military officers

dictatorship

Authoritarian rule by a single individual

totalitarianism

Authoritarian rule that imposes itself on most aspects of life

suffrage

the right to vote

scapegoating

Blaming another person or group for your problems

referendum

Term for a binding vote on an issue by all citizens eligble to vote

bicameral

term for a legislature with two houses

minority govenment

In the parliamentary system, a government that has the most, but less than half of, the seats in the legislature

First-Past-the-Post system

A voting system in which the person with the most votes wins, regardless of what share of the total vote they received; a simple plurality system

minister

In a parliamentary system, a member of the exective branch who is in charge of a government department

riding

a constituency; the electoral district represented by an elected individual

Governor-General

The monarch's representative in Canada; also Canada's head of state

responsible government

A government where the executive branch must have the support of the majority of the members of the legislative branch to be allowed to govern.

secretary

The title given to someone who runs a government department and is a member of cabinet in the United States.

veto

In the US, the president can use this special power to kill any bill passed by less then 2/3 of the members of the legislative branch

Congress

The term used to describe the US legislative branch (House of Representatives + the Senate)

check and balances

The set of controls that the various US branches of government have over one another.

Keynes

British economist whose theories regarding how to manage an economy became very popular during the 1930s.

New Deal

Term given to Franklin Roosevelt's series of economic programs that were intended to improve the US economy during the 1930s.

deficit

If a government spends more money than it takes in in taxes, it is said to be running a deficit.

recession

This term describes a relatively short period of economic downturn in the business cycle.

fiscal policy

This term describes government policy that controls spending and taxation.

business cycle

The term given to the economic "ups and downs" that typically characterize a free market economy.

monetary policy

People like Milton Friedman argued that this kind of policy, which controls the central bank rate, should be used to manage the economy.

trickle-down economics

Ronald Reagan was a big fan of this kind of economics which he said would see tax breaks for the rich eventually end up benefitting everyone in the economy.

recovery

This term applies to the point in the business cycle where the economy is starting to improve.

neoliberals

This term is often applied to modern day economists who want us to return to many of the practices set out by Adam Smith

executive branch

The branch of government that does the day to day running of government

senate

The upper house in a bicameral legislature.

Supreme Court

The term for highest court in Canada and in the United States (as well as many other countries)

House of Representatives

The lower house in the US's bicameral legislature.

Electoral College system

US citizens don't quite choose their head of government directly. The final decision on who will be president is made by members of the electoral collage.

President of the United States

Heads the executive branch of the US government. Is both Head of State and Head of Government.

bill

Term for a proposed law.

democracy

Term that means "the people rule"

constitution

The document or set of traditions that set down the the basic structure of government in a country and often, the rights and responsibilities of its citizens.

Berlin Airlift or Berlin Blockade

Term for an incident where East Germany cut off the West's access to Berlin

containment

This term refers to a policy of stopping the spread of communism

Truman Doctrine

President Harry Truman instituted this policy to help any country under threat of turning communist.

brinkmanship

This is the term is used to describe to pushing international crisis to the edge of war.

Khrushchev

Soviet leader who took power after Stalin's death and was in power during the Cuban Missile Crisis

John F. Kennedy

US president during the Cuban Missile Crisis

detente

This French word is used to describe a reduction of international tensions.

deterrence

This term relates to the idea that having a lot of weapons will discourage a potential enemy from attacking you.

Mutually Assured Destruction or MAD

This theory held that if both sides could not survive a nuclear war, no one would dare start one.

Gorbachev

He was the Russian president who brought in the concepts of perestroika and glasnost.

SALT

Abbreviation for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks

assimilation

This term refers to the concept of absorbing one culture into another so that the first one ceases to exist.

residential schools

Schools run in Canada to with the primary goal of assimilating aboriginals into Western culture.

Marshall Plan

This US program resulted in billions of US dollars flooding in the post-war Europe to ensure that Europeans would not fall under the sway of communism.

Warsaw Pact

This communist collective security alliance was named after the Polish capital.

propaganda

One-sided messages or advertisements produce by government to convince people to adopt a particular point of view.

fascism

An extreme right-wing ideology that promotes ultranationalism, dictatorship and imperialism.

Mein Kampf

Hitler's book in which he laid out his plan for Nazi Germany.

kulak

Wealthy farmers who's land was confiscated by the Soviets under Stalin's rule.

Vietnam

Asian nation where the US's attempts at containing communism resulted in a military loss for the superpower.

satellite states

Eastern European states under the control of the Soviet Union during the Cold War

domino theory

the political theory that if one nation comes under Communist control then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control

Berlin Wall

a wall separating East and West Berlin built by East Germany in 1961 to keep citizens from escaping to the West

glasnost

Policy of openness initiated by Gorbachev in the 1980s that provided increased opportunities for freedom of speech, association and the press in the Soviet Union.

Iron Curtain

Winston Churchill's term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West.

proxy war

The result of one of the two superpowers using other states as substitutes for fighting each other directly; common in the Cold War; conflict in Afghanistan is one example of such a war

monopoly

exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices

welfare state

a government that undertakes responsibility for the welfare of its citizens through programs in public health and public housing and pensions and unemployment compensation etc.

social safety net

Series of programs that prevents people from living in poverty including things like old age pensions, welfare and medicare

progessive taxation

A tax system where the more money an individual makes, the greater the percentage of their income they pay in taxes.

mixed economy

an economic system where there is free enterprise with government control. A mixed economy combines aspects of market and command economies.

nationalization

Taking an private industry or assets into the public ownership and control of the national government

inflation

a rise in prices and/or a decrease in the value of money

crown corporation

a company owned by the Canadian government

free market

A market with few government restrictions on how a good or service can be produced or sold or on how a factor of production can be employed.

Eurocentric

The tendency to favor European or Western history, culture, and values over other cultures.

FLQ

Front de la Liberation de Quebec (FLQ) A radical separatist organization of the 1960s and early 1970s which was responsible for the October Crisis of 1970. TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.

notwithstanding clause

a clause in the constitution that allowed the federal government or any of the provinces to opt out of some of the clauses in the charter

collective security

agreement by a group of nations to defend the other in case of an attack on any member

detente

French word meaning an easing of tensions between the world's superpowers during the Cold War

domino effect

the fear that if one nation falls to communism, its neighbors will soon follow

isolationism

a policy of nonparticipation in international economic and political relations