Unit 1: Ideals and Types of Democracy Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering core political principles, foundational documents, political philosophers, models of democracy, and systems of governance.

Republicanism

A political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic, in which elected leaders represent the interests of the people.

Natural Rights

Rights that people are born with and can never give up; identified by John Locke as life, liberty, and property, and described in the Declaration of Independence as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that government power comes from the will of the people or the consent of the governed.

Limited Government

A political system in which certain restrictions are placed on government to protect individual rights and liberties.

Social Contract

An agreement shared by members of a society to give up some individual freedom in exchange for security and protection from the state.

Declaration of Independence

A document drafted by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin in 1776 that severed political connections with Great Britain and provided a foundation for popular sovereignty.

Thomas Hobbes

An English political philosopher who wrote Leviathan and argued that people enter a social contract to create a government that provides law and order, favoring an absolute monarchy.

John Locke

An Enlightenment philosopher who wrote Second Treatise on Civil Government, arguing that governments exist to protect natural rights and may be overthrown if they fail to do so.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

An Enlightenment philosopher who advocated for direct democracy based on the general will, arguing that people are born free but corrupted by civilization.

State of Nature

The hypothetical condition of humanity prior to the establishment of formal government and society, in which individuals possess natural rights.

Participatory Democracy

A model of representative democracy emphasizing broad, direct participation by citizens in policymaking and civil society.

Pluralist Democracy

A model of representative democracy where policymaking institutions are influenced by group-based activism from non-governmental interests.

Elite Democracy

A model of representative democracy emphasizing limited citizen participation, where political decisions are made primarily by the wealthy and powerful.

Unitary System

A form of government where authority is concentrated in a central national government, which delegates power downward.

Confederal System

A form of government where authority originates with state governments, which grant limited powers to a national government.

Federal System

A form of government where power is delegated from the people and divided independently between national and state governments.

Direct Democracy

A government structure where citizens directly participate in decision-making on laws and policies rather than delegating authority to elected officials.

Referendum

A state-level procedure of submitting a law passed by the legislature or a constitutional amendment to a popular vote.

Initiative

A state-level procedure enabling citizens to propose laws or constitutional amendments via petition to be submitted to a popular vote.

Recall

A state-level procedure allowing voters to remove an elected official from office before the end of their term.

Constitutionalism

The political principle referring to how governmental power is granted, dispersed, and limited.