Politics, Liberalism, Socialism & Communism – Vocabulary Review

Thirty vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from lectures on politics, liberalism, socialism, and communism.

Politics

Process of creating, preserving, and amending laws and distributing power in society; derived from the Greek "polis" meaning city-state.

Political Science

Academic discipline that systematically studies the state, government, decision-making, and their impact on people.

Good Governance

Standard of governing that embodies participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensus orientation, equity and inclusiveness, effectiveness, and accountability.

Participation

Active involvement of all affected stakeholders in governmental or organizational decision-making.

Rule of Law

Principle that a fair legal framework is impartially applied to everyone, including leaders.

Transparency

Open access to information, allowing public scrutiny of decisions and actions.

Responsiveness

Obligation of institutions to serve all stakeholders promptly and effectively.

Consensus Oriented

Approach to governance that mediates differing interests to achieve broad agreement on policies.

Equity and Inclusiveness

Ensuring every individual has opportunities to improve well-being and is not excluded from development.

Accountability

Requirement that decision-makers answer for their actions and are subject to oversight.

Liberalism

Political ideology prioritizing individual freedom, reason, limited government, and is foundational to modern democracies.

Ideology

Coherent set of ideas that structures political understanding, inspires activism, and binds societies together.

Individualism

Belief that human beings are autonomous agents capable of making choices independent of social groups.

Negative Freedom

Freedom from external interference, allowing individuals to pursue their desires unhindered.

Positive Freedom

Capacity and opportunity to fulfill one’s potential through access to resources like education and healthcare.

Justice

Principle of fairness and equality that gives each person their due and recognizes equal moral worth.

Toleration

Acceptance of diverse beliefs and practices without resorting to conflict or repression.

Social Contract

Theory that organized society and government arise from a voluntary agreement among free individuals.

Utilitarianism

Ethical doctrine stating that actions are right if they produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number.

Economic Liberalism

Laissez-faire belief that markets should operate without government intervention.

Social Darwinism

View that competitive struggle ensures the survival of the fittest individuals and justifies minimal state aid.

Modern Liberalism

Variant of liberalism endorsing positive freedom, social welfare, and government regulation of the economy.

Socialism

System advocating collective ownership of the means of production and equitable distribution of national wealth.

Means of Production

Physical resources—machinery, land, transport—used to create goods and services.

Social Equality

Socialist goal of creating equal socio-economic circumstances and eliminating marginalization.

Common Ownership

Shared control of productive property, replacing competition with cooperation.

Democratic Socialism

Form of socialism seeking reform through participation in democratic government rather than revolution.

Communism

Ideology aiming for a classless society by abolishing private property and establishing common ownership.

Proletariat

Working class that sells its labor and is exploited under capitalism.

Bourgeoisie

Capitalist class that owns the means of production and extracts surplus value from labor.