American Government

for hi-q. from Magruder's Government textbook

 The institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies.

Government

All of those things a government decides to do.

Public Policies

All governments have these 3 types of power.

Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Power

The power to make laws and frame public policy.

Legislative Power

The power to execute, enforce, and administer laws.

Executive Power

The power to interpret laws, to determine their meaning, and to settle disputes that arise within the society.

Judicial Power

Body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of government.

Constitution

A form of government held by a single person, those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people.

Dictatorship

A form of government in which the authority rests with the people.

Democracy

Earliest known evidence of government from this ancient civilization.

Ancient Egypt

Greek philosopher who observed that “man is by nature a political animal.”

Aristotle

The process by which a society decides how power and resources will be distributed within that society.

Politics

A body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically and with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority.

State

Four characteristics of a state.

Population, Territory, Sovereignty, and Government

Geographic term referring to a particular area of land.

Country

Ethnic term referring to races or other large groups of people.

Nation

One of the world’s smallest countries in terms of both size and population, completely surrounded by Italy.

San Marino

Smallest country in the world.

Vatican City

Adjective describing members of a group who share customs, a common language, and ethnic background.

Homogeneous

Every state is this, meaning it has absolute and supreme power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign and domestic policies.

Sovereign

This English philosopher believed government was necessary to avoid what he called “The war of every man against every man.” Also developed some of the ideas of the social contract.

Thomas Hobbes

Theory in which one person or a small group claimed control over an area and forced all within it to submit to that group or person’s rule.

Force Theory

Theory where people hold that the primitive family of which one person was the head and thus the “government,” was the first stage of political development.

Evolutionary Theory

Theory which held that God created the state and that God had given those of royal rule a “divine right” to rule. 

Divine Right of Kings Theory

Theory in which a population in a given territory gave up as much power to a government as needed to promote the well-being of all.

Social Contract Theory

French philosopher who partly developed the idea of the social contract.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

English philosophers who all held some role in the development of the ideas of the social contract.

Thomas Hobbes, James Harrington, and John Locke

Document that justified its revolution with the social contract, arguing King George III had violated the contract.

Declaration of Independence

The US’ first constitution, created a powerless government that could not overcome the intense rivalries and jealousies among the states.

The Articles of Confederation

This concept has come to mean the law, in both its content and its administration, must be reasonable, fair, and impartial.

Justice

The love of one’s country; the passion that drives one to serve one’s country, either by defending it from invasion or by protecting its rights and maintaining its laws and institutions.

Patriotism

African country with no permanent functioning government, with rival warlords controlling different parts of the country.

Somalia

Department that keeps watch for threats to the country and its people.

Department of Homeland Security

Father of the Constitution, wrote in The Federalist No. 51 that “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

James Madison

Famous English poet who believed it did not matter what form a government takes.

Alexander Pope

In this form of government, supreme political authority rests with the people.

Democracy

Abraham Lincoln gave immortality to the definition of democracy in this speech of his, saying “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Gettysburg Address

This specific form of government exists where the will of the people is translated into public policy directly by the people themselves, in mass meetings.

Direct Democracy (or Pure Democracy)

Two ancient civilizations that were examples of direct democracy.

Ancient Greece and Rome

Americans are familiar with this indirect form of democracy, where a small group of elected officials express the popular will. These agents of the people are responsible for carrying out the day-to-day conduct of government.

Constitutional Republic (or Representative Democracy)

The most common form of government in history, where those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people.

Dictatorship

A type of dictatorship in which a single person holds unlimited power.

Autocracy

A type of dictatorship in which the power is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite.

Oligarchy

All dictatorships are this, where those in power hold absolute and unchallengeable authority over the people.

Authoritarian

Modern dictatorships have tended to be this, in that they exercise complete power over nearly every aspect of human affairs.

Totalitarian

A dictatorship from the modern era located in Europe that collapsed during WWII, led by Benito Mussolini.

Fascist Italy

A dictatorship from the modern era located in Europe that collapsed after WWII, led by Adolf Hitler.

Nazi Germany

A modern era dictatorship that began after a revolution and collapsed in 1991 under Mikhail Gorbachev.

Soviet Union

A modern era dictatorship that is still around today, was founded by Mao Zedong in 1949.

People’s Republic of China

Most prominent example of a one-person dictatorship today, located in east Asia.

North Korea (led by Kim Jong-un)

A form of government in which the legal system of a state is based on religious law.

Theocracy

A modern day example of a theocracy. This state is typically referred to as a theocratic Islamic Republic as an Islamic religious advisory board has the final say on all matters.

Iran

All laws passed by the Iran government must be compatible with this moral and religious law of Islam.

Sharia

One of many Germanic tribes in Europe during the Roman Empire. This tribes original leader was a central chief who was elected for life and held religious and military responsibility. Later on, government officials would replaced the old tribal aristocracy.

Vandals

Three basics form of government. (not referring to things like democracies or dictatorships)

Unitary, Federal, and Confederate

An Italian republic that existed from late 7th to late 18th centuries, being one of the most successful city states due to its flourishing trade.

Venetian Republic

The Venetian Republic was ruled by this, who were elected by representatives of rich and noble families.

The Doge

Famous French military leader who wanted to destroy the Venetian Republic, forcing Venice to depose of its last Doge and become a part of Austria.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Form of government that is often described as a centralized government, where all the powers of said government belong to a single, central agency.

Unitary Government

Most governments in the world are unitary in form, such as in Great Britain, which has this central organization that holds all governmental power.

British Parliament

Form of government in which the powers of government are divided between a central government and several local governments.

Federal Government

This phrase refers to there being separate levels of government, such as there being a central government, and several local governments beneath it.

Division of Powers

Form of government that refers to an alliance of independent states.

Confederation

Two examples in US history of confederations.

Articles of Confederation and the Confederate States of America

Closest approach to a confederation in the modern day, an alliance that has established free trade and a common currency among its members.

European Union (EU)

Governments are classified based on the relationship between these two agencies.

Legislative and Executive

A class of government that features a separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

Presidential Government

The chief executive in a presidential government.

President

A class of government in which the executive branch is made up of the prime minister/premier, and that office’s cabinet.

Parliamentary Government

Word that refers to a like-minded group of parties in a parliament.

Coalition

The prime minister and his cabinet must resign from office in a parliamentary government if the parliament defeats them on an important matter and they receive this.

A “vote of no confidence”

Concept of democracy was born in the Greek city-states, notably here.

Athens

Athens originated as a monarchy, but was then replaced with what they called this.

Demokratia

Athens was a direct democracy with this being the central feature, which was open to all males who were at least 18.

An Assembly (the Ecclesia)

Athens’ Assembly met this many times a year.

40

Athens’ glory was weakened by this war with Sparta.

Peloponnesian War

Athens was later conquered by this other Greek state, led by King Phillip II.

Macedonia

In Roman society, this class was composed of the rich upper class, the landowning aristocrats.

Patricians

In Roman society, this class was composed of the common folk.

Plebeians

The Roman Senate was led by two of these, the heads of state who commanded the army and conducted foreign affairs.

Consuls

After the Roman Empire fell, it marked the beginning of the Middle Ages, as well as this loosely organized system in which powerful lords divided their lands among other, lesser lords.

Feudalism

In the feudal system, there was a relationship between these two classes.

Lords and Vassals

People in the feudal system who pledged their loyalty to the lord, supporting his decisions and serving under his military command.

Vassals

A bulk of the feudal population where this, peasants who were bound to the land they farmed.

Serfs

This institution provided some measure of government-like order to life in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Roman Catholic Church

A major catalyst of a European commercial revolution, a disease that killed a third of Western Europe’s population.

Black Plague

The utmost authority in decision making and in maintaining order.

Sovereignty

Form of ultimate power in which everyone is subordinate to the authority of that of a monarch.

Absolute Monarchy

A strong reason that rulers have to seek consent for their rule. The belief of the people that a government has the right to make public policy.

Legitimacy

A type of traditional legitimacy in which European monarchy based their rule on the idea that God had granted them that authority.

Divine Right of Kings

The control of one nation over lands abroad.

Colonialism

An economic and political theory that emphasizes money as the chief source of wealth to increase the absolute power of the monarchy and the nation.

Mercantilism

An intellectual movement that was caused by scientific discoveries and new thinking based on reason.

Enlightenment

English political theorist who put forth the notion of the natural rights of all human beings, ideas that later formed the basis for the Declaration of Independence.

John Locke

Englishman who believed that the people and their rulers are parties to a social contract.

Thomas Hobbes

Two economists during the Enlightenment that criticized those economic policies that had helped monarchs grow wealthier while most of their subjects become poorer and less free.

Adam Smith and David Ricardo

Famous French philosopher who advocated for the freedom of religion, the importance of scientific discoveries, and the idea of human progress.

Francois-Marie Arouet (Voltaire)

French philosopher who theorized about the separation of powers of government, an idea that is now integral to the US Constitution.

Baron de Montesquieu

English jurist who strongly believed in “common law,” the idea that legal decisions should be made on the basis of similar decisions in the past.

William Blackstone

Former British prime minister who said “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Winston Churchill