Unit 1 Test Review Flashcards

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the Unit 1 Test Review transcript.

Direct Democracy

A system of government where citizens participate directly in decision-making and voting on laws rather than electing representatives.

Representative Democracy

A system of government in which citizens elect officials to make laws and govern on their behalf.

Republic

A form of government favored by the American Founders that relies on representation and constitutional mechanisms to protect against direct majority rule.

Tyranny of the Majority

The danger that a voting majority will use its numerical power to suppress the rights and freedoms of minority groups.

Constitutional Republic

A legal system of government where elected representatives govern within constitutional limits specifically designed to protect individual rights and constrain majority rule.

Authoritarian Government

A political system characterized by centralized power, strict control, and a lack of non-authoritarian political freedoms or institutional checks.

Absolute Monarchy

A form of authoritarian government where a single monarch holds supreme, unchecked political authority.

One-Party State

An authoritarian system, such as China, where political rule is controlled entirely by a single political party with no legal opposition.

Personalist Regime

An authoritarian government, such as North Korea, where political power is concentrated around a single individual leader.

John Locke

An Enlightenment philosopher whose political theory provided a critique of authoritarian government and influenced the Declaration of Independence regarding unalienable rights and consent of the governed.

Rule of Law

The principle in non-authoritarian political systems that all people, institutions, and government officials are bound by and subject to equal legal rules.

Political Gridlock

A state of inaction or difficulty in passing laws caused by constitutional checks and balances and conflicting political interests.

Anarchy

The absence of any formal government or political authority.

Communism

An economic system based on public ownership of resources, collective ownership of production, and centralized government planning of prices and output.

Socialism

An economic system characterized by government planning, mixed ownership, wealth redistribution, and expansive social welfare programs.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Authors of famous socialist literature who argued that the working class would overthrow the capitalist class and criticized capitalism for creating inequality.

Centralized Economic Planning

An economic mechanism where government authorities control decisions regarding economic production, resource distribution, and pricing.

Mixed Ownership

A characteristic of socialism in which both private individuals and the state own and control property and economic resources.

Redistribution of Wealth

An economic strategy commonly practiced in socialist systems through taxation and social programs to reduce economic inequality.

Regulated Capitalism

An economic system based on market forces, supply and demand, and private initiative, combined with government regulation to address market weaknesses.

Laissez-faire

An economic philosophy meaning to let do or leave alone, promoting minimal or no government intervention in market mechanisms.

Adam Smith

An economist who introduced the concept of the invisible hand to explain how self-interested market interactions promote overall economic benefit.

Invisible Hand

Adam Smith's concept that unobservable market forces guide individual self-interest to maximize overall economic efficiency and societal benefit.

Authority

The recognized and legitimate right of a government or institution to exercise power and enforce laws.

Divine Right of Kings

The political theory holding that a monarch's legitimate authority is derived directly from God, rendering political rebellion a religious offense.

Classical Liberalism

A political philosophy emphasizing individual freedom, limited government intervention, and political authority derived from the consent of the governed.

Consent of the Governed

The principle that a government's legal and moral authority is only justified when consented to by the citizens over whom it rules.

Unalienable Rights

Fundamental human rights described in the Declaration of Independence and derived from John Locke that cannot be surrendered or taken away.

Individualism

An American political value that stresses self-reliance, individual choice, personal responsibility, and achievement.

Equality of Opportunity

The idea that all individuals should be given an equal chance to compete and succeed under the same rules.

Equality of Outcome

The concept that government should ensure individuals achieve similar economic or social results, contrasting with equality of opportunity.

Individual Liberty

The freedom of citizens to act and choose without arbitrary government constraint, subject to reasonable legal limits.

Limited Government

A political principle where legal structure and institutional mechanisms restrict the power of the state to protect liberty.

Articles of Confederation

The first constitution of the United States, which established a weak central government that functioned as a league of sovereign states.

Firm League of Friendship

The term used in the Articles of Confederation to describe the decentralized alliance and loose relationship among sovereign state governments.

Constitutional Convention of 1787

The gathering in Philadelphia originally called to revise the Articles of Confederation, attended by delegates from 12 states (excluding Rhode Island) and yielding the new U.S. Constitution.

Article I of the Constitution

The section of the U.S. Constitution that establishes and defines the structure and powers of the legislative branch.

Article II of the Constitution

The section of the U.S. Constitution that establishes and defines the executive branch.

Article III of the Constitution

The section of the U.S. Constitution that establishes and defines the judicial branch.

Article V of the Constitution

The section of the U.S. Constitution that sets forth the procedures for amending the document.

James Madison

The Father of the Constitution whose views on political ambition and human nature shaped the constitutional framework of checks and balances.

Separation of Powers

The division of government authority into distinct executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Checks and Balances

The constitutional system that grants each branch of government specific powers to restrain and balance the powers of the other branches.

Federalism

The division of political power between the national government and state governments.

Federalists

Supporters of the proposed U.S. Constitution who favored a stronger national government during the ratification debates.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the proposed U.S. Constitution who criticized it for concentration of power and requested explicit protections for individual liberties.