Political Science Unit 1

1.1-1.2, all topic 2

government

the institution through which a society makes & enforces its public polices

public policies

all of the many goals that government pursues in all of the many areas of human affairs in which it is involved

legislative power

the power to make laws and frame public policies

executive power

the power to execute, enforce, & administer laws

judicial power

the power to intepret laws, to determine their meaning & to settle disputes that arise w/in the society

dictatorship

form of goverment where those who rule can’t be held responsible to the will of the people

democracy

-form of government where supreme authority rests w/ the people

-equality in voting → “one person, one vote”

-citizen must have adequate & equal opportunities to express their preferences

-enlightened understanding → society must be a place of ideas

-citizens have a collective right to control gov’s policy agenda

state

a body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically, & w/ the power to make & enforce law w/out the ceonsent of any higher authority

nation

ethnic term

races or other large groups of people

sovereign

utmost authority in decision making & in maintaining order of a state

A sovereign state

-decide its form of gov, frame its own economic system, & decide its own foreign & domestic policies

-have supreme power within their own territories

-may not possessed by other states

Thomas Hobbes

-English philosopher who felt that people & nations were in a constant battle for power & wealth

-Absolute monarchy was the best gov for England

-believed in the social contract-needed to exist as an one way street

state of nature

everyone had a right to everything

John Locke

-English philosopher who wrote about his theories concerning the natural rights of man, the social contract, the separation of Church & State, religious freedom, & liberties

-have the government end the state of nature & give people certain protections

-major advocate for Natural Rights

Natural Rights

there are rights to life, liberty, & property

these rights aren’t given to people, people are born w/ them

The Evolutionary Theory

-A population formed out of primitive families

-The head of these families became the gov.

-When these families settled in one territory, they became a sovereign state

Force Theory

An individual or group claimed control over a territory & forced the population to submit

In this way, the state became sovereign, & those in control formed a gov

Divine Right of Kings Theory

-God created the state, making it sovereign

-The gov is made up of those chosen by God to rule a certain territory

-the population must obey their ruler

Social Contract Theory

-A population in a given territory gave up as much power to a gov as needed to promote the well-being of all

-in doing so, they created a soreveign state

Direct Democracy

-the people themselves formulate public policy

-works only at small, local level

Indirect/Representative Democracy

-a group of persons chosen by the people formulates public policy

-widely used at the national, state, & local levels

-people vote directly

autocracy

government in which a single person holds unlimited political power

oligarchy

A government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite

unitary government

-a centralized gov in which all gov powers belong to a single, central agency

-greater uniformity

-fewer conflicts & make efficient

-distant central gov may not understand citizens’ needs

federal government

-a form of gov in which powers are divided between a central gov & several local gov

-national gov & the states are co-equal partners

-each 50 states can have its own policy on same issue → difficult to cope, frequent conflicts

division of powers

basic principle of federalism; the constituional provisions by which gov powers are divided on a geographic base

confederation

a joining of several groups for a common purpose

confederate government

-most power belongs to the local (regional) govs

-closer to people & laws can be written to meet the needs of the individual states

-the central gov only has limited power, which restricts its ability to act an behalf of the confederacy as a whole

presidential government

a form of government in which the executive & legislative branches of the gov are separate, independent, & coequal

parliamentary government

-a form of gov in which the executive branch is made up of the prime minister, or premier, & that official’s cabinet

-checks & balances are not found

-majority of gov systems are ____

-don’t have to wrorry about prolonged conflict & sometimes deadlock between the executive & legislative branches

Challenges to Democracy

-increased complexity of issues

-limited participation in gov

-escalating campaign costs

-diverse political interests

limited government

The basic principle of American gov, which states that gov is restricted in what it may do, & each individual has rights that gov cannot take away

representative government

A system of gov in which public policies are made by officials selected by the voters & held accountable in periodic elections

Magna Carta

established that the power of the monarchy was not absolute & guaranteed trial by jury & due process of law to the nobility

Petition of Right

-document prepared by Parliament & signed by King Charles I of England in 1628

-challenged the idea of the divine right of kings & declared that even the monarch was subject to the laws of the land

bicameral

consisting of two houses, as in a legislature

unicameral

consisting of one house, as in a legislature

charter

a written grant of authority from the king that gives colonists or companies a grant of land & some governing rights, while the Crown retained a certain amount of power over a colony

Royal Colonies

-controlled by the King

-the governors & their councils shared the power to tax & spend

-New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, & Georgia

Proprietary colonies

-organized by a proprietor: a person to who was granted land & governing rights by the king

-Maryland, Pennsylvania, & Delaware

Charter Colonies

-controlled by colonists themselves under a charter granted by the King

-the king’s approval was required before the governnor could take office, it was not always asked

-Connecticut & Rhode Island