Chapter 1 – Principles of Government

Fill-in-the-blank flashcards covering key concepts from Chapter 1: Government, the State, origins, purposes, forms, and democracy concepts.

Government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public __.

policies

Public policies are all of those things a government decides to .

do

The people who exercise powers of government are the __.

Legislators; Executives and administrators; Judges

State – a body of people living in a defined territory, organized politically and having power to make and enforce laws without the consent of any __.

higher authority

One characteristic that distinguishes the state from all other, lesser, political units is __.

Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the supreme and absolute power within its __.

territory

Location of sovereignty is important – in a democracy the people are sovereign; in a __, a single person or small group holds sovereignty.

dictatorship

Each of the 50 states lack this basic characteristic: __.

sovereignty

Origins of the State – Force Theory states that the state was born of .

force

Evolutionary Theory says the state developed naturally out of the .

family

The Divine Right Theory states that the state was created by and that God had given those of royal birth a divine right to rule.

God

The Social Contract Theory arose from a voluntary act of free people; the state exists to serve the people; the people are the source of and may give or withhold power.

power

The Articles of Confederation (1781) created a 'firm league of ' among the 13 states.

friendship

The Constitution (1787) was built on the belief that in a union there is .

strength

The purpose of government includes forming a more perfect .

union

To establish justice, the law, in both its content and administration, must be , fair and impartial.

reasonable

To insure Domestic Tranquility, order is essential; means life without government.

Anarchy

To provide for the Common Defense, defense is mentioned often in the .

constitution

To promote the general welfare, the government acts as the to citizens.

servant

To secure the Blessings of Liberty: No person is free to do whatever he or she pleases because such behavior would interfere with the freedom of others; this expresses the idea of .

liberty

Unitary Government is a centralized government where all powers belong to a single central .

agency

Federal Government – division of powers is between a central government and several local governments on a geographic .

basis

Confederate Government – alliance of independent states; central government has the power to handle those matters that member states have assigned to it; central government has powers.

limited

Presidential Government – features a separation of powers between the executive and the branches.

legislative

The Chief executive in a Presidential Government is the .

President

Parliamentary Government – the Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party and is chosen by the to be the Executive.

Parliament

Dictatorship – the old and most common form, gaining power by .

force

Totalitarian – exercise power over all aspects of human rights; today examples include Cuba, China, North Korea, and .

Syria

Direct democracy is exemplified by the practice of a .

Town Meeting

Representative democracy – a small group chosen by the people to act as their .

representatives

Fundamental worth of the individual – there are times when the welfare of the many outweighs the rights of .

individuals

Equality of all .

persons

Will of the majority cannot be used to deprive the of rights.

minority

Compromise is the process of blending and adjusting to find the position most acceptable to the largest .

number

Individual Freedom – Absolute freedom can only exist in .

anarchy