gov type shit (Unit 1)

What is government?

An institution in which a society makes and enforces its public polices

Basic powers of the government? (branches)

Legislative, Executive, Judicial

What are legislative powers?

Power to make the laws

What are executive powers?

enforce and administer the laws

What are judicial powers?

interpret the laws

What are the four theories in which states arose?

Force, evolutionary, divine right of kings, and social contract

What is the force theory?

A theory in which states were developed by force of one person/small group who claimed control of an area and forced all to submit to that person’s/group’s rule

What is the evolutionary theory?

A theory in which states developed naturally out of a family

What is the divine right of kings theory?

A theory in which God created the state and that God had given those of royal birth divine right to rule

What is the social contract theory?

A theory in which the earliest humans lived in a free state of nature, and soon overcame this condition to create a state with one another

What are the four factors that make up a State?

Population, territory, sovereignty, and government

What is a democracy?

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

What are three types of democracies?

Direct, indirect, and a republic

What is a direct democracy?

A democracy in which people themselves formulate the public policy

What is an indirect democracy?

A democracy in which a group of people chosen by the people formulates the public policy

What is a republic?

A democracy in which the sovereign power in held by those eligible to vote while the political power is exercised by representatives chosen by and held responsible for the people

What is a dictatorship?

A form of government where the leader has absolute power and authority

What are the three types of dictatorships?

Authoritarian dictatorship, oligarchy, and autocracy

What is an authoritarian dictatorship?

A dictatorship in which those in power hold absolute and unchangeable authority; baseline for dictatorships

What is an oligarchy?

A dictatorship in which the rule of power is held by a small self appointed elite

What is an autocracy?

A dictatorship in which one single person holds unlimited political power

Different way government power can be distributed

Unitary, federal, and confederate

What is a unitary distribution of power?

A distribution of power in which all government powers are held by a single agency

What is a federal distribution of power?

A distribution of power in which power is divided between a central and several local government

What is a confederate distribution of power?

A distribution of power in which there is an alliance of independent states, and although a central government exists, it only has powers assigned by member states

Presidential legislative and executive relationship

A relationship in which the executive and legislative branch are separate, independent and coequal

Parliamentary legislative and executive relationship

A relationship in which the executive branch is made up of a prime minister and that offical’’s cabinet

Athens democracy

A democracy created for rule by the people in which the ecclesia was open to 18+ male citizens

Roman Republic

A republic featuring two classes, the patricians and plebians, in which the government was centered around the state

Feudalism

A loosely organized system where powerful lords divide their land among other, lesser lords

The Commercial Revolution

A revolution in which towns became the center of trade, and artisans and merchants became wealthy

3 forms of legitimacy

Tradition, Power of personality, and binding rule of law

What is the ‘tradition’ form of legitimacy?

A form of legitimacy in which people accept a form of government because society has always operated that way

What is the ‘power of personality’ form of legitimacy?

A form of legitimacy in which someone with a charismatic personality and strong leadership wins popular support

What is the ‘binding rule of law’ form of legitimacy?

A form of legitimacy in which a government binds itself to a rule of law that is fair and effective

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker who put forth the notion of natural rights such as life, liberty, and property

Thomas Hobbes

Enlightenment thinker who believed that people and their rules are parties to a social contract that defines the rights and powers of each

William Blackstone

Enlightenment thinker who believed strongly in the idea that legal decisions should be made on the basis of similar decisions in the past

Francois-Marie Arouet

Enlightenment thinker who advocated in France for reason, freedom of religion, the importance of scientific operation and the idea of human progress