Foundations of Government and Political Thought

Vocabulary practice flashcards based on lecture notes covering political philosophy, ancient influences, theories of rule, historical English documents, and biblical views on government.

Creation Mandate

The command in Genesis 1:28 for humanity to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and exercise dominion over the earth.

Sphere Sovereignty

The concept that God created differing spheres of authority (the family, the church, and the state) to assist humanity in exercising dominion.

Authority

The power or right to command.

Government (Biblical Definition)

The structure instituted by God with authority to rule over society to maintain order by punishing those who do evil and praising those who do good, according to Romans 13:1-7.

Legitimacy

The condition of a government being accepted by the population it rules.

Divine Right

The belief that a ruler has been chosen by God or the gods.

Force Theory

The theory that states emerge through conquest and domination.

Natural Law and Natural Rights

A system of rules derived from the natural world, holding that all human beings possess innate rights from birth that government must honor and protect.

Social Contract Theory

The belief that governments were formed through an agreement where subjects give up some freedom in exchange for security and protection.

Monarchy

Government by one person, such as a king or queen, categorized as absolute or constitutional.

Dictatorship

A system of rule where one person or a small group holds unlimited power and comes to power by force.

Oligarchy

The rule of a small, wealthy elite.

Theocracy

A government system in which rulers claim to represent and be directed by a set of religious ideas.

Democracy

Rule by the people, existing as either direct democracy or representative democracy.

Virtue

Good moral ethics in rulers and citizens necessary to preserve just forms of government.

Lex Talionis

Laws of retribution based on the concept of 'an eye for an eye,' forming the core of the 282 laws in the Code of Hammurabi.

Magna Carta

A 1215 English document that limited the power of kings and established that the monarch must submit to the law.

Protestant Reformation

A 1517 religious movement against the Roman Catholic Church initiated by Martin Luther in modern Germany.

Treaty of Westphalia

A 1648 treaty that ended European religious wars by allowing citizens to freely practice any tolerated form of Christianity without fear of persecution.

Samuel Rutherford

A Scottish Christian pastor who wrote Lex Rex ('Law is King'), asserting that kings are under God's law and can be lawfully resisted if tyrannical.

English Bill of Rights

A document signed by William of Orange and Mary acknowledging the protected rights of English citizens that monarchs could not infringe upon.

Mayflower Compact

A 1620 agreement created by English colonists onboard the Mayflower to form a government and laws for the good of the colony and the furtherance of Christianity.

John Locke

A famous English Enlightenment philosopher who advocated for natural rights and the social contract, arguing that government must protect life, liberty, and property.

Thomas Hobbes

The most famous proponent of Social Contract Theory.

Politics

The process by which governments make and carry out decisions, which is often built on compromises.