Social Contract and Forms of Government

Vocabulary terms and definitions regarding Enlightenment social contract theories, regional power distribution systems, and various forms of democratic government.

State of nature

A hypothetical condition of humanity before the establishment of organized societies or governments.

Natural rights

Rights that all people have just by virtue of being human.

John Locke's Natural Rights

The specific rights of "life, liberty and property" that Locke asserted all humans possess.

Social contract

An agreement in which people give up some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of a government in exchange for security, protection, and the maintenance of social order.

Thomas Hobbes

Enlightenment thinker ($1588-1679$) who believed that to avoid a chaotic state of nature, people must submit to a monarch with absolute power.

Leviathan

The book written by Thomas Hobbes in ($1651$) which proposes his theories on the state of nature and government authority.

Nasty, brutish, and short

The phrase used by Thomas Hobbes to describe the condition of human life in the state of nature.

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker ($1663-1704$) who proposed that people create representative governments to preserve their natural rights.

Right to change the government

The principle asserted by John Locke that people are entitled to alter their government if it violates their natural rights.

Charles de Montesquieu

Enlightenment theorist ($1689-1755$) who emphasized the importance of separation of powers and checks and balances in government.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Enlightenment thinker ($1712-1778$) who suggested people give up all individual rights to the community to be governed by the general will.

General will

The collective desire of the community used to create laws for the public good in Rousseau's social contract theory.

Public good

The primary objective of laws created according to Jean Jacques Rousseau's social contract theory.

Federal system

A system where power is shared between a strong central government and strong state or regional governments.

Unitary system

A system where all power is held by one central government, with local governments possessing only the power granted to them.

Confederal system

A system where most power is held by individual states or regional governments, resulting in a very weak central government.

United States (Federal Example)

The country cited as an example of a federal system where power is shared between national and state levels.

France (Unitary Example)

The country cited as an example of a unitary system where all power is held by the central government.

Articles of Confederation

The era of U.S. government cited as an example of a confederal system where the central government was very weak.

Democracy

A type of government where the people hold the power and influence decisions through voting and participation.

Direct democracy

A system where all citizens vote directly on every law and public policy.

Representative democracy

A system where citizens elect a group of people to make laws and public policies on their behalf.

Parliamentary democracy

A government where the prime minister is chosen from the leading party in the legislature and can be removed by that legislature.

Prime minister

The executive leader in a parliamentary democracy who is chosen from the leading party in the legislature.

Presidential democracy

A government where the president is elected separately from the law-making body and leads the executive branch.

Constitutional monarchy

A government in which a monarch shares power with a constitutionally organized government and has limited authority.

Limited government

A principle where the powers of government are restricted, usually by a written constitution.

Rule of law

The principle that government is based on clear and fairly enforced laws that apply to everyone.

Popular sovereignty

The principle that the people are the ultimate source of authority and legitimacy of a government.

Constitution

A written plan that sets up a government, outlines its powers, and lists the rights of the people.

Separation of powers

The division of government powers between two or more independent branches to prevent any one group from gaining too much power.

Checks and balances

A system where each branch of government has the ability to limit the power of the other branches.