1750-1900 Vocab 1 ] Flashcards
Scientific Method
Logical procedure for gathering information about the natural world where experimentation and observation are used to test hypothesis
Social contract
Agreement by which people define and limit their individual rights, thus creating an organized government (THOMAS HOBBES)
Natural Rights
All people are born with right to life, liberty, and property, according to John Locke
Enlightened Despot
18th Century Monarchs inspired by Enlightenment ideas, rule justly and respect rights of subjects (Frederick II of Prussia, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II of Austria, Catherine the Great of Russia)
Separation of Powers
Assignment of executive, legislative, and judicial powers to different groups of officials in a government
Philosophes
Group of social thinkers in France during the enlightenment
Federal System
system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and a number of individual states
Checks and balances
Measures designed to prevent any one branch of government from dominating the others
Old Regime
Political and social system that existed in France before the French Revolution, left over from the Middle Ages
Estate
One of the three social classes in France before the French Revolution
Bourgeoisie
In social and political theory, the social order dominated by the land owning class. In the 19th century, the term became associated with the middle class
Coup d’etat
Sudden seizure of political power in a nation
Plebiscite
A direct vote in which a country’s people have the opportunity to approve or reject a proposal
Balance of Power
Political institution in which no one nation is powerful enough to pose a threat to others
Legitimacy
Hereditary right of a monarch to rule
Conservatives
In the first half of the 19th century, Europeans who wanted to preserve the traditional monarchies of Europe (mostly wealthy landowners and nobles)
Liberals
In the first half of the 19th century, Europeans who wanted to give more political power to elected parliaments (Mostly middle-class business leaders and merchants)
Radicals
In 19th century, Europeans who favored drastic change to extend democracy to all people
Socialism
An economic system in which the factors of production are owned by the public and operate for the welfare of all
Nation-state
An independent nation of people having a common culture and identity
Nationalism
The belief that people should be loyal mainly to their nation- that is, to the people with whom they share a common culture and history, rather than to a king or empire
Zionism
19th century nationalist movement for the establishment of a Jewish national or religious community in Palestine
Self-determination
The determining by the people of the form their government shall have, without reference to the wishes of any other nation, especially by people of a territory or former colony
