Chapter 1 Flashcards
Q. What is the purpose of government?
A. Government is necessary to create order and regulate a society.
Q. How is government defined?
A. Government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its laws (public policies). It is made up of individuals who have authority over people.
Q. What are public policies?
A. Public policies are the actions that government takes that affect the people being governed, such as taxes, defense, and education.
Q. What are the three kinds of power?
A. The three kinds of power are Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.
Q. What are the main purposes of government as described in the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States?
A. To form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty.
Q. What are the four functions of government according to the textbook?
A. Provide Leadership, Maintain Order, Provide Public Services, Provide National Security, and Provide Economic Security and Economic Assistance.
Q. How is the state defined?
A. A state is a body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically (with a government), and with the power to make and enforce law without consent of any higher authority.
Q. What are the four defining characteristics of a state?
A. Population, Territory, Sovereignty, and Government.
Q. What are the theories explaining the origin of the state?
A. The Force Theory, The Evolutionary Theory, The Divine Right Theory, and The Social Contract Theory.
Q. What is the Force Theory?
A. The Force Theory states that one person or a small group took control of an area and forced all within it to submit to that person’s or group’s rule.
Q. What is the Evolutionary Theory?
A. The Evolutionary Theory argues that the state evolved naturally out of the early family.
Q. What is the Divine Right Theory?
A. The Divine Right Theory holds that a deity created the state and gives certain people a “divine right” to rule.
Q. What is the Social Contract Theory?
A. The Social Contract Theory argues that the state is created out of a voluntary act of free people.
Q. How can we classify governments?
A. Governments can be classified by who can participate in the governing process, the geographic distribution of the governmental power within the state, and the relationship between the legislative and executive branches of the government.
Q. What is a dictatorship?
A. A dictatorship exists where those who rule cannot be held accountable to the will of the people.
