Chapter 1

Question 1

Sovereignty

Answer 1

ultimate political power - having the final say

Question 2

Human predicament

Answer 2

the cycle from tyranny (to revolution) to anarchy (to competing groups), to which sovereign power and its ill effects give rise

Question 3

Despot

Answer 3

A ruler exercising absolute power

Question 4

Revolution

Answer 4

A means of removing tyranny from power; part of the human predicament cycle

Question 5

Tyranny

Answer 5

Absolute power centralized in one person (or small group); part of the human predicament cycle

Question 6

Anarchy

Answer 6

No one person (or group) maintains absolute power. Characterized by mass disorder caused by failure to agree on a common course of action; part of the human predicament cycle

Question 7

competing groups

Answer 7

groups that in a stat of anarchy, fight for supreme power and control; part of the human predicament cycle

Question 8

good society

Answer 8

reasonably stable and prosperous society without an oppressive tyranny. Usually includes peace, respect, vibrant culture, and personal freedom to live the way one chooses.

Question 9

Plato

Answer 9

427-347 BC greek philosopher and quthor of The Republic, which extolled civic virtue and the necessity of arete

Question 10

Political legitimacy

Answer 10

ruling by a sanction higher than stark necessity; sanction may stem from divine right, wisdom or consent, etc

Question 11

King James I

Answer 11

1655-1625 King James I of England claimed political legitimacy through a “divine right of kings”

Question 12

Divine right of kings

Answer 12

political theory that royal lines are established by God and that kings rule by divine decree

Question 13

theocracy

Answer 13

divinely inspired rule, or rule by relition

Question 14

aristocracy

Answer 14

rule based on distinguished or wise ancestors and heritage

Question 15

greek freedom

Answer 15

the privilege of taking part in the political process and observing society’s rules

Question 16

human nature

Answer 16

the fundamental disposition of humans that determines their behavior

Question 17

arete

Answer 17

greek term for human virtue, the backbone of republican morality. striving for excellence.

Question 18

european enlightenment

Answer 18

18th century philosophical movement that proposed individual self-interest, rather than greek virtue or christian humility, as the motivating factor in human behavior

Question 19

autocracy

Answer 19

one of the four alternative forms of government; sees people as children in need of a carefully controlled environment provided by government

Question 20

classical republicanism

Answer 20

one of the four alternative forms of government; sees people (and govt.) as mostly good but corruptible and so government should have restricted power and try to encourage a good moral climate.

Question 21

bill of rights

Answer 21

first ten amendments to the Constitution regarding basic protections of rights from the government, passed in response to the Anti-Federalist argument against the initial Constitution

Question 22

Libertarianism

Answer 22

one of the four alternatives forms of government; sees the most important value as individual freedom and holds that government should only protect that freedom and nothing more

Question 23

liberalism

Answer 23

one of the four alternatives forms of government; sees people in the most favorable light, but institutions or other influences can corrupt them, so government is necessary to protect them fro such corruption.

Question 24

Thomas Jefferson

Answer 24

1743-1826

• Jefferson was the third president of the US, principal author of the declaration of independence, and an influential founding father of the US.
• A political philosopher who promoted classical liberalism, republicanism, and the separation fo church and state, he was the author of the Virginia Satute for Religiouis Freedom (1779,86), which was the basis of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the US Constitution

Question 25

Structure

Answer 25

Rules and restrictions designed to better harness virtue.

Question 26

polis

Answer 26

city or city-state, often self-governed by its citizens as the ancient greek city-status were.

Question 27

social compact

Answer 27

the social concept of a group of autonomous individuals living in a state of nature, making a common agreement about the sore of political world they want to live in.

Question 28

state of nature

Answer 28

hypothetical contision assumed to exist in the absence of government where human beings live in “complete” freedom and general equality