Chapter 2 Terminology Flashcards
The supreme authority to govern in an independent nation. In constitutional democracies, this power is based on the consent of the people and operates through the rule of law.
Sovereignty
The set of basic laws by which a state or nation is governed. May include such things as the principles, powers and processes of the political system (and sometimes legal system).
Constitution
A monarchy where the monarch’s powers are mainly ceremonial and the authority to make law belongs to elected representatives of the people.
Constitutional monarchy
A system of government where a single person rules and where political authority is based on inherited position. The monarch is above the law and governs in an authoritarian manner.
Absolute monarchy
The belief that the powers of government should be limited and subject to the rule of law. It requires that the powers of the parliament must be set out in a written or unwritten constitution. This rejection of arbitrary rule was a vital step in the development of modern democratic ideas.
Constitutionalism
The role of the people in traditional monarchies and dictatorships. A ______ is required to be personally loyal and obedient to the leader and has no inherent political or legal rights.
Subject
Legal membership of a country. Incorporates the rights of protection and the responsibility such as upholding the laws of the country.
Citizenship
A system of government derived from British Westminster principles in which the executive must be supported by a majority of the parliament that is itself answerable to the people. If it is defeated on a motion of no-confidence in the lower house of parliament or at an election, the government must resign.
Responsible government
Conventions that create accountability in a system of responsible parliamentary democracy. The chain specifies that parliament is accountable to the people through regular elections and that the executive government is accountable to the parliament which can “make and unmake” governments. The final link in this chain is the requirement that ministers take responsibility for the actions of public servants under their direction.
Westminster chain of accountability
A Government where the people elect representatives to govern on their behalf.
Representative government
The people who have the right to vote
Franchise
A system of government where the political executive office combines the roles of the Head of State and Head of Government, and where the authority to rule is derived from the people. Democratic ________ generally feature a directly elected president.
Presidential system
A system of government where power is vested in the people, who exercise their power through parliamentary representatives
Parliamentary system
That an impartial court system is governed by the rules of _________. Requires citizens brought before the courts know the charges against them, and have a right to put their case in a free and open court. A vital component of ___________ is that all those accused of a crime are considered innocent until they are proven guilty.
Natural justice.
___________ is the creation of a nation by uniting previously separate states, each of which retains some powers of self-government but also cedes some powers to a national government
Federation
