Chapter 3 Terms Flashcards
A form of government in which the people directly affect a government’s policies and actions
Direct democracy (pure democracy)
System of government in which the state has complete control over all aspects of its citizens’ lives
Totalitarianism
An authoritative form of government in which the ruler or rulers have unshared power over the making and enforcing of laws.
Dictatorship
A system in which the people elect legislative representatives from different parties; the winning party’s leader becomes the head of the executive branch, the Prime Minister, and establishes a cabinet
Parliamentary System
Higher house in Congress; representation is equal for each state with each state having two senators.
Senate
A legislature made up of only one house
Unicameral
System in which governmental power is divided into two or more levels, usually a central government and component local governments
Federalism
The chief executive officer and head of the executive branch in the U.S. system of government
President
A political subdivision of a county
Township
Form of government in which citizens participate in the making and enforcement of laws and policies
Popular Government
A government ruled by one person who holds supreme power
Autocracy
The lower house in Congress; representation is based on state population.
House of Representatives
Powers given to the national government by the Constitution that define the limits of its authority
Delegated Powers
State in which the supreme power rests in the people and their elected representatives or officers
Republic
At the federal level, the legislative branch of American government; a bicameral legislature composed of a lower house called the House of Representatives and a higher house called the Senate
Congress
Districts, independent of the city and county, especially established to provide government functions on the local level
Special districts
Governmental power that resides in the central government, but unlike a dictatorship, it receives all of its power from the people
Unitary System
A form of government in which the people elect representatives to operate the government on their behalf
Indirect Democracy (representative democracy)
System in which regional governments retain supremacy while delegating limited power to the national government
Confederate Government
The absence of government or law
Anarchy
A system in which the people directly elect the head of the executive branch independently of the legislative branch; the two branches are separate and equal
Presidential system
Process by which a state establishes a city as a legal government body by giving it a charter establishing the parameters in which it can operate
Incorporation
A document that establishes a city’s name and serves as its constitution.
Charter
Any system of public rule or authority
Government
A form of dictatorship government ruled by an elite group with supreme power
Oligarchy
The highest court in the land
Supreme Court
A legislative branch divided into two separate houses.
Bicameral
