Forms of Governments (Vocabulary)

Question 1

Monarchy

Answer 1

• A form of government
• A single person, typically a king or queen, holds supreme authority
• Often inherited through lineage
  (E.g. British Monarchy = King Charles III or Japanese Monarchy = Naruhito)

Question 2

Democracy

Answer 2

• Form of government
• Power vested in people who either directly or through freely elected representatives
  (E.g. = The United States is a democracy. Which means the citizens can vote for their leader.)

Question 3

Dictatorship

Answer 3

• A form of government
• Absolute power concentrated in the hands of a single person
• Often maintained through force without the consent of the governed
  (E.g. = Nazi Germany or the Communist Soviet Union)

Question 4

Constitution

Answer 4

• A set of rules
• Explains how a country is run and how its government works
  (E.g. = A constitution could be like a guidebook for the leader(s) and citizens)

Question 5

Sovereignty

Answer 5

• Country or group
• Full control over own land
• Make decisions without being controlled by other
  (E.g. = US completely independent)

Question 6

Coronation

Answer 6

• Special ceremony
• King or queen officially crowned
• Begins their reign as a ruler
  (E.g. = When Queen Elizabeth II past away her eldest son, now King Charles III, got crowned.)

Question 7

Autocracy

Answer 7

• A type of government
• One person has all the power
  (E.g. = Adolf Hitler)

Question 8

Oligarchy

Answer 8

• Same as a dictatorship
• Except instead of one person ruling its a group of people
  (E.g. = Budpest, Viktor Orban)

Question 9

Republic

Answer 9

• A type of government
• People choose their leaders
• Who make laws for them instead of a king or queen
  (E.g = US)

Question 10

Theocracy

Answer 10

• A type of government
• Religious leaders rule
• Laws based on the religion’s beliefs
  (E.g. = In Ancient Egypt, the pharaoh was both a king and a religious leader)

Question 11

Abdication

Answer 11

• King or queen gives up their throne or power
  (E.g. = The romance between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson resulted in Edward’s abdication from the throne.)

Question 12

Rights

Answer 12

• Freedoms & Protections
• Everyone has them
  (E.g. = rights to life, rights to go to school)

Question 13

Responsibilities

Answer 13

• Tasks or duties
• Expected to do
  (E.g. = homework)

Question 14

Representation

Answer 14

• Way to show or describe something
  (E.g. = Using pictures, words, symbols to help understand an idea or object)

Question 15

Separation of Powers

Answer 15

• Government’s power divided into 3 branches (legislative, executive, and judicial)
  (E.g. = In the US, the S.P. means that the Congress makes the laws (legislative), the President enforce them (executive), and the courts interpret them (Judicial)

Question 16

Rule of Law

Answer 16

• Everyone, including the government, must follow the same set of laws
  (E.g. = Presidents can get the same punishment as a citizen if they break the same law)E

Question 17

Electoral System

Answer 17

• Way people vote to choose leaders
• For the whole country
  (E.g. = The candidate with the most amount of points, even if only by 0.1%, wins)

Question 18

Political Parties

Answer 18

• A group of people who share similar ideas about the government should work
  (E.g. = Democratic Party & Republican Party are two majored parties in the US)

Question 19

Checks & Balances

Answer 19

• System that makes sure no one branch of government has too much power by allowing each branch to limit the powers of the other branches
  (E.g. = Branch A wants to create a new rule but Branch B must willingly agree to it first.)

Question 20

Civil Liberties

Answer 20

• Basic rights and freedoms
• Everyone has
• Government is not allowed to take away
  (E.g. = Privacy, right to vote (18+), right to education)

Question 21

Authoritarianism

Answer 21

• Government or leader
• People have limited freedom
• Don’t allow them to express their opinions freely
  (E.g. = In North Korea, the government controls almost everything, and people have extremely limited freedom)

Question 22

Totalitarianism

Answer 22

• One person or a small group
• Complete control
  (E.g. = very similar to authoritarianism except this one has a more complex ideology)

Question 23

Heredity Rule

Answer 23

• System of government
• King or queen inherits their position from a family member
  (E.g. = Queen Elizabeth II’s son King Charles III became king after her passing)

Question 24

Parliament

Answer 24

• Group of elected officials
• Make laws & decisions for a country
  (E.g. = In Croatia the Parliament is called the Hrvatski Sabor)

Question 25

Prime Minister

Answer 25

• Leader of a government
• Responsible for making important decisions & leading the country
  (E.g. = Andrej Plenkovic who is Croatia’s current Prime Minister)

Question 26

Emperor

Answer 26

• Ruler
• Control over an empire
  (Japan’s current emperor is Naruhito)

Question 27

Dynasty

Answer 27

• Series of rulers
• Same family who control a country or region
• For a long time, often passing power from parent to child
  (E.g. = Ming Dynasty in China, which ruled from 1368 to 1644 and is known for its cultural achievements and strong leadership)

Question 28

Tyranny

Answer 28

• Form of government
• One person or small group
• Has all the power
• Often rule unfairly
  (E.g.= The rule of King George III over the American colonies, where he imposed unfair taxes and laws without giving the colonists a voice in their government.)

Question 29

Popular Sovereignty

Answer 29

• An idea
• Power come from citizens
  (E.g. = A popular sovereignty is when citizens vote in elections to choose their president or local representatives, showing that they have a say in how they are governed)

Question 30

Direct Democracy

Answer 30

• System of government
• All citizens have the opportunity to participate and make laws
  (E.g. = (direct democracy is Switzerland, where citizens can vote on important issues and laws through referendums.)