foundations of government Flashcards
people with in a territory
population
organize community living under one government
State
land and it’s recognized boundary
Territory
supreme and absolute power within your territory
sovereignty
The institution by which society makes and enforces its public policies/ laws
Government
one person or group claimed control over territory and forced the population to submit
State became sovereign and those in control formed a government
force Theory
population formed out of primitive families
heads of these families became the government
families claimed and settled in one territory thus making a sovereign state
evolutionary theory
god’s creation of the state made it sovereign
members of government are chosen by God to rule a certain territory
people living in in the territory obedience to God
divine right theory
A population in a given territory gave up as much power to the government as needed to promote the well-being of all.
people are the sole source of political power
free to give or withhold that power from the government
social contract theory
movement stressing the importance of reason in the critical reappraisal of existing ideas and socialist
enlightenment
wrote the book two treaties of government
natural rights theory- Life liberty and property
purpose of government is to protect natural rights
if They fail to do so the citizens have the right to overthrow the government
John Locke
wrote social contract
advocated individual liberty
The only good government was the one that was formed freely by the people and guided by the will of society
Jean Jacque Rousseau
wrote book Leviathan
all humans were born naturally selfish and wicked
without government there would be no order
people must handover the rights to the government in return for law and order
Thomas Hobbes
wrote spirit of the laws
advocated- constitutionalism, abolishment of slavery and preserving civil liberties
believed power should be clearly defined, balance and separated
Charles baron de Montesquieu
order is essential
essential roles in society
towns, counties, corner, justice of the peace
order government
government is not all-powerful
places restrictions on government
u.s. Constitution places restrictions on government actions
Limited government
Government should serve the will of the people
people should have a voice and making decisions in government
representative government
The great charter
presented by Barnes and signed by King John
prevent the abuse of power of monarchs
Magna Carta
Challenge the idea of divine right
Limited the Kings power in several ways
proposed by Parliament signed by King Charles I
petition right
established to prevent the abuse of power
proposed by Parliament to William and Mary
List of provision that for civil rights and made certain acts a crime
English Bill of Rights
found in most countries
only votes that people cast Are for members of
executive is chosen and set up by
executive equals Prime Minister
executive members only stay in position while they have confidence of position
parliamentary government
purely symbolic figure
often a monarch
ceremonial and symbolic leader
usually only occurs with the Parliament
heads of state
centralized government
all power is held in one location
strong central government little or no local gov.
ex: China and Great Britain
unitary government
Power is divided between a central government and a local government
Central government with state/provincial/regional and local gov.
Central government is supreme
ex: United States, Australia, Canada, and Mexico
Federal government
alliance of Independent states
weak central government can do only what the independent states say they can do
make it possible for different states to unite together when they need to but maintain their independence in other matters
confederate government
separation of powers between the branches
branches are independent and roughly equal
President is elected separately from the legislature
checks and balances
chief executive = Pres.
presidential government
chief executive = prime minister
chief executive chosen by the legislature/Parliament
legislature generally more powerful than the chief executive
Parliament government
authoritarian- people in control have absolute power
totalitarian- leaders control all aspects of human life
not Democratic
ex: Libya and Cuba
dictatorship
Power to the people
The people hold the most authority
democracy
people hold many meetings and decide the outcome of all political issues themselves
direct democracy
The people choose leaders they trust to make most political decisions if the leaders do not do a good job of doing what the people want they can vote them out of office
ex: us
indirect/representative democracy
