Foundations of Government Flashcards
Three main components governments consist of
People, Powers, Policies
What is government made up of?
Institutions and Processes
Any decision made by government in pursuit of a specific goal; can come in the form of laws, govt program, or sets of govt actions
Policy
Refers to the government’s authority and ability to get things done
Power
Is made up of the formal institutions and processes by which decisions are made for a group of people
Government
What are the three powers of government
Executive, judicial, and legislative
Two types of people in government
elected officials and public servants
Political unit with the power to make and enforce laws over a group of people living within a clearly defined territory
State
What are the four traits of a state?
Population, territory, government, and sovereignty
Has fewer than 12000 people and is one of the world’s smallest states
Tuvalu
You must have _________ to have a state
People
States must have a clearly defined and recognized ___________
Border
The world’s chief body for international cooperation
United Nations
How does a state limit the sovereign power of their governments?
Constitution
Includes independence from other states as well as the freedom to establish a form of government; the supreme power to act within their territory and to control its external affair
Sovereignty
Services that are available to everyone and that cannot be denied are _________?
Public goods
What are the five functions served by the government?
Ensure national security, maintain order, resolve conflict, Provide services, and provide for the public good
Another name for the public good; The needs and interests of the people as a whole
General Welfare
Process by which govt makes and carries out decisions
Politics
a system of rules derived from the natural world
natural law
holds that the first govts formed as a result of people agreeing among themselves to submit to the authority of a state
Social Contract theory
any form of govt in which a single individual controls most governing decisions
autocracy
Ruled by a king or queen who belong to a royal family from which power is inherited
Monarchy
Type of monarchy in which the govt may coexist with other forms of govt
Constitutional monarchy
Type of government in which a single person or group controls absolute authority and makes all decisions
Dictatorship
dictator holds ultimate authority; no formal or informal limits on govt
totalitarian regime
Government where a small group of people makes govt decisions for their own benifit
Oligarchy/aristocracy
Government in which decisions are made based of a particular religion or religious doctrine
Theocracy
Who believed that in order to protect natural rights from govt interference, govt power had to be limited?
Locke
Who in a monarchy was said to give the King/Queen power?
God
sovereignty, or ultimate authority, rests in a single, national govt; local levels of govt may be active and important agencies of rule, but the national govt has ultimate authority
Unitary system
divides power over people and territory between a national govt and smaller, regional levels of govts
federal system
Two levels of which the US federal system consists
Overarching national govt and 50 state govt
Indirect form of democracy in which people vote for representatives in govt
Representative Democracy
Type of govt that works best in small communities
Direct Democracy
System after which many of the world’s govts are molded in which a leader is placed into power by vote of the people for a limited term of office
Presidential System
May be commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but can’t declare war in presidential system
President
Declares war in a presidential system
Congress
In a parliamentary system _________ and ___________are combined
Executive and legislative branches
An elected system of legislature in the parliamentary system that chooses the prime minister
Parliament
The prime minister must select his cabinet from the __________
Majority party
Member of parliament and leader of the majority party
Prime minister
Statement or vote stating that a person in a high seat of power is deemed unfit to continue holding that position
Vote of no confidence
Who supported the idea of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness
Rousseau
