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Government > Foundations of Government > Flashcards

Foundations of Government Flashcards

1
Q

Three main components governments consist of

A

People, Powers, Policies

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2
Q

What is government made up of?

A

Institutions and Processes

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3
Q

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

A

Policy

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4
Q

Refers to the government’s authority and ability to get things done

A

Power

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5
Q

Is made up of the formal institutions and processes by which decisions are made for a group of people

A

Government

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6
Q

What are the three powers of government

A

Executive, judicial, and legislative

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7
Q

Two types of people in government

A

elected officials and public servants

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8
Q

Political unit with the power to make and enforce laws over a group of people living within a clearly defined territory

A

State

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9
Q

What are the four traits of a state?

A

Population, territory, government, and sovereignty

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10
Q

Has fewer than 12000 people and is one of the world’s smallest states

A

Tuvalu

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11
Q

You must have _________ to have a state

A

People

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12
Q

States must have a clearly defined and recognized ___________

A

Border

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13
Q

The world’s chief body for international cooperation

A

United Nations

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14
Q

How does a state limit the sovereign power of their governments?

A

Constitution

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15
Q

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

A

Sovereignty

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16
Q

Services that are available to everyone and that cannot be denied are _________?

A

Public goods

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17
Q

What are the five functions served by the government?

A

Ensure national security, maintain order, resolve conflict, Provide services, and provide for the public good

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18
Q

Another name for the public good; The needs and interests of the people as a whole

A

General Welfare

19
Q

Process by which govt makes and carries out decisions

A

Politics

20
Q

a system of rules derived from the natural world

A

natural law

21
Q

holds that the first govts formed as a result of people agreeing among themselves to submit to the authority of a state

A

Social Contract theory

22
Q

any form of govt in which a single individual controls most governing decisions

A

autocracy

23
Q

Ruled by a king or queen who belong to a royal family from which power is inherited

A

Monarchy

24
Q

Type of monarchy in which the govt may coexist with other forms of govt

A

Constitutional monarchy

25
Q

Type of government in which a single person or group controls absolute authority and makes all decisions

A

Dictatorship

26
Q

dictator holds ultimate authority; no formal or informal limits on govt

A

totalitarian regime

27
Q

Government where a small group of people makes govt decisions for their own benifit

A

Oligarchy/aristocracy

28
Q

Government in which decisions are made based of a particular religion or religious doctrine

A

Theocracy

29
Q

Who believed that in order to protect natural rights from govt interference, govt power had to be limited?

A

Locke

30
Q

Who in a monarchy was said to give the King/Queen power?

A

God

31
Q

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

A

Unitary system

32
Q

divides power over people and territory between a national govt and smaller, regional levels of govts

A

federal system

33
Q

Two levels of which the US federal system consists

A

Overarching national govt and 50 state govt

34
Q

Indirect form of democracy in which people vote for representatives in govt

A

Representative Democracy

35
Q

Type of govt that works best in small communities

A

Direct Democracy

36
Q

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

A

Presidential System

37
Q

May be commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but can’t declare war in presidential system

A

President

38
Q

Declares war in a presidential system

A

Congress

39
Q

In a parliamentary system _________ and ___________are combined

A

Executive and legislative branches

40
Q

An elected system of legislature in the parliamentary system that chooses the prime minister

A

Parliament

41
Q

The prime minister must select his cabinet from the __________

A

Majority party

42
Q

Member of parliament and leader of the majority party

A

Prime minister

43
Q

Statement or vote stating that a person in a high seat of power is deemed unfit to continue holding that position

A

Vote of no confidence

44
Q

Who supported the idea of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness

A

Rousseau

Government (5 decks)

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