Government Flashcards
Citizenship?
Having rights, duties and responsibilities as a member of a state of nation.
Government?
a system by which a group of people makes the laws that are enforced to guide the affairs of a community.
Society?
a group of interacting people who share a community.
Authoritarian?
a form of decision making or a government system in which one person or a small group holds all power (dictatorship).
Democratic?
a form of decision making in which all group members have a vote.
Consensus?
a group decision reached through discussion to which all members agree.
Politics?
a human activity in which opposing individuals or groups mobilize support to obtain power to govern.
Power?
the ability of an individual or group to get what it wants.
Common good?
a decision that benefits all (or most) people in a community or society.
Rule of Law?
the principle that government and all people must obey the law.
Direct Democracy?
where citizens directly make the laws themselves.
Representative Democracy?
a democracy in which citizens periodically elect others to represent them in government.
Self-government?
a group or nation’s power to administer its own government.
Executive?
The branch that carries out the business of government
Legislative?
The branch of government that makes laws.
Judicial?
The branch of government that interprets and enforces laws.
Governor General?
The appointed representative of Canada’s Monarch as the official head of state in the Canadian federal system of government.
Cabinet?
Advisers selected by the prime minister or premier to head ministries or departments and run the executive branch of government.
Members of Parliament?
The elected representatives of the people, who sit in the federal House of Commons.
House of Commons?
The structure in Ottawa where the elected members of Canada’s federal government meet to discuss and pass laws; sometimes called the “Lower House”.
Question Period?
45-minute period where the opposition parties get to question the current government to make them look bad.
Senate?
People who are not elected but appointed by the prime minister because of what they have done for Canada in the past.
Mayor?
The head of the municipal government in a town or a city.
Councillors?
elected representatives in municipal government; and may represent specific geographical areas, known as wards.
