Government And Civics Flashcards
Four types of Political Systems
Democracy, Dictatorship, Monarchy, and Oligarchy
Democracy
A political system in which a supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them
Pure Democracy
Allows the people to make the decisions directly
Representative Democracy
Includes election of representatives by the people
Dictatorship
Form of government in which the leader has absolute power and authority
Monarchy
An autocracy governed by a monarch who usually inherits the authority
Oligarchy
A form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few
Methods of obtaining power
Ancestry, Divine Right, Conquest, Revolution, and Popular Vote
Ancestry
The decedents of one individual
Divine right
Belief that a rulers authority comes directly from God
Conquest
Capture or taking something by force
Revolution
The overthrow of a government by those who are governed
Popular vote
Vote of the people in a “general election”
Federalism
A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments
Three branches of U.S. government
Legislative, Executive, and Judicial
Legislative
The branch of government that makes the laws
Executive
The branch of government that enforces and carries out the law
Judicial
The branch of government that interprets the laws and determines whether they are constitutional
U.S. Congress
The name for the bicameral legislature in the United States, which includes the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The name for the legislative branch of U.S. government
House of Representatives
One of the two parts of congress, considered the “lower house”. Representatives are elected directly by the people, with the number of representatives for each state determined by states population
Senate
Term-6 years, number of members-100, requirements must be 30 and a U.S. citizen for 4 years, leaders-vice president, duties- represent each state
Census
Official count of the population
Enumerated
Powers granted to government that are expressively written in the constitution
Elastic clause
The part of the constitution that permits congress to make any laws “necessary and proper” to carry out its powers
