Government Defined : 8/10/15 Flashcards
__________ is made up of the formal institutions and processes through which decisions are made for a group of people.
Government
Governments consist of three main components: ______, ______, and ______.
People, powers, and policies.
Government includes two types of people: 1. ______ ________ who have authority and control over others. 2. _______ ________ who carry out the day-to-day business of government.
Elected officials, public servant
______ refers to the government’s authority and ability to get things done.
Power
The people in government exercise three basic types of power: 1. _________ power- power to make laws. 2. _________ power- to carry out, enforce, and administer the law. 3. _______ power- to interpret the laws and to settle disputes between members of society.
Legislative, executive, judicial
_______ is any decision made by government in pursuit of a particular goal.
Policy
A ______ can take the form of a ___, a ___________ ______, or a set of ________ _____.
Policy, law, government program, government actions
A _______ is a political unit with the power to make and enforce laws over a group of people living within a clearly defined territory.
State
All states are characterized as having four traits: P______, t_______, g_______, and s________.
Population, territory, government, sovereignty
You must have ______ to have a state, but the ___ does not determine whether or not a place is a state.
People, size
_____, has fewer than ______ people and is one of the world’s smallest states.
Tuvalu, 12,000
____ _______ in ____ has _ _____ people.
Henan Province, China, 1 billion
States must have clearly defined and recognized ______.
Borders
The ______ _______ is the world’s chief body for _________ _________.
United Nations, international cooperation
All states are ________ ______.
Politically organized
Every state is said to have _______ or the supreme power to act within its territory and to control its external affairs.
Sovereignty
_________ includes ____________ from other states as well as the _______ to establish a form of government.
Sovereignty, independence, freedom
Most states ____ the ________ power of their governments with a set of rules that restricts the lawful use of _____.
Limit, sovereign, power
How does a state limit the sovereign power of their governments?
Constitution
Our government serves five functions: 1. E_____ N____ S____ 2. M______ O_____ 3. R_____ C_____ 4. P______ S_____ 5. P______ for the P____ G____
- Ensure National Security 2. Maintain Order 3. Resolve Conflict 4. Provide Services 5. Provide for the Public Good
______ is a process by which government makes and carries out decisions– is also about debating issues and policies.
Politics
Another name for the _______ _____ is the ____ ____– the needs and interest of the people as a whole.
General welfare, public good
There are three main theories of rule: D_____ r_____, n____ l__ and n_____ r____, and the s____ c______.
Divine right, natural law and natural rights, social contract
The idea of ______ ____ is based on a system of rules derived from the natural world.
Natural law
______ ___ is said to provide a just and rational order to all things in the world including _____ ______.
Natural law, human behavior
All people, by virtue of their being human, possess _____ ______.
Natural rights
The ______ _____ theory holds that the first governments formed as a result of people agreeing among themselves to submit to the authority of a state. Under this theory, a government is legitimate only so long as the parties to the agreement hand over their _____ to the state.
Social Contract, power
Because of the state of nature is so _____, _____ reasons, humans decide to cooperate.
Violent, Hobbes
_____ believed that in order to protect _____ ____ from government interference government ______ had to be limited, or subject to certain restrictions.
Locke, natural rights, power
According to _______, humans lived _________ lives in the state of nature, but they were happy, good, and free.
Rousseau, independent
_________ : 1. Ruled by a ______, usually a king or queen, who belongs to a royal family. 2. Power is _______. 3. Absolute monarchs have ________ _____.
Monarchy, monarch, inherited, unlimited power
___________ ________ : 1. Based on the idea that there are _____ to the rightful _____ of a _______ over its ______. 2. Power of the monarch is limited by ___; the real power lies in another branch of ___________. 3. May ______ with other forms of government such as a ______________ _________. Prime minister has authority.
Constitutional monarchy, limits, power, government, citizens, law, government, coexist, representative democracy
______ is an example of _______, any form of government in which a single individual– an ________– controls most governing decisions.
Monarchy, autocracy, autocrat
__________ : 1. Single ______ or a ______ _____ holds absolute ________ and makes all decisions. 2. ______ and _____ used to maintain rule. 3. At its most extreme, the ______________ of a _________ becomes ___________.
Dictatorship, dictator, small group, authority, violence, force, authoritarianism, dictatorship, totalitarianism
___________ ______ : 1. ______ holds ultimate ______. 2. _________ tightly controls all aspects of life– ______, ______, and ______. 3. No formal or informal ____ on ________.
Totalitarian regimes, dictator, authority, government, political, social, economic, limits, government
_______/_______ : 1. ______ _____ of people make most government decisions for their own _______. 2. __________ in the ruling group may be based on ______, ______, or ______ _____.
Oligarchy/aristocracy, small group, benefit, membership, wealth, family, military power
Many ____________ are _______ _________, meaning that their laws and political institutions are independent of religion.
Dictatorships, secular governments
_________ : 1. Rulers claim to represent and be directed by a set of religious ideas. 2. Laws are rooted in a particular _______ or ________ _____. 3. Government power is _______.
Theocracy, religion, religious doctrine, unlimited
The term democracy means “___ __ __ _____.”
Rule by the people
______ _______ : 1. Government by the ______; citizens are the ultimate source of government authority. 2. Citizens come together to discuss and pass laws and select leaders. 3. Works best in _____ _______.
Direct democracy, people, small communities
_____ _______ works best in small communities, where people are able to meet face to face.
Direct democracy
____________ _________ : 1. ______ form of democracy; citizens elect representatives to make government decisions on their behalf. 2. Representatives elected for set terms.
Representative democracy, indirect
Most n_______ g___________ consist of a number of smaller a__________ units : _____, _____, _______.
National governments, administrative, states, cities, provinces
In a ______ _____, ________, or ultimate authority, rests in a single, ______ government.
Unitary system, sovereignty, national
In ______ ______, local levels of government may be active and important agencies of rule, but the ______ government has ultimate authority.
Unitary systems, national
A _____ _____ of government divides power over people and territory between a national government and smaller, regional level of governments.
Federal system
The _____ ______ today is largely an American invention that attempts to balance national power and states’ rights which is better known as _______.
Federal system, federalism
The U.S. ______ _____ consists of two levels : 1. An o_______ n______ government. 2. __ _____ governments.
Federal system, overarching national, 50 state
A significant feature of ________ ______ is that each level has the power to act ___________ of the other level.
American federalism, independently
Many of the world’s governments are modeled after the ____________ ______ of the United States.
Presidential system
A __________ ______ is distinguished by having a president that is elected by the people for a limited term of office.
Presidential system
The _________ is in charge of the _________ branch of government.
President, executive
A key feature and strength of a ___________ ______ is that the president’s powers are balanced by a ________, which is both popularly elected and independent of the president.
Presidential system, legislature
In the US, the ________ may be ______ __ ____ of the armed forces, but only _______ can declare war.
President, commander in chief, Congress
In a _____________ ______ the ________ branch and ________ branches of government are combined.
Parliamentary system, executive, legislative
In place of a popularly elected president, parliamentary systems have a ______ ______.
Prime minister
An elected legislature, called ______, chooses the prime minister.
Parliament
The _____ _______ is not only a member of parliament, but he/she is also the leader of parliament’s _______ _____.
Prime minister, majority party
Once selected, the prime minister appoints ______ ______ from the ranks of the majority party.
Cabinet member
Should the prime minister ever lost support of the majority party through a ____ of __ _________ , he/she must resign immediately, as do the cabinet members.
Vote of no confidence
_____ of __ _______– a statement or vote which states that a person in a superior position–be it government, managerial, etc.– is no longer deemed fit to hold that position.
Vote of no confidence
_____ also refers to a person’s freedom to exercise the rights guaranteed to all U.S. citizens under the Constitution.
Liberty
_____ is the principle that all people possess a fundamental, moral worth that entitles them to fair treatment under the law and equal opportunity in all aspects in life– political, social, and economics.
Equality
Americans have held fast to the ideal of ___-_______, or the belief that ordinary people could aspire to rule themselves and do so as political equals.
Self-government
A key to ___-________ is that people are the ultimate source of government authority.
Self-government
A basic principle of democracy is that decisions are made by ______ ___.
Majority rule
The ______ does and can become the majority!
Minority
______ _____ are the political rights held by groups who make up less than half the population.
Minority rights
Another key principle of American democracy is ________, the ability of two opposing groups to give up some of their demands and come to an agreement.
Compromise
___ _____ allows for people and business to make their own economic choices about how to best produce, distribute, and exchange goods and services with limited interference from the government.
Free enterprise
