Unit 1

Question 1

Absolute Monarchy

Answer 1

Absolute monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in his or her own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power. Often such monarchies are hereditary.

Question 2

Absolute Power

Answer 2

Absolutism is the principle of complete and unrestricted government power, usually in the hands of one person, a dictator or despot. This word sounds big, but it’s really just an extension of the word absolute. If you have absolute power, you control everything.

Question 3

Authoritarian

Answer 3

highly concentrated and centralized power maintained by political repression and the exclusion of potential challengers. It uses political parties and mass organizations to mobilize people around the goals of the regime.
all the power is concentrated in the hands of central government and its leader with little or without political freedom for citizens.

Question 4

Command Economy

Answer 4

a centralized government controls the means of production and determines output levels.

Question 5

Confederate

Answer 5

A confederate government is a loose association of states, in which the states have more power than the federal government. The United States under the Articles of Confederation is one example of a confederate government.

Question 6

Consumer

Answer 6

A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities.

Question 7

Democracy

Answer 7

The word democracy comes from the Greek words “demos”, meaning people, and “kratos” meaning power; so democracy can be thought of as “power of the people”: a way of governing which depends on the will of the people. (Rule by the People)

Question 8

Dictatorship

Answer 8

A dictatorship is a government or a social situation where one person makes all the rules and decisions without input from anyone else. Dictatorship implies absolute power — one person who takes control — of a political situation, a family, a classroom or even a camping expedition.

Question 9

Direct Democracy

Answer 9

In direct democracy, the people decide on policies without any intermediary or representative, whereas in a representative democracy people vote for representatives who then enact policy initiatives.

Question 10

Economy

Answer 10

The economy is the system of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Question 11

Factors of Productions/Economic Resources

Answer 11

Economists define four factors of production: land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship. These can be considered the building blocks of an economy.

Question 12

Land

Answer 12

Natural Resources

Question 13

Labor

Answer 13

Human Effort

Question 14

Capital

Answer 14

Machinery, tools, and buildings

Question 15

Federal System

Answer 15

Federalism is a system of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of government. Generally, an overarching national government is responsible for broader governance of larger territorial areas, while the smaller subdivisions, states, and cities govern the issues of local concern.

Question 16

Goods

Answer 16

Goods are physical, produced objects for which a demand exists, over which ownership rights can be established and whose ownership can be transferred from one institutional unit to another by engaging in transactions on markets.

Question 17

Services

Answer 17

A service is an act or use for which a consumer, firm, or government is willing to pay. Examples include work done by barbers, doctors, lawyers, mechanics, banks, insurance companies, and so on. Public services are those that society as a whole pays for.

Question 18

Limited Government

Answer 18

In political philosophy, limited government is the concept of a government limited in power. It is a key concept in the history of liberalism.

Question 19

Majority Rule

Answer 19

Majority rule is the principle that the group which has the most supporters get to decide the rules that all will be compelled to abide by. A majority is more than half of the voters involved, and rule by such a majority is thought to be to the benefit of more than rule by less than half would be.

Question 20

Market Economy

Answer 20

An economic system in which production and prices are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses.

Question 21

Mixed Economy

Answer 21

A mixed economy is a combination of a market and a command economy. Some industries are owned and controlled by the government, while other industries are allowed to be determined by the market. Mixed economies vary in how much control and regulations the government has. The amount of command and market economy in a mixed economy varies on a case to case basis.

Question 22

Oligarchy

Answer 22

Oligarchy is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people.

Question 23

Opportunity Cost

Answer 23

the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.

Question 24

Parliamentary Democracy

Answer 24

a parliamentary democracy is a system of government in which citizens elect representatives to a legislative parliament to make the necessary laws and decisions for the country. This parliament directly represents the people.

Question 25

Presidential Democracy

Answer 25

implies that the executive and legislative branches are separate. It can also imply that their establishment and the time they remain in power are separate. The president normally serves as both the head of state and the head of government, and is elected by popular vote.

Question 26

Producer

Answer 26

a maker or manufacturer of something.

Question 27

Purchase

Answer 27

acquire (something) by paying for it; buy.

Question 28

Representative Democracy

Answer 28

Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy.

Question 29

Scarcity

Answer 29

the demand for a good or service is greater than the availability of the good or service. Therefore, scarcity can limit the choices available to the consumers who ultimately make up the economy.

Question 30

Separation of Powers

Answer 30

Separation of powers is a doctrine of constitutional law under which the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) are kept separate.

Question 31

Social Contract

Answer 31

An implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection.

Question 32

Economic Goals (US)

Answer 32

In a mixed economy like the US, economic goals are the desired fundamental conditions of a mixed economy. In general, the primary economic goals include full employment, economic growth, economic stability, equality, and enhanced efficiency. Notably, specific economic goals are unique to each country.

Question 33

Totalitarian

Answer 33

Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regulation over public and private life.

Question 34

Trade-Offs

Answer 34

When choices are made (collectively or by an individual) to accept having less of one thing in order to get more of something else, the results are called trade-offs.

Question 35

Traditional Economy

Answer 35

A traditional economy is a system that relies on customs, history, and time-honored believes. Tradition guides economic decisions such as production and distribution. Societies with traditional economies depend on agriculture, fishing, hunting, gathering, or some combination of them.

Question 36

Unitary

Answer 36

A unitary state, or unitary government, is a governing system in which a single central government has total power over all of its other political subdivisions. A unitary state is the opposite of a federation, where governmental powers and responsibilities are divided.