absolute monarchy
a form of autocracy where a person becomes the sole leader of a country by being born into a family of rulers
anarchy
the absence of any form of government
autocracy
a form of government where one person has unlimited power
communism
a form of government in which a single ruling party owns and controls all production and distribution of goods, and in which no private ownership is allowed
democracy
a system of government in which political power resides with the people
dictatorship
a form of autocracy where a military leader becomes the leader of a country often through violent means
direct democracy
a form of government in which the power to govern lies directly in the hands of the people rather than through elected representatives
monarchy
a form of government headed by a king or queen who inherits the position, rules for life, and holds power that can range anywhere between limited to absolute
oligarchy
a form of government in which a small group has total control and power
representative democracy
a system of government in which the people elect representatives to make policies and laws for them, also known as a republic
republic
a system of government in which the people elect representatives to make policies and laws for them, also known as a representative democracy
socialism
an economic system in which the government owns the primary means of production
confederal
a system of government where power is located with the independent states and there is little power in the central government
federal
a system of government where power is shared between a central government and states
parliamentary
a system of government where power lies with the legislative body and the leader of the country is part of the legislature
president
the head of state, or leader, in a federal system
prime minister
the head of state in a parliamentary system
unitary
a system of government where almost all power is located with the central government
immigration
the movement of people from one country to another country
federalism
a system of government in which power is divided and shared between national, state, and local government
local government
the governing body of a municipality or county
reserved powers
powers that are not granted to the federal government that belong to (are reserved to) the states and the people, see Tenth Amendment
Supremacy Clause
the clause that states that the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and that national laws are supreme over state laws, found in Article VI
amendment
a change to the U.S. Constitution
preamble
the introduction to a constitution; it states that the people establish the government, and it lists the purposes of the government