Combo with Magruder's American Government Chapter 1 Section 1 Vocabulary and 2 others

1. Government

the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies.

2. Public Policies

all of those things a government decides to do: taxation, defense, education, crime, health care, transportation, the environment, and others.

3. Legislative Power

Power to make laws and to frame public policies

4. Executive Power

the power to execute, enforce, and administer laws

5. Judicial Power

the power to interpret laws, to determine their meaning and to settle disputes

6. Constitution

the body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of a government

7. Dictatorship

the responsibility for the exercise of the three powers are held by a single person or small group

9. State

a body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically and with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority

10. Sovereign

supreme and absolute power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign and domestic policies

Democracy

the power rest with a majority of the people. Supreme authority rest with the people.

Sovreign

(every state) has supreme and absolute power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign and domestic policies.

The Force Theory

state was born of force

The Evolution Theory

state developed naturally out of the early family

The Divine Right Theory

God created the state and that God had given those of royal birth a "divine right" to rule.

The Social Contract Theory

the state arose out of a voluntary act of free people. The state exists only to serve the will of the people. They are the sole source of political power.

Autocracy

a government in which a single person holds unlimited political power.

Oligarchy

a government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite.

Unitary Government

a centralized government in which all government powers belong to a single, central agency.

Federal Government

the powers of government are divided between a central government and several local governments.

Division of Powers

basic principle of federalism. Governmental powers are divided on a geographic basis.

Confederation

an alliance of independent states

Presidential Government

a form of government in which the executive and legislative branches of the government are separate independent, and coequal.

Parliamentary Government

a form of government in which the executive branch is made up of the prime minister, or premier, and that official's cabinet.

Compromise

the process of blending and adjusting competing views and interest.

Free Enterprise System

America's economic system. Based on four fundamental factors (also called capitalism)
a. private ownership
b. individual initiative
c. profit
d. competition

Law of Supply and Demand

when supplies of goods and services become plentiful, prices tend to drop. When supplies become scarcer, prices tend to rise.

Mixed Economy

an economy in which private enterprise exist in combination with considerable amount of government regulation and promotion.

Democracy

the power rest with a majority of the people. Supreme authority rest with the people.

State

a body of people living in a defined territory, organized politically, power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority.

Sovreign

(every state) has supreme and absolute power within its own territory and can decide its own foreign and domestic policies.

The Evolution Theory

state developed naturally out of the early family

The Divine Right Theory

God created the state and that God had given those of royal birth a "divine right" to rule.

The Social Contract Theory

the state arose out of a voluntary act of free people. The state exists only to serve the will of the people. They are the sole source of political power.

Autocracy

a government in which a single person holds unlimited political power.

Oligarchy

a government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite.

Unitary Government

a centralized government in which all government powers belong to a single, central agency.

Federal Government

the powers of government are divided between a central government and several local governments.

Division of Powers

basic principle of federalism. Governmental powers are divided on a geographic basis.

Confederation

an alliance of independent states

Presidential Government

a form of government in which the executive and legislative branches of the government are separate independent, and coequal.

Parliamentary Government

a form of government in which the executive branch is made up of the prime minister, or premier, and that official's cabinet.

Compromise

the process of blending and adjusting competing views and interest.

Free Enterprise System

America's economic system. Based on four fundamental factors (also called capitalism)
a. private ownership
b. individual initiative
c. profit
d. competition

Law of Supply and Demand

when supplies of goods and services become plentiful, prices tend to drop. When supplies become scarcer, prices tend to rise.

Mixed Economy

an economy in which private enterprise exist in combination with considerable amount of government regulation and promotion.