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Key Terms
Chapter Key Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Government | The institution through which a society makes and enforces public policies |
| Public Policies | All the things a government decides to do |
| Legislative Power | The power to make laws |
| Executive Power | The power to enforce and administer laws |
| Judicial Power | The power to interpret laws |
| Dictatorship | A government in which all power rests with an individual or small group |
| Democracy | A government in which supreme authority rests with the people |
| State | A body of people, living in a defined territory, with a government that can make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority |
| Sovereign | To have supreme and absolute power within a territory |
| Divine Right | The theory that governments gain their authority from the will of God |
| Autocracy | Government in which a single person holds all political power |
| Oligarchy | Government in which a small, usually self-appointed group has the sole power to rule |
| Unitary Government | A government in which all power belongs to one central agency |
| Federal Government | A government in which power is divided between one central and several local governments |
| Division of Powers | The split of power between central and local governments |
| Confederation | An alliance of independent states |
| Presidential Government | A government with separate executive and legislative branches |
| Parliamentary Government | A government in which the executive branch is part of the legislative branch and subject to its control |
| Majority Rule | The principle that the will of the majority controls the actions of the government |
| Compromise | The process of blending and adjusting competing views and interests |
| Citizen | One who holds certain rights and responsibilities within a state |
| Free Enterprise System | An economic system characterized by the private ownership of capital goods, private investment, and a competitive marketplace that determines success or failure |
| Limited Government | The idea that government is restricted in what it may do and that every individual has certain rights that government cannot remove |
| Representative Government | The idea that government should both serve and be guided by the will of the people |
| Magna Carta | The Great Charter signed in 1215 that limited the powers of the English king and guaranteed certain fundamental rights |
| Due Process | Protection against the unjust taking of life, liberty, or property |
| Petition of Right | A document signed in 1628 that required the English king to obey the law of the land and increased the influence of Parliament |
| English Bill of Rights | A document signed in 1689 that required free elections and guaranteed many basic rights, such as due process and trial by jury, to all English citizens |
| Charter | A written grant of authority from the king |
| Bicameral | Having two houses, as in a two-house legislature |
| Proprietary | The name given to colonies organized and governed according to the will of a proprietor, a person granted land and authority by the king |
| Unicameral | Having only one house, as in a one house legislature |
Created by:
kschultea
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