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Unit 4 - Abs & Enlig
Absolutism & Enlightenment
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Centralization | policy of government to maintain central control |
| Divine Right | Belief that a ruler's authority is God given (comes from God) |
| Versailles | Palace built by Louis XIV and added to by later monarchs |
| Westernization | Modernization policies undertaken by Peter the Great in Russia |
| Democracy | Government in which the citizens hold the final power |
| Common Law | Body of laws that developed, case by case, from the rulings of England's Royal judges |
| Glorious Revolution | Peaceful removal of England's James II form the throne and the recognition of William and Mary as the new monarchs who signed the English Bill of Rights |
| Magna Carta | Document guaranteeing basic rights of Englishmen signed in 1215 |
| Political Party | A group organized for the purpose of directing the policies of a government. |
| Constitution | The established laws of the United States |
| Enlightenment | Period of the mid-18th century that was characterized by the use of reason and scientific methods |
| Revolution | A sudden change, as in the overthrow of a ruler or government |
| Separation of Powers | Division of governmental powers among three branches-executive, legislative, and judicial so that no single branch can become a threat to liberty |
| Social Contract | Rousseau's belief that only legitimate government rules by consent of the people. The people can break the "contract" if their interests are not served |
| Sovereign | Independent authority and supreme power |
| Absolute Monarchs | Kings or Queens who held all the power within their states' boundaries |
| Peter the Great | Absolute Monarch (Czar) of Russia who started Westernization |
| Constitutional Monarchy | A government in which laws limit the ruler's power |
| Louis XIV | Absolute monarch of France that built Versailles as the symbol of his power |
| Thomas Hobbes | Author of Leviathan & believed that the best form of government was an absolute monarchy |
| Charles I | King of England that attempted to be an absolute monarch, but lost a civil war & his head |
| Oliver Cromwell | Puritan Leader that defeated the English king & established himself as Lord Protector |
| Charles II | Restored English monarch |
| William & Mary | Co-rulers of England after the English Civil War |