1.1-1.2 Flashcards
What are the 4 characteristics of the state?
Population, territory, sovereignty, government.
Population
People in the state. The most important
Territory
Land in the state that is known and recognized with boundaries.
Sovereignty
The states’ supreme and absolute power within its territory; decides its own foreign and domestic decisions.
Government
Needed in every state. The rules and the way to enforce them.
The main purposes of government are described in the…
Preamble of the Consitution
The purposes according to the Preamble (6 things):
More perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide common defense, promote general welfare, secure the blessings of liberty (guarantee individual rights)
Three standards of government:
Who can participate?
Geographic distribution of the governmental power within the state.
Relationship between the legislative and executive branches.
Direct democracy
the people make their own decisions directly
Indirect democracy
a small group of people chosen by the citizens to act as their representatives, expresses what the people want; republic
A democracy gives power to…
the people
Dictatorship gives power to…
one leader who has absolute power; the people can do nothing about it.
Autocracy
government in which a single person holds unlimited political power
Oligarchy
government in which the power to rule is held by a small group
Unitary government
all powers held by a single, central agency
Confederation
alliance of independent states
Federal government
powers of government are divided between a central/national government state and local governments (US has this)