Chapter 1: Democracy & American Politics Flashcards
(14 cards)
A system of government in which the people rule; rule by the many
Democracy
Rule by the few, where a minority holds power over a majority, as in an aristocracy or a clerical establishment
Oligarchy
Rule by the one, such as where power rests in the hands of a king or queen
Monarchy
A form of political decision making in which policies are decided by the people themselves, rather than by their representatives, acting either in small face-to-face assemblies or through the electoral process as in initiatives and the referenda in the American states
Direct Democracy
Indirect democracy, in which the people rule through elected representatives
Representative Democracy
The basic principle of democracy that the people are the ultimate source of government authority and of the policies that government leaders make
Popular Sovereignty
The form of political decision making in which policies are decided on the basis of what a majority of the people want
Majority Rule
The principle that each person carries equal weight in the conduct of the public business
Political Equality
Guarantees bu government of equal citizenship to all social groups
Civil Rights
The principle that citizens in a democracy are protected from government interference in the exercise of a range of basic freedoms, such as the freedoms of speech, association, and conscience
Political Liberty
The idea that government is the result of an agreement among people to form one, and that people have the right to create an entirely new government if the terms of the contract have been violated by the existing one
Social Contract
Representative democracy characterized by popular sovereignty, liberty, and political equality
Liberal Democracy
Suppression of the rights and liberties of a minority by the majority
Majority Tyranny
Popular term for the system of legally sanctioned racial segregation that existed in the American South until the middle of the twentieth century
Jim Crow
