Dictatorship and Checks/Balances Flashcards
(37 cards)
What is Authoritarianism?
Expecting blind submission to authority and often involves the concentration of power in the hands of a leader or small group that goes beyond what a constitution or laws allow.
What is a Dictator?
One holding complete control; one ruling in an absolute and often oppressive way.
What is Democracy?
Rule by the people.
What is Oligarchy?
Rule by the few.
What is Monarchy?
Rule by a single person.
What is a Republic?
A government in which the power belongs to a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by the leaders and representatives elected by those citizens to govern according to law.
Who are Tyrants?
Rulers who seized power in Ancient Greece and often ruled oppressively.
What is Direct Democracy?
The Athenian system where citizens participated directly in decision-making.
What is Ostracism?
Allowed the Athenians to send dangerous rulers into exile by writing their name down on pieces of pottery.
What is a Mixed Constitution?
Rome’s system during the republic, it featured elements of monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy.
Who is Cincinnatus?
A powerful example of how rulers should behave, known for giving up power voluntarily.
What is the Society of the Cincinnati?
An American club created in honor of Cincinnatus, with the motto ‘Omnia relinquit servare republicam.’
What does ‘Omnia Relinquit Servare Republicam’ mean?
He gave up all to save the Republic.
What are Emergency Powers?
The extra powers a dictator may gain to deal with a crisis, real or imagined.
What is Propaganda?
Information, especially biased or misleading, used to promote a political cause or point of view.
What is Scapegoating?
Blaming certain groups for the country’s problems.
Who was Julius Caesar?
Used his army to take power and proclaim himself ‘dictator for life’ in the 40s BC – killed by senators.
What does ‘Sic Semper Tyrannis’ mean?
A Latin saying meaning ‘Thus always to tyrants,’ associated with the death of someone considered a tyrant.
What is a Republic?
A form of government with no monarchs.
What is a Constitutional Republic?
What the US is.
Who was King George III?
The monarch overthrown during the American Revolution, seen as a tyrant.
What are the Branches of Government?
Judicial, Legislative, or Executive.
What is Virtue in the context of government?
Founders argued that morality and ethics would be important in a republic.
Who is Cincinnatus compared to?
A Roman figure likened to George Washington, he put Republic above personal interests (saved Rome and then lay down power).
