Section 3: Questions on social studies terminology

Question 1

suffrage

Answer 1

the right to vote.

Question 2

temperance

Answer 2

opposition to the consumption of alcoholic beverages

Question 3

direct democracy

Answer 3

a government in which power rests with the people and all decisions are made by the people collectively. There is no nation in the world small enough where this is actually feasible

Question 4

republic

Answer 4

…technically any government that is not a monarchy.
Republics can be representative democracies, where ultimate power rests with the people but is “lent” to elected representatives (such as the U.S., France, Costa Rica, South Korea, India, Zambia) or
dictatorships (such as the People’s Republic of China, Russia, or Iran) where power rests with a single individual, ruling group, or political party.

Question 5

monarchy

Answer 5

a government headed by a king, queen, or other royal sovereign who has inherited his/her position through a line of succession within a royal family.
Monarchies can be absolute (such as France under Louis XIV) where all power rests with a single individual or
constitutional monarchies in which the power
of the king/queen/sovereign is limited and some power is shared with the people. Many constitutional monarchies (such as the U.K. Spain, Japan, and Morocco) have features of representative democracies, such as the ability to elect law-making representatives.

Question 6

nationalism

Answer 6

the belief that a nation’s fate should be controlled by its own people (and for ethnic peoples within another nation, the belief that they should have their own nation or that their own ethnic group should be in control). It is not simply “pride in one’s country” (though that’s an ingredient).

Question 7

imperialism

Answer 7

the practice of one country imposing its will over other countries for economic, political, and military gain.

Question 8

capitalism

Answer 8

an economic system favoring private enterprise, and one that gives a central role to individuals who accumulate money (capital) and use it to invest in the creation of business ventures.

Question 9

socialism

Answer 9

a blanket term applied to many different approaches, but one in which the working class is expected to (now or later) control the means of production, and in which the social costs and benefits of business are widely shared by the society as a whole. Nations employing socialist principles could be democratic or dictatorial (the same is true for capitalist countries) [Note: Most economies today are a mixture of some aspects of both capitalism and socialism, including the U.S.] Many, but not all, governments that employ socialism as a primary ideology reject religion (Marx called religion the “opiate of the masses”)

Question 10

communism

Answer 10

a somewhat confusing term frequently synonymous with a type of socialism in which a party of dedicated revolutionaries (communist party) controls society in order to reach the goal of worker control of production–sometimes known as a “dictatorship of the proletariat.” Although totalitarian outcomes were not envisioned by its founder, Karl Marx, communism has often resulted in a totalitarian state in which personal freedom is severely limited even if socialist principles are ignored (such as North Korea or China). China today is called “communist” today because it is run by the Communist Party even though its economy is a mixture of capitalism and socialism. Though not always the case, communist governments can be hostile to the role of religion in society.

Question 11

fascism

Answer 11

a political and economic system that, while retaining the private enterprise aspect of capitalism, places absolute power in the hands of a single leader/dictator, with an emphasis on strong nationalist beliefs and desire for military conquest. A fascist system
rejects any discussion or recognitions that there are different economic classes. Unlike socialism, which is an economic system that can function in a variety of political systems (representative democracies or dictatorship), fascism is always a dictatorship. Usually fascist governments rely on religious institutions to cooperate with the government to promote national unity under a single recognized faith. Minority religions and atheists are usually persecuted, as are racial and ethnic minorities.