Types of goverment + historical influences Flashcards
(29 cards)
What is a Social contract?
Governments are created when the people come together, make an agreement, and form a government–Magna Carta and Mayflower Compact are (kind of) example
Which Enlightenment thinker is most closely associated with the idea that all men have certain rights–life, liberty, and property?
John Locke
Which Enlightenment thinker said that men are always in a state of war and that men need government to stop that state of war. He described human life as “nasty, brutish, and short.”
Thomas Hobbs
Which Enlightenment thinker noted that men would be reduced to slavery if the branches of government were not separated?
Montesquieu
Name the four characteristics that all states must possess
Sovereignty, territory, government, population
A government in which one person has all the power and makes decisions for all living in the state.
Autocratci goverment - Dictatorship or monarchy
A type of government in which people make decisions by voting. In this form, they make all the decisions for the state by voting yes or no on laws and all other decisions.
Direct democracy
A type of government in which the people choose leaders to make decisions for them. The leaders create laws and solve the day-to-day problems of the government.
Definition
Representative democracy or republic
A government where a small group of people makes decisions for the rest
Oligarchy
King John signed this document. It limited his power by increasing the rights of the people. Out of this document came the British Parliament and many ideas about basic human rights.
Magna Carta
This document listed many rights that Americans believed they had the right to own guns for their defense, the right to elect members of Parliament, and the right to have a voice in government.
English bill of rights
This way of limiting government says that all people, even leaders, must follow the law. No one is above the law.
Rule of Law
A rulebook or plan for the government–they are often written but don’t have to be. These are one way to limit the government’s power.
Constitution
this is a way to limit the government’s power. It involves dividing the government’s power into three branches so that no branch becomes too powerful.
Seperation of powers
Agreement made by men on a ship to come together to create a government and to follow the rules made by that government–a good example of popular sovereignty and consent of the governed
Mayflower Compact
Rights that cannot be taken away by anyone because they are so important to being a human
Natural rights, inalienable rights–life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
The main reason why Americans fought for their independence from England
No representation (voice or say) in the government
Right to Revolution
A right expressed in the Declaration–it claims that if the government is not doing its job, the people may change the government
A government in which a small group rules the state
Oligarchy
A government in which the people make the decisions through the vote
Direct democracy
What is the name of the movement to improve human life by applying reason/logic and the scientific method? Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, & Montesquieu were part of this.
The Enlightenment
What is the right to revolution?
The right of the people to change/overthrow a government that is not protecting their rights.
What is the purpose of a government?
To protect the people and their rights.
What sort of government would Locke favor?
Democracy
