US Government- Ch1 Vocab (Glencoe) Flashcards

1219474883	state	a political community that occupies a definite territory and has an organized government with the power to make and enforce laws without approval from any higher authority	0
1219474884	sovereignty	the supreme and absolute authority within territorial boundaries	1
1219474885	nation	group of people united by bonds of race, language, custom, tradition, and sometimes, religion	2
1219474886	nation-state	a country in which the territory of both the nation and the state coincide	3
1219474887	consensus	an agreement about basic beliefs	4
1219474888	government	the institution through which the state maintains social order, provides public services, and enforces binding decisions on citizens	5
1219474889	social contract	theory that by contract, people surrender to the state the power needed to maintain order and the state, in turn, agrees to protect its citizens	6
1219474890	unitary system	a government that gives all key powers to the national or central government	7
1219474891	federal system	a government that divides the powers of government between the national government and state or provincial governments	8
1219474892	confederacy	a loose union of independent states	9
1219474893	constitution	a plan that provides the rules for government	10
1219474894	constitutional government	a government in which a constitution has authority to place clearly recognized limits on the powers of those who govern	11
1219474895	preamble	a statement in the constitution that sets forth the goals and purposes of government	12
1219474896	constitutional law	law that involves the interpretation and application of the U.S. Constitutions and state constitutions	13
1219474897	politics	the effort to control or influence the conduct and policies of government	14
1219474898	industrialized nations	a nation with large industries and advanced technology that provides a more comfortable way of life than developing nations	15
1219474899	developing nations	a nation that is only beginning to develop industrially	16
1219474900	autocracy	a system of government in which the power to rule is in the hands of a single individual	17
1219474901	monarchy	autocracy in which a king, queen, or emperor exercises supreme powers of government	18
1219474902	oligarchy	a system of government in which a small group holds power	19
1219474903	democracy	government in which the people rule	20
1219474904	republic	a government in which voters hold sovereign power; elected representatives, responsible to the people, exercise that power	21
1219474905	political party	a group of individuals with broad common interests who organize to nominate candidates for office, win elections, conduct government, and determine public policy	22
1219474906	free enterprise	the opportunity to control one's own economic decisions	23
1219474907	economics	the study of human efforts to satisfy seemingly unlimited wants through the use of limited resources	24
1219474908	capitalism	an economic system providing free choice and individual incentive for workers, investors, consumers, and business enterprises	25
1219474909	free market	economic system in which buyers and sellers make free choices in the marketplace	26
1219474910	laissez-faire	The philosophy that government should keep its hand off the economy- French word meaning "to let alone"	27
1219474911	socialism	an economic system in which the government owns the basic means of production, distributes the products and wages, and provides social services such as health care and welfare	28
1219474912	proletariat	workers who produce the goods	29
1219474913	bourgeoisie	capitalists who own the means of production	30
1219474914	communism	an economic system in which the central government directs all major economic decisions	31
1219474915	command economy	an economic system in which the government controls the factors of production	32