Flashcards: Social Studies Critical Vocab
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Created by:
jpgoblue on August 20, 2009
Subjects:
US History, World history, Economics, Government
Groups:
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Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Articles of Confederation | the document that created the first central government for the United States; it was replaced by the Constitution in 1789 |
| Bill of Rights | the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution concerning basic individual liberties |
| Brinkmanship | a strategy that involves countries going to the verge of war without actually going to war |
| Civil Rights | the rights that involve equal status and treatment and the right to participate in government |
| Confederacy | a loose union of independent states; name of government used by the southern states that seceded during the Civil War |
| Conscription | required service in the military |
| Containment | U.S. policy adopted in the late 1940's to stop the spread of Communism by providing economic and military aid to countries opposing the Soviet Union |
| Counterculture | a rebellion of teens and young adults against mainstream American society in the 1960s |
| Détente | relaxation of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union |
| Entrepreneur | risk taker who starts new ventures within the economic system of capitalism |
| Executive Branch | the division of the federal government that includes the president and the administrative departments |
| Fascism | a political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and has no tolerance for opposition |
| Flexible Response | the buildup of conventional troops and weapons to allow a nation to fight a limited war without using nuclear weapons |
| Foreign Policy | a nation's plans and procedures for dealing with other countries |
| Great Society | the term for the domestic programs of the Johnson administration |
| Impeachment | the process used by a legislative body to bring charges of wrongdoing against a public official |
| Imperialism | the practice of extending a nation's power by gaining territories for a colonial empire |
| Isolationism | a policy in which a nation avoids entanglement in foreign affairs |
| Judicial Branch | the division of the federal government that is made up of the national courts |
| Laissez-Faire | the idea that there should be minimal government involvement in economic affairs |
| Legislative Branch | the division of the federal government that proposes bills |
| Manifest Destiny | a belief shared by many Americans in the mid-1800s that the United States should expand across the continent to the Pacific Ocean |
| Nativism | an opposition to immigration by the citizens living in a country |
| New Deal | a plan by President Franklin Roosevelt intended to bring economic relief, recovery, and reforms to the country during the Great Depression |
| Nullification | the failure or refusal of a U.S. state to aid in the enforcement of federal laws within its state limits |
| Progressivism | a group of reform movements of the late 1800s that focused on urban problems, the plight of workers, and corrupt political machines |
| Reaganomics | based on an economic theory, known as supply-side economics, where tax cuts and business incentives will stimulate the economy |
| Self-Determination | the right of people to decide their own political status |
| Spoils System | a politician's practice of giving government jobs to his or her supporters |
| Suffrage | the right to vote |
| Barter | the exchange of goods and services without using money |
| Consumer Price Index | statistic that measures overall changes in price or inflation over time |
| Consumer Sovereignty | "the concept that the consumer is the ruler of the market |
| Demand | desire, ability, and willingness to buy a product |
| Depression | a state of the economy with large numbers of unemployment, supply shortages, and excess capacity in manufacturing plants |
| Deregulation | "relaxation of government regulation on industry |
| Elasticity | a measure of responsiveness that tells us how a dependent variable such as quantity responds to an independent variable such as price |
| Federal Reserve System | privately owned, publicly controlled, central bank of the United States |
| Gross Domestic Product | the dollar amount of all final goods and services produced within a country's borders in a year |
| Inflation | increased prices for goods and services combined with the reduced value of money |
| Liquidity | "ability to converted an asset into cash quickly |
| Marginal Utility | the extra usefulness gained from using one more unit of a product |
| Monetary Standard | the mechanism that keeps the money supply portable, durable, divisible, and limited in supply |
| Nationalize | to change from private ownership to government ownership |
| Poverty | the situation in which a person's income and resources do not allow him or her to achieve a minimum standard of living |
| Scarcity | the condition that results from limited resources combined with unlimited wants |
| Standard of Living | the quality of life based on the possession of necessities and luxuries that make life easier |
| Supply | the amount of a product that would be offered for sale at all possible prices that could prevail in the market |
| Trade-Off | alternatives that must be given up when one is chosen over another |
| Unemployed | people available for work who made a specific effort to find a job during the past month and who, during the most recent survey week, worked less than one hour for pay |
| Bipartisan | made up of members from both major political parties |
| Bureaucrats | expert workers and administrators who carry out many specific tasks for the government |
| Civil Society | a complex network of voluntary associations, economic groups, religious organizations, and many other kinds of groups that exist independently from the government |
| Constituents | people of a particular geographic area who are represented by a member of Congress |
| Democracy | a general description of a government in which the people rule |
| Due Process | a principle stating that the government must follow proper constitutional procedures in trials and in other actions it takes against individuals |
| Electoral College | the body of 538 people elected from the 50 states and the District of Columbia to cast the official votes that elect the president and vice president |
| Federalism | the form of political organization in which power is divided among a central government and territorial subdivisions |
| General Assembly | the legislative department of Indiana's state government |
| Government | the formal structures and institutions through which a territory and its people are ruled |
| Ideology | a set of basic beliefs about life, culture, government, and society |
| Incumbent | an elected official that is already in office |
| Internationalism | a national policy of actively trading with foreign countries to foster peace and prosperity |
| Judicial Review | the power of the judicial branch to check the power of the legislative and executive branches by declaring their acts unconstitutional |
| Lobbying | contacting a public official to persuade him or her to support a group's interests |
| Naturalization | the legal process by which an immigrant becomes a citizen |
| Platform | a political party's stand on important issues and general principles |
| Republic | an indirect form of democracy in which people elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf |
| Rule of Law | principle that every member of a society, including the ruler or government, must follow the law |
| Sovereignty | the supreme and ultimate power within territorial boundaries |
| Appeasement | giving in to aggressive demands in order to avoid war |
| Aristocracy | an upper class whose wealth is based on land and whose power is passed on from one generation to another |
| Autonomous | self-governing |
| Capitalism | an economic system in which most businesses are privately owned |
| Communism | an economic and political system in which government owns the means of production and controls economic planning |
| Coup d'etat | the sudden overthrow of a government by force |
| Crusades | a series of wars carried out by European Christians to gain control of the Holy Land from their Muslim rulers |
| Dictator | a political leader holding unlimited power |
| Disarmament | a limit or reduction in armed forces or weapons |
| Dissident | a person who speaks out against the regime in power |
| Dynasty | a family of rulers whose right to rule is hereditary |
| Feudalism | a political and social system that developed during the Middle Ages; nobles offered protection and land in return for service |
| Hellenistic | the blending of Greek cultures with those of Persia, Egypt, and Central Asia following the conquests of Alexander the Great |
| Heresy | an opinion that goes against the teachings of a church |
| Magna Carta | a charter agreed to by King John of England that granted nobles certain rights and restricted the king's power |
| Middle Passage | the journey of slaves from Africa to the Americas |
| Militarism | countries rely on their ability to wage war as their primary means of conducting foreign policy |
| Nationalism | a sense of pride and devotion to one's country |
| Natural Rights | a body of laws philosophically bestowed upon all people that include the protection of life, liberty, and property |
| Neolithic Revolution | a period in human history marked by the introduction of agriculture and a shift from food gathering to food production |
| Nomad | people who move from place to place following animal migrations and vegetation cycles |
| Oligarchy | rule by a few small groups of people, usually member of the military or the economic elite |
| Propaganda | information such as posters and pamphlets created by governments in order to influence public opinion |
| Renaissance | a movement following the Middle Ages that centered on the revival of interest in the classical learning of Greece and Rome |
| Reparation | payment made to the victor by the vanquished to cover the costs of a war |
| Secular | having to do with worldly, as opposed to religious, matters |
| Shari'ah | a law code drawn up by Muslim scholars that provides believers with a set of practical laws to regulate their daily lives |
| Social Darwinism | a scientific theory of natural selection and the survival of the fittest as applied to society and used to justify imperialism and racism |
| Socialism | a political and economic system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns the means of production |
| Totalitarian | a form of authoritarian government that aims to control the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural lives of its citizens |
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