| Term | Definition |
|---|
| classic, classical | traditional, relating to a form or system felt to be of first signifigance before modern times |
| scholar-gentry | In China, the class of prosperous families next in wealth below the rural aristocrats from which the rulers drew their administrative personnel. Respected for their education and expertise, these officials became a privileged group and made the government more efficient and responsive than in the past. |
| filial piety | respect for parents and elders |
| empire | a political unit in which a number of peoples or countries are controlled by a single ruler |
| aristocracy | land-owning families who make up a small portion of the population |
| direct democracy | a government where decicisons are made by the citizens |
| representative democracy | a government where citizens elect representatives to make decisioins for them |
| rational thought | to base one's opinion on evidence and reason rather than superstition or commonly accepted beliefs |
| philosopher | thinkers who use logic and reason to investigate the nature of the universe, human society and morality |
| tyranny | form of government in which ruling power is in the hands of a person who has seized control through the force or the manipulation of social groups |
| oligarchy | form of government in which ruling power is in the hands of a few leaders |
| barbarians | member of a society considered primitive, savage, etc. |
| paterfamilias | the legal head of the extended family in Rome and the only person who could own property. Made all the decisions affecting his wife, children, and son's wives. |
| autocracy | a government in which the ruler has unlimited power and uses it any manner he chooses |
| dictator | a political leader given absolute power is in the hands of representatives and leaders are elected by the people |
| republic | a form of government in which power is in the hands of representatives and leaders are elected by the people. |
| civil service | the administrative departments of the government, especially those in which employees are hired on the basis of their scores on examinations |
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