US Government Unit One
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Created by:
nickireeder on September 20, 2012
Description:
Coach McCall's Government Class
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28 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Nation-State | a body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically, with the power to make and enforce laws. |
| Characteristics of a Nation-State | Population, Territory, Sovereignty, Government |
| Government | the body within an organization which has the power to make and enforce laws and regulation; the agency or apparatus through which a ruling individual, political party, or social class exercises its authority and perpetuates its own rule |
| Political Philosophy | the study of the relationship between government, liberty, society, justice, equality, property rights, and the need and use of laws to organize society in a specific way |
| Three Components Necessary for Modern Governance | Rule of Law, Government Accountability, Nation-State |
| Autocracy | Political power held by one person (ex: North Korea) |
| Oligarchy | Political power held by a small, usually wealthy, group or class of people (ex:20th century South Africa) |
| Theocracy | government in which religion or metaphysical faith plays the major role in defining government policy (ex: Iran) |
| Democracy | "demos"-people, "kratos"-rule; sovereignty lies with "the people" (ex: America) |
| Anarchy | the absence of government |
| Geographic Distribution of Power | physical location of government |
| Unitary | power is located in a single, specific, central location (ex: United Kingdom) |
| Federal | power is located in a central government apparatus and several local governments (ex: Modern day America) |
| Confederate | power is located in several, disparate locations (ex: America under Articles of Confederation in 1781) |
| Federal System | a system in which sovereignty is divided between a central government and smaller constituent |
| Basic Political Philosophies | conservatism, liberalism, libertarianism, socialism |
| Conservatism | the idea that tradition and status quo should be valued when organizing governments due to the historical value of social and governmental structures that have developed over time due to the needs of a society Top-Down form of governmental structure (sovereignty lies with government) |
| Liberalism | the idea that it is the responsibility of the state to actively protect and/or promote individual freedom and fairness of laws Bottom-up form of government structure (sovereignty lies with people) |
| Classic "laissez-faire" Liberalism | primacy of freedom, basic freedoms are protected by restricting government power and limiting government spending, freedom and material equality are incompatible |
| Contemporary "modern/welfare" Liberalism | primacy of equality, role of government is to provide necessary services, freedom and equality are compatible and dependent on each other |
| Libertarianism | the idea that the role of the state in regulating property rights and businesses should be minimized as much as possible and that individual liberty should be maximized as much as possible considered a form of "classical liberalism" |
| Primary Negative Rights | freedom from: seizure of property, slavery, violence, arbitrary jailing (habaes corpus and fair trial); freedom of speech |
| Socialism | the idea that the role of the state is to provide equal access to social resources and the provision of compensation through a method focused on equality |
| Primary Positive Rights | Access to: food, sanitation, water, education and information, tenable housing, police forces, legal council |
| Formative Equality | equal treatment by means of legislation, etc |
| Substantive Equality | material possessions should be equally available |
| Classical Liberalism's criticisms of material equality | It is too difficult to determine wealth, and what the right amount of wealth is Imposition of equality conflicts with the diversity of individualism in society Imposition of equality conflicts with the freedom of the individual to choose, which is the basis for human dignity |
| Contemporary Liberalism's defense of material equality | Access to opportunities, resources, political freedoms, legal support, and the basic necessities constitute material wealth If people's rights to diversity are protected by the rule of law, conflict between equality and diversity is limited The freedom to choose is worth very little without access to the resources necessary to make those choices a reality (dignity is not based on freedom to choose, but the ability to exercise your choices in the real world) |
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