| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Limited government | A government in which everyone, including those in authority, must obey the laws. This is common in Western culture. The U.S. constitution is a document that is an example of limiting the power of government. |
| Unlimited government | A government in which no limits are imposed on the ruler's authority. The leaders don't have to follow the same laws as everyone else. |
| Command economic system | An economy in which the government owns almost all the land and natural resources and makes most of the decisions. (such as what to produce and how, but not on what job to take) |
| Market economic system | An economy in the people own and control businesses. This is a capitalist economy where supply and demand principles determine what is produced. The government intervenes only when neccessary. |
| Mixed economic system | An economy with varying degrees of free enterprise and government control. |
| Parliamentary democracy | A governing system in which citizens elect members of a legislature called a parliament. For example, this is the system in Britain. |
| Democracy | A governing system in which a country's people elect their leaders and rule by majority. |
| Presidential democracy | A governing system in wich an elected president is the chief decision maker. For example, this is the system in the US and France. |
| Constitutional monarchy | A government with a written plan, or constitution, that includes a monarch as a ceremonial leader and a parliament or other legislature to make laws. |
| Dictatorship | A governing system in which one person rules with absolute authority. Authority in a dictatorship is not inherited as in a monarchy. Examples are Cuba, Algeria, Gabon,Libya, Republic of China, North Korea. |
| Totalitarian | Having complete control over people's lives. (complete political,social,and cultural control over their subjects. For example: Hitler in Nazi Germany. |
| Communism | A governing and economic system in which all property and all means of production belong to the people as a group. |
| Constitutional democracy | A kind of democracy in which the goals of the government and the ways it will work to achieve them as stated in a constitution. |
| Absolute monarch | The system of government in which a king or queen rules, and is not bound by a constitution. |
| Capitalism | An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market. It encourages private investment and business. The US is a capitalistic system. |
Combine with other sets
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