Primer Vocab From "a Civilization Primer"

Front 1

Culture

Back 1

the way of life of a distinct group of human beings

Front 2

Society

Back 2

an organized and interacting group of people practicing culture

Front 3

Cultures differ

Back 3

cultures possess a number of aspects that distinguish them from other cultures

Front 4

Institutions

Back 4

is a formally organized and recognized way of persuing an activity important to society

Front 5

Ethnic Group

Back 5

possess a subculture set off by religion, common history, ancestral homeland or combo

Front 6

Subcultures

Back 6

cultures of groups within a broader culture

Front 7

Cultural Pluralism

Back 7

refers to the existence of subcultrues within a general culture

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Civilization

Back 8

made up of cities and possess a sytem of writing or other forms of record keeping

Front 9

Economics

Back 9

study of the ways a society satisfies its material needs

Front 10

Economic Goods

Back 10

anything human beings make or gather from what nature provides

Front 11

Services

Back 11

activites that satisfy human wants and needs but are not material articles

Front 12

Production

Back 12

natural resources + labor + capital + managerial skills + tech = production

Front 13

Natural Resources

Back 13

Land, water, wildlife, minerals available to a given society

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Labor

Back 14

human effort or activity involved in production

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Capital

Back 15

goods used in the production of other goods

Front 16

Managerial Skills

Back 16

abilities necessary to organize natural resources, labor, capital

Front 17

Technology

Back 17

application of scientific knowledge for the achievment of practical purposes

Front 18

Hunting/gathering

Back 18

means living off the land

Front 19

Pastoralists

Back 19

derives his food principally from domesticated animals

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Agriculturalists

Back 20

principal technology is growing crops

Front 21

Peasants

Back 21

agriculturalists who work small plots of land

Front 22

Social Class

Back 22

refers to htose members of society who share a set of common attitudes and lifestyles more closely than do other members of that society

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Industrial Economy

Back 23

principal technology is the use of power driven machines in production

Front 24

Traditional Economy

Back 24

long-standing custom determines production and distribution decisions

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Command Economy

Back 25

production and distribution decisions are made by government

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Market Economy

Back 26

production and distribution decisions are made by private individuals

Front 27

Three functions of government are

Back 27

executive, legislative, and judicial

Front 28

Constitution

Back 28

is an accepted set of governing principles and rules

Front 29

Nation

Back 29

is a group of people consious of a common history and cultre

Front 30

State

Back 30

peple + territory + government + sovereignty

Front 31

Government

Back 31

the institution(s) that regulate the interaction between individuals and groups

Front 32

Executive functions

Back 32

administrative functions, actual running of the government

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Legislative functions

Back 33

create the laws (rules) by which the people's activities are regulated

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Judicial Function

Back 34

interprets the rules or laws, determines guilt or innoence with respect to the violation of the rules

Front 35

Politics

Back 35

the actual way a particular governmental system functions

Front 36

Sovereignty

Back 36

The condition of being free from the control of any other government (can also apply internally)

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Unitary system

Back 37

when all power ultimatley rests with the central government

Front 38

Federal System

Back 38

when the powers are held independently by the regional government

Front 39

Autocracy

Back 39

is a form of government in which political power is held by a single individual (an autocrat)

Front 40

Empires

Back 40

generally are larger than kingdoms and include many nations in one state

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Dictatorship

Back 41

when political power is held by tyrant or a dictator (dont have legitamacy)

Front 42

Political Authority

Back 42

the general acceptance by the people of their particular government's right to govern them

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Subjects

Back 43

rules by autocrats, expected to be obedient, subject to the dictates of their ruler

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Citizen

Back 44

used as opposed to subject, person entitled to the enjoyment of certain rights and to protection by the government

Front 45

Oligarchies

Back 45

2 types of oligarchy: Aristocracy, plutocracy
governments controlled by small powerful groups of people

Front 46

Aristocrats/Nobility

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those who inherit social prestige and position, but not necessarily political power, are correctly termed nobled,or the nobility

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Aristocracy

Back 47

inherited social position solely

Front 48

Plutocracy

Back 48

based on wealth

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Political Party

Back 49

an organized group of people united in their pursuit of political power

Front 50

Democracy

Back 50

government whereby soveriegnty rests with the people

Front 51

Pure democracy

Back 51

exercise their authority directly

Front 52

Representative democracy

Back 52

select representatives who then decide in the name of the people

Front 53

Religious System

Back 53

society meets spiritual/supernatural needs, defining rolse and power of god(s), nature of afterlife, ethic values

Front 54

Priest Class

Back 54

provides leadership+ to understand supernatural world

Front 55

Cultural Assimilations

Back 55

subcultures gain entry in the dominant culture

Front 56

Cultureal diffusion

Back 56

process in history in which culture + beliefs + values are spread

Front 57

religion

Back 57

belief in the supernatural world

Front 58

monotheism

Back 58

belief in one god

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polytheism

Back 59

belief in multiple gods

Front 60

agnostic

Back 60

not certain of the existence of the Divine

Front 61

Ultimate reality

Back 61

combination of supernatural and natural worlds

Front 62

Values

Back 62

qualities, activities, + behaviors considered desirable

Front 63

Belief

Back 63

exceptance of ideas and concepts as true, proof vary

Front 64

Key divide

Back 64

created by religion, divide between two worlds, not absolute

Front 65

theology

Back 65

the study interpretations of the Divine

Front 66

Empirical

Back 66

provable through science (math is mode of expression)

Front 67

Secular ethics

Back 67

ethics drawn from a non-religious belief system

Front 68

Anthropomorphic

Back 68

gods take on a human form both physically and emotionally so we can identify w. the gods and they can send us messages

Front 69

Ethics

Back 69

code of proper personal conduct seeks always to identify right adn wrong

Front 70

natural world

Back 70

the material world that is understood by our senses (tangible) we can use emperical methods, can be objective

Front 71

Supernatural world

Back 71

world beyond physical, largley unseen, identified as up, non emperical ,subjective

Front 72

Hunter gatherers

Back 72

rely on gods, no technology to explain science

Front 73

Science

Back 73

is the search for understanding of the natural world through reason, systematic observation, and, where possible, controlled experimentation

Front 74

Philosophy

Back 74

is the rational search for knowledge and understanding of the universe, ourselves, and the relationship between the two

Front 75

Theory, law, or principles

Back 75

A validated hypothesis

Front 76

Hypothesis

Back 76

an educated guess that may or may not be true