Wepo Unit One

Front 1

constitution

Back 1

set of customs, rules, and laws that organize a government

Front 2

constitutional government

Back 2

a government limited by a written or unwritten constitution

Front 3

democracy

Back 3

system of government in which all citizens exercise political power

Front 4

forms of government

Back 4

Aristotle's idea of different types of government based on number of people exercising power

Front 5

limited government

Back 5

government restricted to protecting natural rights

Front 6

Parliament

Back 6

British legislature consisting of two houses: House of Lords and House of Commons

Front 7

republic

Back 7

Madison's idea of a representative democracy that protects the rights of people

Front 8

unwritten constitution

Back 8

body of political practices developed through custom and tradition-as in Britain, Israel and New Zealand

Front 9

civic virtue

Back 9

dedication of citizens to the good of the community

Front 10

classical republicanism

Back 10

government where common welfare is promoted over individual interests

Front 11

common good

Back 11

the good of the community is placed above private interests

Front 12

consent of governed

Back 12

agreement of citizens to obey the laws of the government

Front 13

divine right

Back 13

idea that monarchs obtain authority directly from God

Front 14

inalienable rights

Back 14

undamental rights of the individual that cannot be taken away by government/anyone

Front 15

natural rights

Back 15

rights shared by all human beings

Front 16

political legitimacy

Back 16

acceptance of the governed that their government has proper authority to rule them

Front 17

popular sovereignty

Back 17

ultimate political authority rests with the people

Front 18

right of revolution

Back 18

right of the people to overthrow a government that has failed to protect their rights

Front 19

social contract theory

Back 19

belief in an agreement between individuals to live under a government

Front 20

state of nature

Back 20

hypothetical condition of people living together without government

Front 21

capitialism

Back 21

econoomic system in which means of production are owned privately

Front 22

city-state

Back 22

politically independent community consisting of a city and the surrounding territory

Front 23

feudalism

Back 23

system of social,economic and political organization where monarch shares power with nobility

Front 24

Judeo-Christian

Back 24

Ideas, beliefs and practices that have their roots in Judaism and Christianity

Front 25

nation-state

Back 25

a country, standard unit of political organization

Front 26

private morality

Back 26

an individual's ideas about right and wrong

Front 27

public morality

Back 27

values and principles of what's right and wrong pertaining to public policies and actions

Front 28

common law

Back 28

body of unwritten law based on custom and judicial decisions

Front 29

Magna Carta

Back 29

first document limiting the power of the English king

Front 30

precedent

Back 30

previous decision upon which legal or political issues are decided

Front 31

redress of grievances

Back 31

compensation for a loss or wrong done

Front 32

rights of Englishmen

Back 32

certain historically established rights that all English subjects were understood to have

Front 33

rule of laW

Back 33

principle that those who govern as well as the governed must obey the law

Front 34

stare decisis

Back 34

doctrine that a court should use precedent to determine current decisions

Front 35

writ of habeas corpus

Back 35

court order directing a prisoner be brought to court to determine if detention is lawful

Front 36

charter

Back 36

document from a government or ruler granting certain rights or right to found a colony

Front 37

constituent

Back 37

person represented by an elected official

Front 38

indentured servant

Back 38

person who voluntarily sold their labor in return for passage to the American colonies

Front 39

magistrate

Back 39

lower level judicial officer, public official

Front 40

Mayflower Compact

Back 40

agreement among Plymouth settler to submit to laws for the common good

Front 41

suffrage

Back 41

right to vote

Front 42

compact

Back 42

formal contract between two or more parties or states

Front 43

law of nature

Back 43

rules that apply in absence of man-made law

Front 44

sovereignty

Back 44

ultimate right to rule

Front 45

writ of assistance

Back 45

document giving a public official power to search property without restrictions

Front 46

checks and balances

Back 46

distribution of power so that no branch of government dominates

Front 47

legislative supremacy

Back 47

government in which legislative branch has the most power

Front 48

veto

Back 48

power of the executive to prevent a bill from becoming law