We The People - Chapter 1 Vocab

Front 1

Authoritarian government

Back 1

a system of rule in which the government recognizes no formal limit but may nevertheless be restrained by the power of other social institutions

Front 2

Citizenship

Back 2

informed and active membership in a political community

Front 3

Constitutional government

Back 3

a system of rule in which governmental power is both described in, and limited by, a governing constitution

Front 4

Democracy

Back 4

a system of rule where popular wishes and preferences regularly and systematically shape who controls the government and what the government does

Front 5

Direct democracy

Back 5

a system of rule that permits citizens to vote directly on laws and policies

Front 6

Equality of opportunity

Back 6

a widely shared American ideal that all people should have the freedom to use whatever talents and wealth they have to reach their fullest potential

Front 7

Government

Back 7

institutions and procedures through which a territory and its people are ruled

Front 8

Laissez-faire capitalism

Back 8

an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned and operated for profit with minimal or no government interference

Front 9

Liberty

Back 9

freedom from government control

Front 10

Limited government

Back 10

a government whose powers are defined and limited by a constitution

Front 11

Majority rule/minority rights

Back 11

the democratic principle that a government follows the preferences of the majority of voters but protects the interests of the minority

Front 12

Political equality

Back 12

the right to participate in politics equally, based on the principle of “one person, one vote”

Front 13

Politics

Back 13

conflict over the leadership, structure, and policies of governments

Front 14

Popular sovereignty

Back 14

a principle of democracy in which political authority rests ultimately in the hands of the people

Front 15

Power

Back 15

influence over a government’s leadership, organization, or policies

Front 16

Representative democracy/republic

Back 16

a system of government that gives citizens a regular opportunity to elect government officials

Front 17

Totalitarian government

Back 17

a system of rule in which the government not only exercises great power, but seeks to impose its will by suppressing any and all other groups and individuals in society that might pose a challenge to its power