| A | B |
|---|
| Government | The institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies. |
| Public Policy | All of the many goals that a government pursues in all of the many areas of human affairs in which it is in involved. |
| Legislative power | The power to make a law and to frame public policies |
| Executive power | The power to execute, enforce, and administer law. |
| Judicial Power | The power to interpret laws, to determine their meaning, and to settle disputes within the society. |
| Constitution | The body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of a government. |
| Democracy | A form of government in which the supreme authority rests with the people. |
| State | A body of people living in a defined territory who have a government with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority. |
| Sovereign | Having supreme power within its own territory; neither subordinate nor responsible to any other authority. |
| Autocracy | A form of government in which a single person holds unlimited political power. |
| Oligarchy | A form of government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self appointed elite. |
| Unitary Government | A centralized in which all government powers belong to a single , central agency. |
| Division of Power | Basic principle of federalism; the constitutional provisions by which governmental powers are divided on a geographic basis – USA= between the National Government and the States. |
| Presidential Government | A form of government in which the executive and legislative branches of the government are separate, independent, and coequal. |
| Parliamentary Government | A form of government in which the executive branch is made up of the prime minister, or premier, and that official’s cabinet. |
| Compromise | An adjustment of opposing principles or systems by modifying some aspect of each. |
