| A | B |
|---|
| Articles of Confederation | the first government of the United States. The states were the most powerful. |
| Authoritarian | a system in which the government has unlimited power. |
| Autocracy | a system of government in which the power to rule is in the hands of a single individual. |
| Bill of Rights | first ten amendments to the Constitution. |
| Capitalism | an economic system providing free choice and individual incentive for workers. |
| Checks and Balances | the system where each branch of government exercises some control over the others based on separation of powers. |
| Communism | an economic system in which the central government dictates all major economic decisions. |
| Confederation | a loose union of independent states. |
| Declaration of Independence | document that explained the reasons for separation from England. |
| Democracy | government in which the people rule. |
| Federalism | a system in which power is shared by the national and state governments. |
| Free Enterprise | an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production. |
| Judicial Review | the power of the United States Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional. |
| Limited Government | a system in which the power of government is not absolute. |
| Mixed Economy | an economic system which primarily relies on the forces of supply and demand to set prices (market economy), but also uses a variety of government interventions to cope with macroeconomic stability and market failures. |
| Monarchy | an autocracy in which a king or queen exercises supreme powers of government. |
| Oligarchy | a system of government in which a small group holds power. |
| Popular Sovereignty | a process by which the people themselves make decisions. |
| Representative Democracy | a form of democracy in which people elect delegates and gives them the responsibility and power to make laws and conduct government. |
| Rule of Law | the belief that every person is expected to obey the same regulations and no one is above those regulations. |
| Separation of Powers | the division of authority among the branches of government. |
| Socialism | an economic system in which the government owns the basic means of production, distributes the products and wages and provides social services such as health care and welfare. |
| Unitary | a government that gives all major powers to the national government. |
| United States Constitution | a plan that provides the rules for government. |
| Sovereign nation | a nation that is independent of all others. |
