| A | B |
|---|
| Aristocracy | Rule by the "best" in reality, rule by an upper class. |
| Authoritarianism | A type of regime in which only the government itself is fully controlled by the ruler. Social and economic institutions exist that are not under the government's control. |
| Consent of the People | The idea that governments and laws derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed. |
| Democratic Republic | A republic in which representatives elected by the people make and enforce laws and policies. |
| Direct Democracy | A system of government in which political decisions are made by the people directly, rather than by their elected representatives probably attained most easily in small political communities. |
| Oligarchy | rule by a few people |
| Fascism | A twentieth-century ideology-often totalitarian-that exalts the national collective united behind an absolute ruler. Fascism rejects liberal individualism, values action over rational deliberation, and glorifies war. |
| Liberalism | A set of beliefs that includes the advocacy of positive government action to improve the welfare of individuals, support for civil rights, and tolerance for political and social change. |
| Libertarianism | A political ideology based on strong support for economic and social equality. Socialists traditionally envisioned a society in which major businesses were taken over by the government or by employee cooperatives. |
| Sovereignty | of the people. |
| Representative Democracy | A form of government in which representatives elected by the people make and enforce laws and policies may retain the monarchy in a ceremonial role. |
| Republic | A form of government in which sovereign power rests with the people, rather than with a king or a monarch. |
| Socialism | A political ideology based on strong support for economic and social equality. Socialists traditionally envisioned a society in which major businesses were taken over by the government or by employee cooperatives. |
| Theocracy | A term derived from the Greek phrase meaning "rule by God" or "rule by the deity." In a theocracy, the governing principles are rooted in religious precepts-there is no separation of church and state. |
| Totalitarian Regime | A form of government that controls all aspects of the political and social life of a nation |
