| A | B |
|---|
| Branches of Government | Model of government used to create a separation of power. We have 3 of them with the legislative, executive, and judicial |
| Judicial Branch | This part of government is used to interpret laws |
| Legislative Branch | This part of the government is used to make laws |
| Executive Branch | This part of government is used to enforce laws |
| United States House of Representatives | The body of Congress that the number of members for each state is based on population |
| United States Senate | The body of Congress that the number of members for each state is set at 2 per state |
| Democracy | The system of government in which rule is by the people |
| Republic | A political system in which the people exercise their political power through elected representatives and in which there are no inherited public offices. |
| Direct Democracy | The type of government in which the people make their own laws. |
| Representative Democracy | The type of government in which the laws are made by the people’s elected representatives. |
| Suffrage | The right to vote in political elections. Example: Women's suffrage means giving women the right to vote. |
| Civil Rights | The rights of citizens to have political and social freedom and equality or for all citizens to be treated equally. |
| Federalism | A political system in which a national government shares powers with state or provincial governments. |
| Limited government | A government whose powers are limited through constitutionally imposed restrictions |
| Popular sovereignty | The power to govern belongs to the people. The people, in turn, entrust that power to the government, which is under their control. |
| Unlimited Government | A government in which there are no effective restraints upon the political leaders. These are authoritarian governments in which power is concentrated in the hands of one person or a small group. |
| Due Process of Law | A person cannot be deprived of life or liberty or property without appropriate legal procedures. |
| Capitalism | An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit. |
| Communism | A political and economic theory leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. |
| Totalitarianism | A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator. |
| Interest Groups | A group whose members control some field of activity and who have common aims. They advocate for citizens who have similar ideas about issues. |
| Judicial Review | Review by a court of the constitutional validity of a legislative act or law. |
| Checks and Balances | Ensures political power is not concentrated in one branch of government, because the other branchs have the abilty to override decisions. |
| Democratic Party | The political party considered to have liberal views or be on the left side of issues. |
| Republican Party | The political party considered to have conservative views and be on the right side of issues. (Right means a direction, not right vs. wrong) |
| Socialism | A political and economic theory that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. They are interested in controlling the most important industries and leaving the rest to private indiviaduals to run. |
