| A | B |
|---|
| government | the institution through which a society makes and enforces public policies |
| public policies | all of those things a government decides to do |
| legislative power | the power to make laws & frame public policies |
| executive power | the power to execute, enforce & administer laws |
| judicial power | the power to interpret laws, determine their meaning, and to settle disputes that arise within the society |
| constitution | the body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures & processes of a government |
| dictatorship | the ultimate responsibility for the exercise of government powers is held by a single person |
| democracy | supreme government authority rests with the people |
| state | a body of people living in a defined territory, organized politically, and with the power to make & enforce law |
| sovereign | a state that has supreme and absolute authority within its own territory & can decide its own foreign and domestic policies |
| autocracy | form of government in which a single person holds unlimited political power |
| oligarchy | form of government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite |
| unitary government | centralized government in which all government powers belong to a single central agency |
| federal government | form of government in which powers are divided between a central government & several local governments |
| division of powers | the constitutional provisions by which governmental powers are divided between the National & state governments |
| confederation | joining of several groups for a common purpose |
| presidential government | form of government in which the executive and legislative branches of the government are separate, independent & coequal |
| parliamentary government | form of government in which the executive branch is made up of the prime minister, or premier, and that official's cabinet |
| majority rule | in a democracy, the majority of the people will be right more often than they will be wrong, and will be right more often than will any one person or small group |
| compromise | adjustment of opposing principles or systems by modifying some aspect of each |
| citizen | member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to it by birth or naturalization & is entitled to full civil rights |
| free enterprise system | economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods |
